The situation is as follows:-
2015 WC squad
Total age of 31 players (years only) = 901 Years
Average age of players = 29.07
Number of players 30 Year and older = 13
2019 Squad
Total age of 31 players (years only) = 835 Years
Average age of players = 26,93
Number of players 30 Year and older = 7
Of the 31 players in the 2015 WC 13 is still in the squad for the 2019 WC, In the case of the 2023 WC there will likely be circa 20 that could potentially still play in the 2023 WC.
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The NZ 2015 squad clocked in at 929 years, just about a 30 year average age.
The ideal age of world cup winning teams have been about 27,5 to 28 years, The fact is that the 2015 WC was an exception to the normal age average of the winners, .
I merely took the years and did not add the months to the calculation. That adds another 0,5 to 0,6 to the age average.
In the Japanese test the average age of the SA starting team was about 31 years. It went down in later games because the older players because they were injured or in the case of some players they were not selected again in later matches because of poor performance. some of the older players became bench selections in later tests, but the impact of at least 8 of the 2015 playerswere effectively unplayable on test level.
