Were the Boks the best team in 2021

He's very popular in the area, hailing from Klapmuts...different people have different priorities...he'll definitely do a better job than many a politician,  but taking the Paarl municipality from the DA at this stage would be much harder than beating the Allblacks 3 in a row in one year .

Dave once again I have to educate you…..the Bok WC results which are given a double score under the system are still in the calculator.  Read this:

Current calculation method

’All IRB member countries have been given a rating that is in the range of 0 to 100 with the top side in the world achieving a rating of about 90 points. The actual point system is calculated using a 'Points Exchange' system, in which sides receive points from each other based upon the match result. Whatever one side gains, the other loses. The exchanges are based on the match result, the ranking of each team, and the margin of victory. There is also an allowance for home advantage. As the system aims to depict current team strengths, past successes or losses will fade and be superseded by more recent results. Thus, it is thought that it will produce an accurate picture depicting the actual current strength and thus rank of the nations.[2] The rankings are responsive to results and it is possible to climb from the to the top from the bottom (and vice-versa) in less than 20 matches. As all matches are worth a total of 0 points (as whatever one side gains, the other loses) there is no particular advantage to playing more matches. Under the system, a country has a certain rating, which stays the same until they play again.’

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We are less than 20 matches from the WC final….those results are still helping our rating. I agree it should be a more current rating, but it isn’t

No they are of consequence, but they saw us drop by about 3 rating points. The ABs by contrast gained rating points. The fact that we finished ahead of them was because we started at a higher level. Based purely on 2021 results they would have been on top.

9/3 (I have excluded the Fiji/Tongan games) trumps 8/5….even if the Lions were stronger opposition. We get no benefit for a series win…just one test benefit by winning 2 and losing 1. while the ABs beat Oz 3 times and we lost to them twice.

Clearly using the IRB calculator on just 2021 results NZ would have won.

Our three loses were away....who would have beaten us at home with our water boy. 

The system doesn’t penalize you as much for away losses….all those  variations are supposedly adjusted in the formula. Although try as I might I can’t find the exact algorithm, just the principles. Irritating, they seem unwilling to reveal precise details, it should be transparent. This is more secure than the Coke formula!

Nope….but I do own some Yum Brands and Yum China…a great franchise which owns KFC.