2023-10-05 13:59:08
After more than five weeks of competing in hundreds of rucks and dozens of scrums, the twenty teams of the 2023 Rugby World Cup are reaching the end of the group stage. From this Thursday, and until Sunday, the last eight matches will take place, at the same time revealing the posters for the quarter-finals. And even if several nations, like Wales or England, are already sure of being qualified, others are still crossing their fingers.
But the situation may not be completely clear on Sunday evening. Indeed, with a few combinations of circumstances, several teams could find themselves tied at the end of the last match. This could notably be the case of Ireland and Scotland, if the XV of Thistle wins against the XV of Clover without taking a bonus, or of Argentina and Japan, if the two teams draw during their clash this weekend. As in any competition, World Rugby has planned ahead, and drawn up a list of criteria to decide between these teams.
The World Rugby rankings as a last resort
The first is clear: the winner of the clash between the two teams ranks first. In the case of Ireland and Scotland, it would then be Scotland which would take the advantage. But for Japan and Argentina, this would not be enough in the event of a tie, and we would therefore have to look at the second criterion: the difference in points. In this case, it is Argentina who would qualify thanks to a point difference of +46, much higher than Japan’s +14.
If other scenarios emerge, and the equality is still perfect, four other criteria can still come into play. The first is the difference between tries scored and tries conceded. The second takes into account the number of points scored, the third the number of tries scored. Finally, if the two teams are still not decided, which seems totally improbable, it is the World Rugby world ranking which is taken into account.
Everything is planned so that it is impossible to be completely equal at the end of this weekend. But, even if ties are possible at the end of this weekend, the first two criteria should be enough.
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