There are more schoolboy rugby rankings than there are political parties in the 2024 elections, with most of the schoolboy rugby supporters willing to destroy a braai and/or supper in support of his ranking - the ranking that best ranks his school and/or team obviously.
The formula of our calculations is based on the same system that World Rugby uses to rank the international teams, however, we have added one or two measures to ensure that the top-performing teams race their way up the rankings while the struggling teams drop like a @#&! in a pit toilet.
Basics To Remember
1) We use historical rankings to start the new year's calculations with a bit of a twist. The U14A Ranking will use the combined rankings of the previous year of the combined school ranking. The U15A Rankings will use the last U14 ranking from the previous year. The U16A Ranking will use the last U15A Ranking of the previous year. The 1STXV Ranking will use the previous year's last 1STXV Ranking.
2) A combined school ranking will be published weekly with the following applied weights. U14A - 7,5%, U15A - 12,5%, U/16A - 25% and the 1STXV - 55%.
3) All rankings for 2024 will start with the last 1STXV Ranking of 2023.
4) We work on a points exchange system. In other words, the points that the winning team gains, the losing team will lose.
5) A school can only earn points when it beats a school with 10 or fewer ranking points below it or a school ranked higher than itself.
6) A school playing a school ranked more than 20 points below it will automatically lose 1 ranking point if it wins.
These basics will ensure that teams will be rewarded according to the ranking of the teams they play, however, it will also guard against a school that "selects" their opponents in order to finish unbeaten and be "ranked" as the best in South Africa.
2024 is the first year of Ruggas.co.za ranking all the teams and it will take a few weeks to reflect accurate rankings in the age groups. Please be patient or use it to start a fight.
