Rankings are and can be interpreted in many ways and could also be used to either advance your argument and also used to rubbish an argument which you do not agree with. I have been called a million and four times during this past week to discuss the Ruggas.co.za rankings, the flaws of the system used and asked to explain why are school x, y and z ranked higher than the school in question although schools x,y and z was either beaten by the school in question or was beaten by another school that the school in question has already beat this season.
The only "sensible" use of rankings if it is used to gauge a school's or age group's progress and/or failure using the number of ranking points gained or lost during a specific season.
Top 10 "best improving" schools from the current Top 30
- St Andrew's College +4.441
- Paul Roos Gym +2.875
- Framesby +2.513
- Stellenberg +2.361
- Affies +2.181
- Paarl Gim +1.636
- Michaelhouse +1.493
- KES +1.011
- Grey College + 0.873
- Rondebosch + 0.870
How does the ranking work?
We use the same ranking system that the IRB currently use to rank the countries with. It takes into account the ranking of your opponent, the margin of your win or loss and obviously the results on the day. I have not activated the home and away part of the IRB's calculation as I do feel only a small portion of the schools ranked travel that far to make it applicable.
The 1stXV's ranking inherits the previous year's last ranking as the initial starting point for the new year's ranking. Some schools are advantaged by this while some is feeling the pinch of a bad performance the previous year.
I have done away with the 1.5 ranking point rule where a school is penalised with 1.5 ranking points if the school plays against another school that is ranked more than 10 ranking rules lower than itself.
However, the higher ranked school in 2019 will not earn any ranking points if they win a school with more than 10 ranking points less than him. The lower ranked school will earn .5 ranking points win or lose. This is done to reward and move a school into the "bracket" where they compete.
The only "sensible" use of a ranking if it is used to gauge a school's or age group's success and/or failure using the number of ranking points gained or lost during a specific season