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Rugby


Conferences

International rugby is well structured. Its features are:

Conferences are well balanced and they make sense geographically.

Conferences results carry weight because the World Cup occurs only once every 4 years.

There are abundant interconference matches, both between top-tier teams and between top-tier and lesser teams.

Conferences are flexible. For example Argentina established itself by making the World Cup semifinal in 2007 and was invited to join the Tri Nations in 2011, now known as The Rugby Championship. Teams can take temporary leaves of absence from conferences.

Teams can play in multiple ocnferences, such as the USA, Canada, and Japan.

Teams can schedule games with whoever they want, and there is no limit to the number of times two two teams can play per year.

There are several national #2 teams, such as New Zealand #2 and Argentia #2.

There are subregional conferences such as Europe 6 Nations B and Asian Division 1.

There exist teams independent of nations, such as The Barbarians.

Each team plays around 12 games per year and these games are chosen wisely. Matches are almost always compelling because both conference and interconference results carry weight.


Top-tier teams

The top teams hisorically are:

New Zealand
England
Ireland
Australia
Wales
France
South Africa
Scotland
Teams in the top tier rarely lose to teams outside the top tier.
Games

For each team we list the number of games played against each conference. Data for 2017.

              Total   The Rugby    Europe 6  Pacific   Americas   Asia   Other
                     Championship  Nations   Nations

New Zealand     14       7            3         1                          3
England         11       4            5         1                          1
Ireland         11       2            5         1         1        2
Australia       14       7            5         2
France          11       5            5                   1
Fiji             8       1            4         2         1
Japan           10       1            3         1                  4       1

There are enough interconference games so that a world champion can be determined using games from the past 2 years.

Some teams play in multiple conferences. For this table we consider USA and Canada to be in the Americas conference and Japan to be in the Asian conference.


World Cup

Rugby World Cup 2019 qualifying

12 teams qualified from the 2015 World Cup by placing in the top three of their pool. The Oceana regional qualifier conributes 2 teams and the Americas regional qualifier contributes 2 teams. The best teams from regional qualifiers not yet already qualified then played a cross-regional qualifier to decide 4 more teams.

           Qualified from    Regional     Cross-regional
           2015 World Cup    qualifier    qualifier

Oceana     New Zealand       Fiji         Samoa
           Ausralia          Tonga        Tahiti

Europe     Scotland
           Wales
           Ireland
           France
           England
           Italy
           Georgia

Americas   Argentina         USA          Canada
                             Uruguay

Asia       Japan

Africa     South Africa

Rugby World Cup 2015

                                                 New Zealand
                                 New Zealand     France
                 New Zealand
                                 South Africa    Wales
                                                 South Africa
New Zealand
                                                 Argenina
                                 Argenina        Ireland
                 Ausralia
                                 Ausralia        Scotland
                                                 Ausralia


Rank   Pool A       Pool B         Pool C        Pool D

  1    Ausralia     South Africa   New Zealand   Ireland
  2    Wales        Scotland       Argentina     France
  3    England      Japan          Georgia       Italy
  4    Fiji         Samoa          Tonga         Romania
  5    Uruguay      USA            Namibia       Canada

Rugby World Cup 2015 qualifying

The 2015 World Cup has 20 teams. 12 qualified based on 2011 World Cup results, 7 qualifed based on regional tournaments, and 1 qualified based on a repechage tournament.

                   Oceana          Europe       Americas      Africa        Asia

Qualified from     New Zealand     England      Argentina     S. Africa
2011 World Cup     Australia       France
                   Samoa           Wales
                   Tonga           Scotland
                                   Ireland
                                   Italy

Regional           Fiji            Georgia      Canada        Namibia       Japan
qualifiers                         Romania      USA

Repechage                                       Uruguay

Repechage bracket:

                        Uruguay
            Uruguay     Hong Kong
Uruguay
            Russia      Zimbabwe
                        Russia

Rugby World Cup History

Data since the formation of the World Cup in 1987.

                                                  20 20 20 20 19 19 19 19
           Win Final Semi Quar Pool               15 11 07 03 99 95 91 87

New Zealand  3    1    3    1         New Zealand  1  1  4  3  3  2  3  1
Australia    2    2    2    2         Australia    2  3  4  2  1  4  1  3
S. Africa    2         2    2         S. Africa    3  4  1  4  3  1
England      1    2    1    3    1    England      5  4  2  1  4  3  2  4
France            3    3    2         France       4  2  3  3  2  3  4  2
Wales                  2    3    3    Wales        4  3  5  4  4  5  5  3
Argentina              2    2    4    Argentina    3  4  3  5  4  5  5  5
Scotland               1    6    1    Scotland     4  5  4  4  4  4  3  4
Ireland                     6    2    Ireland      4  4  5  4  5  4  4  4
Canada                      1    7    Canada       5  5  5  5  5  5  4  5
Italy                            8    Italy        5  5  5  5  5  5  5  5
Romania                          8    Romania      5  5  5  5  5  5  5  5
Samoa                       2    5    Samoa        5  5  5  5  5  4  4
Fiji                        2    5    Fiji         5  5  4  5  5     5  4
USA                              7    USA          5  5  5  5  5     5  5
Japan                            7    Japan        5  5  5  5  5     5  5
Tonga                            7    Tonga        5  5  5  5  5  5     5
Namibia                          5    Namibia      5  5  5  5  5
Georgia                          4    Georgia      5  5  5  5
Uruguay                          3    Uruguay      5        5  5
Zimbabwe                         2    Zimbabwe                       5  5
Russia                           1    Russia          5
Portugal                         1    Portugal           5
Spain                            1    Spain                    5
Ivory Coast                      1    Ivory Coast                 5

                                                   1: Win
                                                   2: Final
                                                   3: Semifinal
                                                   4: Quarterfinal
                                                   5: Pool

The Rugby Championship

The Rugby Championship has existed from 2012 until the present. It was previously known as The Tri Nations until Argentina joined in 2012.

             1st  2nd  3rd                 17 16 15 14 13 12

New Zealand   5    1          New Zealand   1  1  2  1  1  1
Australia     1    3    2     Australia     2  2  1  3  3  2
S. Africa          2    3     S. Africa     3  3  4  2  2  3
Argentina               1     Argentina     4  4  3  4  4  4

Tri Nations:

             11 10  9  8  7  6  5  4  3  2  1  0 99 98 97 96

New Zealand   2  1  2  1  1  1  1  3  1  1  2  2  1  3  1  1
Australia     1  2  3  2  2  2  3  2  2  2  1  1  2  2  3  3
S. Africa     3  3  1  3  3  3  2  1  3  3  3  3  3  1  2  2

Europe Six Nations Rugby

For 2010-2017,

         1st  2nd  3rd               17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10

England   3    4    1      England    1  1  2  2  2  1  3  2
Ireland   2    2    3      Ireland    2  3  1  5  3  3  2  1
Wales     2    1    1      Wales      5  2  3  1  1  4  4  4
France    1    1    2      France     3  5  4  6  4  2  1  3    
Scotland            1      Scotland   4  4  6  3  6  5  5  5
Italy                      Italy      6  6  5  4  5  6  6  6

Pacific Nations Rugby

For 2010-2017,

          1st  2nd  3rd            17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10

Fiji       4    3          Fiji     1  1  1  2  1  2  4  2
Samoa      3    2    2     Samoa    3  2  2  1     1  3  1
Tonga      1    1    5     Tonga    2  3  3  3  3  3  1  4
Japan      1    1    1     Japan          4  1  4  4  2  3
Canada          1    1     Canada         6  3  2
USA             1          USA            5  2  5

Asia Rugby Championship

For 2010-2017,

            1st  2nd  3rd                18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10

Japan        8               Japan           1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1
Hong Kong         5    3     Hong Kong    *  2  2  2  2  3  3  2  3
South Korea       2    4     South Korea  *  3  3  3  3  2  2     5
Kazakhstan        1          Kazakhstan                     5  4  2
UAE                    1     UAE                         5  4  3
Philippines                  Philippines     4           4
Arab Gulf                    Arab Gulf                            4
Sri Lanka                    Sri Lanka       5                 5
Malaysia                                  *

Japan is not playing in the 2018 tournament because they have already qualified for the 2019 World Cup.


Americas Rugby Championship

The Amricas Rugby Championship has existed in its present form from 2016 to the present.

              17 16

USA            1  2
Argentina #2   2  1
Uruguay        3  4
Brazil         4  5
Canada         5  3
Chile          6  6

Europe Six Nations B

          17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10  9

Georgia    2  1  1  1  1  1  1  2  1
Romania    1  2  2  2  2  3  2  1  4
Russia     4  3  4  3  3  4  4  3  2
Spain      3  4  3  4  6  2  5  5  5
Portugal      6  5  5  4  5  3  4  3
Germany    5  5  6              3  6
Belgium    6        6  5
Ukraine                   6  6

Churchill Cup
          1st  2nd  3rd             11 10  9  8  7  6  5  4  3

Saxons     6    2          Saxons    1  1  2  1  1  4  1  2  1
Maori      2    1          Maori                 2  1     1
Ireland    1         3     Ireland         1  3  3  3
Canada          2    3     Canada    2  2  4  5  5  5  3  3  3
Scotland        2          Scotland           2  4  2
Argentina       1    3     Argentina       3  4        2
USA             1          USA       5  4  5  6  6  6  4  4  2
Italy                3     Italy     3
France               1     France       3
                           Georgia         6
                           Tonga     4
                           Uruguay      6
                           Russia    6  5

Africa Cup


          1st 2nd 3rd     17 16 15 14 13 12 11 09

Namibia    5       1       1  1  1  1        3  1
Kenya      2   2   3       2  2  3  3  1  3  1
Zimbabwe   1   3           5  4  2  2  2  1
Uganda         1   3       3  3        4  2     3
Tunisia        2           4     4        4  2  2
Madagascar         1                4  3
Morocco            1                         3
Ivory C.           1                            3
Senegal                    6

Strength of conferences

For 2016-2017, England and New Zealand dominated all other teams and they didn't play each other. Results for 2016-2017:

           NZ  Eng  Ire  Sco Aus  SA   Fra  Wales

N Zealand           -+    +  ++-  ++   ++    +
England              -    +  ++++  +    +    +
Ireland                   -   +  ++--   +    -
Scotland                      +         -    +
Australia                         oo    +   ++
S. Africa                               +    -
France                                       +
Wales

+   Win
-   Loss
o   Tie
For example, New Zealand defeated Scotland. Some teams played more than once.
Oligarchs and Plebes

The most historically successful teams are England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, France, New Zealand, Australia, and South Africa. We designate these as oligarch teams and the rest as plebe teams.

During 2016 and 2017 it almost never happened that a plebe team beat an oligarch team.

             NZ  Aus  SA  Eng   Ire  Scot  Wales  Fra

Argentina    --  --       ----   -    -    -      +-
Italy        -    -   +-   -     -    --   -      -
Japan             -              --   --   -      o
Fiji              -        -     -    +
Samoa        -             -          -    -      -
Tonga                                      -
USA                              -
Canada                           -
Georgia                               -    -

 +   Win
 -   Loss
 o   Tie

Plebe teams

Results for plebe teams for 2016-2017.

         Arg  Ita  Jap  Fij  Sam  Ton  USA  Can  Uru  Bra  Chi  Geo  Rom  Nam

Argentina     ++    +                             +         +    +
Italy                   +-         -    +    +
Japan                    -         +         +                   +    +
Fiji                         ++   ++         -                   -
Samoa                             -+         +                   -o   -
Tonga                                   +                        -    +
USA                                        +o+    +    +    +    --   -
Canada                                            -    -    +    --  --
Uruguay                                               ++++ ++++      --
Brazil                                                      -         -
Chile                                                   
Georgia                                                              -+
Romania                                                                   +

Rugby vs. American football

Suppose a convention is held to create a new college sport and suppose someone proposes a sport with the following properties:

At least a dozen coaches are required, each with million dollar salaries.

There are a small number of glamorous positions and a large number of grunt positions.

Only elite players can participate in the program. There is no team for casual players.

There are patrician leagues and plebe leagues, with little upward mobility for the plebes. Patrician teams cannot be relegated and some teams have the status of eternal royalty.

The rulebook shall be as thick as The Lord of the Rings, it shall be full of kludges, and it shall require at least 6 referees and a set of replay cameras to enforce.

The positions shall be highly specialized, with a set of coaches for each position.

The fundamental structure of the sport will be inflexible because it is full of specialized players and coaches who don't want their niches destroyed by a rule change.

The sport consists of 10% action and 90% loafing, facilitating commercial breaks.

There is a single-elimination national championship that steals attention from the regular season and from non-contenders. Epic matchups that should happen don't happen.

Ball possession is critical, discouraging risk. All plays are set plays, discouraging personal initiative. Plays are called by the coaches.

The sport is institutionalized and petty infractions or poor grades can get you cut from the team.

If you lose you are vilified.

Players shall be forbidden from making money outside institutional channels.

An expensive stadium is required.

Expensive equipment is required.

A team with a lead can play conservatively and lock down a win.

The last quarter is often garbage time.

You might have the dream of playing for a particular college, but you have to go somewhere else because there is already a player there that is better than you at your position, and the first team gets most of the minutes.

Nobody outside your country knows anything about your sport.

The sport feeds into a professional league where there are only elite teams and no casual teams.

The professional sports league has a draft where the players have little say in who they end up playing for. Contracts are fixed by draft order.


Suppose someone else proposes a sport with the following properties:

The sport has diverse positions accommodating all athletic types and there is fluidity between the positions. A tank may on occasion find himself with the ball and space, and a fancy air superiority fighter may on occasion find himself at the center of a maul.

The rules shall be logical, elegant, and flexible, pithy, and require only one referee and no coaches. For example, two teams might negotiate a variation on the rules that enhances their team's styles.

There is an A team for serious players and there are B, C, and D teams for casual players.

Games can be scheduled anytime and with any opponent. For example, Hoffstra is renowned for being good hosts and so one offers to play a game at Hoffstra. If a rival team is full of jerks then you can ignore them.

You can play the sport without previous experience.

Any group of people can spontaneously form a team.

The team is outside the domain of the Athletic Director.

You don't need university facilities to practice or host games.

You are free to play for any professional sports team. Professional clubs exist worldwide at all salary levels.

The equipment consists of shoes and a ball.


What do you call a fast man that can't catch? A cornerback

What do you call a fast man that can't tackle? A wide receiver

What do you call a fast man that can't tackle or catch? A sprinter

What do you call a fast man that can tackle and catch? A rugby player

What do you call a slow man man that can't tackle or catch, but is badass in intangible ways? A rugby player


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