We have done a complete overhaul on our rankings system due to several factors but most important we showcased the outcomes based on ELO and what we called the NextGenXV method. The article can be found clicking here.
There will NEVER be a rankings system where all parties are satisfied, this is the good, the bad and the ugly of doing rankings and a reality we accept. However after over 80% of the community voted in favour of the NextGenXV method of rankings we have decided this will be our method moving forward.
OVERVIEW
Teams are given a rating of A-F, this is based purely on their strength of schedule. A team that plays premier schools that has a 50% win rate should not be punished just as a school that has an unbeaten record but only plays mid level schools should not be awarded when considering rankings.
We further consider the merits of the team overall, for 1st XV we take a look at the performances at Under 16 level and after 4 matches into the season we have a general assessment of where they should be rated. The same is done for Under 16 and Under 15 levels as there is a track record to work off, Under 14’s are an unknown quantity and therefore we wait 4-5 games into the season look at the quality of opposition played as well as the overall win rate.
Once schools are categorized they are then awarded points based on strength of the opposition played as well as the winning or losing margin. If a team wins by over 20 points against a Category A school they are then awarded the maximum amount of points which one can achieve which is 10. For a direct comparison if a team achieves the same winning margin against a Category F school they are only awarded 4.5 points.
The table below reflects how points are awarded:
| MARGIN | CATEGORY A | CATEGORY B | CATEGORY C | CATEGORY D | CATEGORY E | CATEGORY F |
| Win by 20+ Points | 10 | 8 | 6.5 | 5.5 | 5 | 4.5 |
| Win: 14-19 points | 9 | 7.5 | 6 | 5 | 4.5 | 4 |
| Win: 8-13 points | 8 | 6.5 | 5.5 | 4.5 | 4 | 3.5 |
| Win: 1-7 points | 7 | 5.5 | 5 | 4 | 3.5 | 3 |
| Draw | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3.5 | 3 | 2 |
| Loss: 1-7 points | 5 | 4.5 | 4 | 3 | 2.5 | 1.5 |
| Loss: 8-13 points | 4.5 | 4 | 3.5 | 2.5 | 2 | 1 |
| Loss: 14-19 points | 4 | 3.5 | 3 | 2 | 1.5 | 0.5 |
| Loss: More than 20 points | 3.5 | 3 | 2.5 | 1.5 | 1 | 0.25 |
As you can see losing by 10 points to a Category A school is worth the same beating a Category C team by the same margin, in other words teams are awarded far more for the quality of their opposition than they are for a win or a loss.
TEAM RATING CALCULATION
This is where the ELO method fell short in our opinion. What it essentially did was reward teams who played more fixtures, to bring balance to this our method looks at accumulated points and then divides these by the fixtures played to give an average rating.
For example if a school has accumulated 40 points but played 10 fixtures their rating would be calculated by number of points divided by games played, in this case 40/10 = 4.0 rating. Another team could have accumulated fewer points as they have played fewer fixtures, let us say in this case a team has 35 points but only played 5 fixtures. This would be 35/5 = 7.0 rating meaning they would be the higher ranked team.
WHY NOT USE THE WORLD RUGBY SYSTEM?
This is a question that keeps cropping up so let us set the record straight. An international rugby team is not nearly as transient as schools rugby. You can have the same group of players for 5+ years whereas in schools rugby one has to consider that “transfers” to schools take place to strenghten programs and every year you have what equates to a brand new group at each age group. For this reason you simply cannot carry over previous years results into any equation in our opinion, it can be a consideration for sure but to formulate your rankings around that in our opinion does not take the mitigating factors above into play.
YOU CANNOT KEEP EVERYONE HAPPY, HAVE FUN
We literally collect hundreds of scores every weekend, there is a lot of work that goes into it and the abuse we get at times cannot be put into words. But this is schools rugby and should be seen as fun, we realize it is competitive but there will always be disagreements in terms of methodology.
It’s always funny how those who compare our rankings to another system in a negative light happen to be ranked higher on that system and those who see our system working the best see it as so because we have them ranked higher. There is no official ranking system and there is no perfect ranking system, it should all be seen as a bit of fun and honestly ladies and gents – there are more serious things in life than where a team is ranked.
