39 replies to this topic

[guess who]

No they wouldn't they'd be fourth.

As far as i am aware they have played two games against England and won them both.

That should be reason enough for them to be above England.

[Dave T]

As far as i am aware they have played two games against England and won them both.

That should be reason enough for them to be above England.

They have played 3 against England and won 2.

[guess who]

They have played 3 against England and won 2.

Thanks for that.
That should still rate them higher than Engalnd.

[barrowraiderskid]

Thanks for that.
That should still rate them higher than Engalnd.

It shouldn't. That England team wasn't at half strength. A full England team would beat the exiles this year by about 20 points. Graham and Burgess are both arguably in the top 5 forwards in the world, Ellis is a class act. Widdop is in the top ten stand offs in the world IMO. Reed is much better than was it ablett at centre? Westwood was also missing for the games. These players would make a huge differenc.

[Odsal Outlaw]

Thanks for that.
That should still rate them higher than Engalnd.

They don't rank at all as they're not a test playing nation!

[roughyedspud]

New Zealand have really struggled against us in recent years but when we go over there they tend to beat us fairly convincingly.

exactly..so what does that tell us if they can't beat us here and we can't beat them at there place???........heres a clue.....it certainly does'nt tell us they are "miles in front of us" lol

[HKR AWAY DAYS]

exactly..so what does that tell us if they can't beat us here and we can't beat them at there place???........heres a clue.....it certainly does'nt tell us they are "miles in front of us" lol

Results over the past decade would certainly suggest that the gap is closer than many give England credit for. I think individual NZ player reputation often gives people the impression that they are way ahead of us. It has been ######-for-tat for a while now but the main difference is that they found a way to beat Australia twice in meaningful finals.

[clement]

I am bloody well fed up with this bleat about the G/B team being the one that would have the edge over an England side, HOW?

Who would be worthy of a place from the other constituent parts of the existing UK aka G/B who is not already chosen to be playing in the England team.

And my friend, it is almost imminent that the term of G/B is about to dissappear from history shortly as, in case it has slipped by you, there will soon be an referendum held in Scotland that will totally annul any concept of there being a G/B in name or nature, should our so-called Northern bretheren vote for independence, if only, I wish it would happen and soon. If only to stop the carping from some persistent quarters upon this very theme.

No it's not imminent that the UK will split.

[AndyCapp]

The Exiles are not a Test team any more than the "All Stars" or Indigenous teams are in Australia or NZ


The RLIF Rankings are.
Rank (previous position) Nation Points
1 (1) Australia 1,417.00
2 (2) New Zealand 1,040.00
3 (3) England 779.00
4 (4) PNG 291.00
5 (5) France 251.00
6 (6) Wales 240.00
7 (7) Fiji 147.00
8 (6) Samoa 127.00
9 (9) Tonga 105.00
10 (10) Scotland 85.00

Edited by AndyCapp, 24 October 2012 - 11:59 AM.

[brooza]

The Exiles are not a Test team any more than the "All Stars" or Indigenous teams are in Australia or NZ


The RLIF Rankings are.
Rank (previous position) Nation Points
1 (1) Australia 1,417.00
2 (2) New Zealand 1,040.00
3 (3) England 779.00

Thinking about it, the large gap from NZ to England is probably more down to the fact that Oz and NZ play each other more often. You get more ranking points for playing teams that are a higher ranking than you, so NZ playing Oz will get them more points than England playing Wales or France (and no ranking points for playing Exiles)

[DugSWRLgan]

If you had GB brought back with the oppurtunity to be playing against Oz and NZ on tours then maybe we wouldnt see so many players switching countries within the UK making our own european tournament on an annual basis much stronger.

If there was a GB tour to oz to play for soon, maybe Rhys Evans from Bridgend would be running around with his brother in a welsh shirt on saturday, not in the England Knights Squad what a joke would certainly give him something to think about when making the decision, he can play for the country of his birth and also compete against the best in the world with GB Side.

[EdinburghExile]

Thinking about it, the large gap from NZ to England is probably more down to the fact that Oz and NZ play each other more often. You get more ranking points for playing teams that are a higher ranking than you, so NZ playing Oz will get them more points than England playing Wales or France (and no ranking points for playing Exiles)

www.rugbyleagueratings.com/international gives a different take on things - NZ aren't quite so far in front of England.

Australia 2227
New Zealand 1891
England 1800
Papua New Guinea 1402
Tonga 1339
France 1333
Fiji 1330
Samoa 1305
Wales 1297
Cook Islands 1257
Ireland 1055
Scotland 1045

Edited by EdinburghExile, 24 October 2012 - 05:57 PM.

[my missus]

and the rest.
11Ireland 72.81
12 Cook Islands 62.11
13 USA 56.76
14 Italy 44.52
15 Lebanon 43.56
16 Serbia 38.53
17 Germany 38.35
18 Russia 30.62
19 Norway 29.64
20 Latvia 23.67
22 Malta 19.86
23 Czech Republic 16.03
24 Ukraine 15.76
25 Canada 14.36
26 South Africa 14.22
27 Jamaica 13.78
28 Sweden 3.90

[roughyedspud]

www.rugbyleagueratings.com/international gives a different take on things - NZ aren't quite so far in front of England.

Australia 2227
New Zealand 1891
England 1800
Papua New Guinea 1402
Tonga 1339
France 1333
Fiji 1330
Samoa 1305
Wales 1297
Cook Islands 1257
Ireland 1055
Scotland 1045

the top 3 is right.......but tonga,samoa,fiji & cook island should NOT be that high! they don't play enough tests to even get ranking points..

france,wales,scotland & ireland have played nigh on 50+ tests between them since 2009......you can count the number of tests the pacific island nations have play on 1 hand over the same period...

[Griff]

I dont think any player from Wales Ireland or Scotland would be selected for GB so dont see your point

What if we played all four teams against Australia ?

[Cookie]

the top 3 is right.......but tonga,samoa,fiji & cook island should NOT be that high! they don't play enough tests to even get ranking points..

france,wales,scotland & ireland have played nigh on 50+ tests between them since 2009......you can count the number of tests the pacific island nations have play on 1 hand over the same period...

What about the annual-ish Pacific Cup competitions between the Island nations + PNG? Do these not count as Tests?

Edited by Cookie, 29 October 2012 - 04:39 PM.

[EdinburghExile]

What about the annual-ish Pacific Cup competitions between the Island nations + PNG? Do these not count as Tests?

Yep, but they're sadly infrequent - the Pacific Cup seems to have been delayed at the moment, if only the NRL/RLIF could keep them on a steady stream of funding (I assume this is the trouble), there's be a steady stream of recruits for the Kangaroos...

[EdinburghExile]

the top 3 is right.......but tonga,samoa,fiji & cook island should NOT be that high! they don't play enough tests to even get ranking points..

Surely you'd give any of those nations a decent chance against France? Wales are probably over-rated since the retirement of Briers though.

That site rates teams on their current rough strength rather than based on how may times they've played recently, don't see why it matters if they've not played much in the last year or two.

[roughyedspud]

What about the annual-ish Pacific Cup competitions between the Island nations + PNG? Do these not count as Tests?

annual-ish? its been played once....3 years ago

samoa have'nt played since..

tonga once

cook islands once

fiji twice..



as for the rankings going off the strength of a team??? those teams have to wait till australia &NZ select their teams before the pacific island know how strong their teams will be lol

Edited by roughyedspud, 30 October 2012 - 08:45 AM.

[EdinburghExile]

as for the rankings going off the strength of a team??? those teams have to wait till australia &NZ select their teams before the pacific island know how strong their teams will be lol

Well what else would rankings go off?

The islands have always lost their best players to the big countries, so with full strength, they'd be higher no doubt.

Samoa played twice since.