The Second Tiebreak

[Griff]

We don't use points difference as a tie-break all that often in a domestic league season so the chances of actually needing a second tie-break for when points differences are equal are slim indeed.

 

Not so with the small groups in the World Cup and Four Nations.  I don't think it's ever actually happened but we were very close to it at Wrexham yesterday.

 

You can't expect to have players with calculators on the field working out the points percentages. With Ireland leading 46-10 and pressing, they needed to know whether a try would be enough or whether they needed the goal too.  It may well have affected the way they played out their last set (or planned to play it out).

 

In fact, yanto and londonrlfan were both wrong.  They didn't need 5 points at that stage. The unconverted try would have been enough.

 

Points difference is a good option for the first tie-break.  If that's equal, we need to decide whether we value attack or defence the higher.

 

Three options - which is best ?  Remember this is for the situation where points differences are the same.

 

a. Team with the better defence

b. Team scoring more points

c. If you've scored more points than you've conceded, the team with the better defence.  If you've conceded more points than you've scored, team scoring the most points.

 

If you think that option c is crazy, you're right.  But it's what we're using now.