Sharks simply the best

There has been a South African team at the top of the Super 14 standings since Week One – the first six weeks the Bulls sat in first place and at the weekend the Sharks moved to the No.1 spot.

While the South African teams have certainly dominated this year, we thought it might be worth looking at how they rate against their Australasian rivals over a longer period – maybe even since the inception of professional Super Rugby in 1996.

These rankings are not an exact science, but it is an interesting point of debate – especially since it now puts a South African team, the Sharks, on top of the all-time Super Rugby rankings.

The seven-time champions Crusaders have won 99 out of their 149 Super Rugby matches since 1996, while the Sharks have won 79 from 149 appearances.

While the Crusaders have a better win-loss ratio their current position on the Super 14 ladder influences the all-time rankings. The Crusaders have lost three games in 2009 while the Sharks has only been defeated once this year. The Sharks have picked up more points than the defending champions this year, which secured their status as the best Super Rugby team, to date.

We have used the stats website pick & go, which has come up with a new Super Rugby ranking table that shows the ranking point positions of each team since the first Super 12 match in 1996. (For obvious reasons this table discounts performances for the amateur era – the Super 10 and Super Six, before 1996)

For the purpose of these rankings each team started on 80 points and they move up and down relative to each other using the same points exchange system that the International Rugby Board use for ranking Test matches.

Exchange points are doubled for semis & finals.

So, at the halfway stage of the 2009 season, we find that the Sharks are rated the top team on the all-time Super Rugby – which is on par with their first place on this year’s standings.

Here are the rankings:

1 Sharks (South Africa) 85.4899 points
2 Crusaders (New Zealand) 84.1021
3 Waratahs (Australia) 83.9039
4 Chiefs (New Zealand) 83.6287
5 Bulls (South Africa) 82.4486
6 Hurricanes (New Zealand) 82.3848
7 Stormers (South Africa) 80.1370
8 Blues (New Zealand) 80.0861
9 Brumbies (Australia) 79.7614
10 Western Force (Australia) 78.7372
11 Highlanders (New Zealand) 78.2314
12 Reds (Australia) 75.9790
13 Lions (South Africa) 74.7672
14 Cheetahs (South Africa) 70.3426

rugby365.com

* Do you think the rankings are accurate? Let us know…