The real Super rankings

rugby365 brings you an interesting set of Super Rugby rankings, courtesy of our statistics partner Pick & Go, going back to 1996.

We all know that the Crusaders have won seven of the 13 Super Rugby titles on offer since the advent of professionalism, making them the undoubted champions. The Blues with three titles are next, followed by the Brumbies (twice winners) and the Bulls (once).

But does that mean those are, consistently, the most successful teams?

What about the Waratahs, Stormers, Sharks and Hurricanes – teams who have often reached the play-offs without winning?

rugby365.com’s statistics partner Pick & Go has produced a Super Rugby ranking table which calculated the ranking point positions of each team since the first Super 12 match in 1996.

Having started each team on 80 points and then moved them up and down relative to each other using the same points exchange system that the International Rugby Board use for ranking Test matches, P&G has produced a table as it stands after 13 years of professional rugby.

Obviously it does not include Super Rugby tournaments from the amateur era – the Super 10 and its predecessor the Super Six (the latter during South Africa’s isolation years).

It is also worth noting that the two teams that dominated the Super 10 – Queensland (now the Reds), winners in 1994 and 1995, and Transvaal (since then part of the Cats and more recently the Lions), 1993 winners and 1995 finalists – have failed to replicate that early Super form.

Despite finishing top of the standings in 1996 and 1999, as well as reaching the play-offs in 2001, the Reds’ form has been so poor that they can’t finish in the top 10 overall.

The Lions (their stats are being combined with that of the Cats from 1998 till 2005) managed to reach the play-offs in 2000 and 2001, but overall also can’t make the top 10.

Even the Blues, with their three titles, have not been consistent enough for a top three position.

As rankings go, there are the obvious positions – the Crusaders at the top – and then the interesting teams who win nothing, but always come close.

If nothing else, it certainly makes for an interesting conversation and debatable subject.

Here then, are Pick & Go‘s Super team rankings:
1 Crusaders (New Zealand) 87.8923
2 Waratahs (Australia) 84.1922
3 Stormers (South Africa) 83.5516
4 Blues (New Zealand) 82.8286
5 Sharks (South Africa) 82.7554
6 Hurricanes (New Zealand) 82.1277
7 Bulls (South Africa) 81.1403
8 Chiefs (New Zealand) 80.2531
9 Brumbies (Australia) 79.5587
10 Force (Australia) 79.3166
11 Highlanders (New Zealand) 75.7118
12 Reds (Australia) 74.9204
13 Lions (South Africa) 74.1383
14 Cheetahs (South Africa) 71.6132

For more, such as the Champions Table and all the Super Rugby rankings functionalities, visit Pick & Go‘s Super 14 section!

Is this ranking a fair reflection? Let us know.