Scoring & Bonus Points
Rugby World Cup 2003
posted 15th October 2003
I keep getting asked questions about how the scoring of points is done for the various teams in the rugby
world cup, and also how the bonus point system works - so I thought I'd best explain how it's all put together -
that way you'll all be like experts :)) Hey - it's not rocket science so grab a drink (preferably alcoholic) and follow along.
Basic structure of the tournament:
There are twenty teams in total playing in the Rugby Union World Cup - they're the 20 that qualified to be in it. Some teams had an
automatic entry eg. Australia the 1999 cup winners, based on their performance and position at the previous rwc. Other teams, for example, Georgia, are
in the tournament because they qualified the highest out of their region.
The 20 teams have been divided into four pools - Pool A, Pool B, Pool C, and Pool D. Each pool has five teams in it.
The five teams in each pool will play each other in a round robin - these are referred to as the pool game matches.
At the end of the round robin, when each team has played the other teams in their pool, the winner of each pool, and the runners-up will progress through to the
quarter final round.
Scoring
When a team wins a match they are awarded 4 points. A draw gives them 2 points.
Bonus Points
When a team scores four tries in any game they are awarded a bonus point. It doesn't matter if they
don't win the game - they just have to score 4 tries to get an extra point. Also,
if a team loses by seven points or less they also receive a bonus point.
This means then that the maximum points a winning team can score in any one match is 5 (4 for the win plus 1 if they score 4 or more tries)
The maximum points that a team can get if they draw is 3 (2 for the draw plus 1 point if they score 4 tries or more). It is possible for 2 teams to
draw and yet receive a different number of points for the game. For example, team A and B might draw, but team A scored 4 tries while team B only scored 3.
In this scenario team A would receive 3 points, and team B would only receive 2.
The maximum number of points a losing team can receive is 2, and that would occur if the team scored 4 tries or more, and got within the 7 point margin.
See? Easy Peazy! You might want to go grab another drink :)
Now you've got all that, what will happen if teams have the same amount of points at the end of the pool game round?
These are the rules: (countback style)
The team that won when the two teams played in the pool match will be ranked the higher
The team with the best points differences in pool matches will be ranked the higher
The team with the best tries record in the pool games will be ranked the higher
The team that scored the most points in pool matches will be ranked the higher
and the team that scored the most tries throughout pool matches will be higher ranked
If by some freak of nature the teams are still tied after all of that - then they flip a coin!!
Teams that go through to the quarterfinals play each other as follow:
QF 1: Winner D vs Runner up C
QF 2: Winner A vs Runner up B
QF 3: Winner B vs Runner up A
QF 4: Winner C vs Runner up D
The winners of the quarter finals go through to the semi finals to be played in Sydney (Nov 15-16). They
will play each other as follows:
Semi final 1 - Winner QF1 vs Winner QF2
Semi final 2 - Winner QF3 vs Winner QF4
The two losing teams from the semi finals go through to the play off final for third and fourth spot finishing positions - to be played in
Sydney on November 20. The winners of the semi finals of course go through to the final - Sydney November 22. I can't wait :)
Pool tie info sourced from: http://www.rugby2003.com.au
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