Super Rugby: playoffs picture clears but system raises questions
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — The playoffs picture in Super Rugby has cleared a little after the weekend’s ninth round of games but has again raised question of whether the playoff system is too liberal.
The top eight of 12 teams, or 66% of all teams, contest the Super Rugby quarterfinals and, after nine rounds this season, the price of admission to the top eight is only three wins or 13 points.
Last year the Queensland Reds squeaked into the top eight with five wins and 24 points from the full 15 rounds of the regular season. In 2022, the Dunedin-based Highlanders qualified with four wins and 23 points, four wins and 12 points behind the seventh-placed Reds.
With six rounds left in the current season, Moana Pasifika are on the fringe of the playoffs in eighth place with three wins and 12 points, one win and one point ahead of the New South Wales Waratahs.
Related articles
Saudi Arabia is going to sponsor the WTA women's tennis rankings under a new partnership
NEW YORK (AP) — Saudi Arabia’s move into tennis will now include a multiyear deal to sponsor the WTA2024-05-21Real Madrid wins the Spanish league after Barcelona loses at Girona
BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Real Madrid has won its record-extending 36th Spanish league title after inc2024-05-21Former Nickelodeon star Victoria Justice, 31, opens up about filming her first sex scene
Former Nickelodeon star Victoria Justice has opened up about what it was like to film her first sex2024-05-21What DO cicadas do? Everything you need to know about sex
Trillions of slumbering, sex-crazed cicadas are expected to reemerge across the US starting this mon2024-05-21Red Lobster seeks bankruptcy protection after closing some restaurants
Red Lobster, the casual dining chain that brought seafood to the masses with inventions like popcorn2024-05-21A Chinese driver is praised for helping reduce casualties in a highway collapse that killed 48
BEIJING (AP) — A Chinese truck driver was praised in local media Saturday for parking his vehicle ac2024-05-21
atest comment