With South Africa and New Zealand tied on overall log points going into the decisive final round of the Rugby Championship, here’s how the Springboks can trump the All Blacks to claim the title.
After victories over the Wallabies and Argentina, respectively, the All Blacks and Springboks are both on 14 log points in the Rugby Championship.
However, in accordance with Sanzaar’s competition laws, New Zealand are top of the competition as they currently have a better overall points difference (41) than South Africa (28).
Rugby Championship laws state that the first separator for tied teams is overall wins in a particular year. If that does not separate teams, then the team with the most wins over the other is placed on top.
The Springboks and All Blacks got one win each in the two-Test series played in South Africa at the start of the campaign.
This means that the third separator comes into play, which is the overall points difference.
South Africa and New Zealand host Argentina and Australia, respectively, in the final round.
The All Blacks are facing Australia at Eden Park, where they have not lost to the Wallabies in the professional era.
The Springboks and Los Pumas are playing in Durban where the teams have met twice before – the Boks winning 34-21 in 2018 after Argentina claimed a 37-25 victory in 2015.
Here’s what the Springboks will have to do to win the tournament, based on what happens in the earlier match between the All Blacks and Wallabies:
Australia win
A rare Wallabies win over New Zealand would make the task simple for the Springboks: beat Argentina and South Africa are champions of the 2022 Rugby Championship.
New Zealand win, but without a bonus point
If New Zealand win, but fail to score three tries more than the Wallabies in Auckland, the Springboks would either need to get a bonus-point victory or, failing that, win by a massive margin as the points difference between the two title contenders is already 13 points.
The Springboks will have to hope in this scenario that Australia can restrict the All Blacks to a modest seven-point win at the most. That would mean South Africa have to beat Argentina by 20 points or more to win the title.
New Zealand win, with a bonus point
If the All Blacks claim a bonus point victory at Eden Park, that would make the Springboks’ task far more difficult.
In this scenario, South Africa would have to record a sizeable bonus point victory over Argentina to win the title.
The Springboks are relying on the Wallabies to keep up with New Zealand on the scoreboard, as points difference could decide the title.
Photo: Twitter/@Springboks
