NS Rugby Discussion Thread (v.2)

[Darmen]

Due to a pretty major snow storm affecting my area, I'm going to delay tonight's MD3 scorination to tomorrow and push back the rest of the tournament by a day.

[Darmen]

The good news is that the storm wasn't as bad as I expected. The bad news is that that means my delay of MD3 wasn't exactly necessary. I'm still going to hold off until tomorrow to scorinate, but I also wanted to point out that the IC schedule has finally been added to the bottom of the second post.

[Kopyk]

Hey guys, sorry for my inactivity in this RP. I was away for the last week and only found out upon arrival that I would not have internet access during my stay, and I just got back this morning. I’ll do my best to make it for the next World Cup!

[Elejamie]

Hey guys, sorry for my inactivity in this RP. I was away for the last week and only found out upon arrival that I would not have internet access during my stay, and I just got back this morning. I’ll do my best to make it for the next World Cup!

To be fair, you can still get a roster or something up if you really want to. It won't really be much as you've been eliminated with one game left to go but, since your last opponent hasn't won anything either, maybe it could mean that your guys will go home with something. Besides, cut-off's the day after tomorrow so that should probably be enough time if you choose to do it.

If anything I should probably also apologise for not really RPing, especially since I have no excuse. I might have something done after the group stage, though, if that helps.

[Darmen]

Apologies for not scorinating the semifinals last night. Was busy with homework, and didn't realize I had forgot to scorinate until this morning getting ready for school. Scorination of the semifinals will take place tonight at the usual time of 10-11pm Central US, while the Final/3PPO will be on the 6th.

[Elejamie]

Apologies for not scorinating the semifinals last night. Was busy with homework, and didn't realize I had forgot to scorinate until this morning getting ready for school. Scorination of the semifinals will take place tonight at the usual time of 10-11pm Central US, while the Final/3PPO will be on the 6th.

No need to worry, mate. It means that I've got more than enough time to finish my RP, which I was going to do yesterday but I wanted to get my WCoH RP done. Granted, it might not be enough to give me a win but it should mean I've gotten something done other than post a roster.

P.S. Pratapgadh, Domalana, I hope I see you guys in future tournaments. Not just rugby tournaments but also any tournament here on NS Sports. Seriously, some good RPs from you both and you could be a powerhouse in the near future if you keep it up and post regularly.

[Domalana]

P.S. Pratapgadh, Domalana, I hope I see you guys in future tournaments. Not just rugby tournaments but also any tournament here on NS Sports. Seriously, some good RPs from you both and you could be a powerhouse in the near future if you keep it up and post regularly.

I'm around (and have been since c. 2010!) already. You probably know me better as Mytanija!

[Elejamie]

P.S. Pratapgadh, Domalana, I hope I see you guys in future tournaments. Not just rugby tournaments but also any tournament here on NS Sports. Seriously, some good RPs from you both and you could be a powerhouse in the near future if you keep it up and post regularly.

I'm around (and have been since c. 2010!) already. You probably know me better as Mytanija!

Sorry, didn't know that that account was a puppet. In that case, sorry about sweeping you at the World Cup of Hockey and hope to see this nation again soon.

[Pratapgadh]

Apologies for not scorinating the semifinals last night. Was busy with homework, and didn't realize I had forgot to scorinate until this morning getting ready for school. Scorination of the semifinals will take place tonight at the usual time of 10-11pm Central US, while the Final/3PPO will be on the 6th.

No need to worry, mate. It means that I've got more than enough time to finish my RP, which I was going to do yesterday but I wanted to get my WCoH RP done. Granted, it might not be enough to give me a win but it should mean I've gotten something done other than post a roster.

P.S. Pratapgadh, Domalana, I hope I see you guys in future tournaments. Not just rugby tournaments but also any tournament here on NS Sports. Seriously, some good RPs from you both and you could be a powerhouse in the near future if you keep it up and post regularly.

Yes, thank you

I am planning to join the World Grand Prix Championship 17, but not sure. Is the IBC signups starting soon?

[Darmen]

First off, a big thank you to all those who participated in the 18th Rugby League World Cup. I've enjoyed your RPs a lot and look forward to seeing everyone at the next edition.

Here are the updated rankings. In updating them, I've had to make some changes to make things more consistent. These changers are:

• Wins are counted as two points, draws as one. At RLWC 16, wins were counted as three points, giving that WC extra weighting.
• As RLWC 16 did not include a Third Place Playoff, the results of those matches will not be included in the rankings.
• All nations which did not achieve any points are now listed in the rankings. Previously, only teams from RLWC 17 who had ended on zero points were included.
• Any other changes were cosmetic.

If you notice any mistakes, please let me know.

With the conclusion of the RLWC, I'll be consulting with my fellow VP's of the NSRB as to when we want to get the Rugby Union World Cup underway. Expect an announcement in the next week or two.

[Pratapgadh]

Congrats to Abanfleft for winning the Rugbly League World Cup. And special thanks to Darmen for hosting such a great event.

[Hutanjia]

Congrats to Abanhfleft! Thanks to Darmen for hosting.

[Ko-oren]

27th RUWC Final and 3PPO results

And that's all for this edition! Thank you all for participating and for the great pieces I've read over the last few weeks. Elejamie, that was some RP to finish off with. I've had a lot of fun with this from beginning to end, I hope you have as well!

[Pratapgadh]

27th RUWC Final and 3PPO results

And that's all for this edition! Thank you all for participating and for the great pieces I've read over the last few weeks. Elejamie, that was some RP to finish off with. I've had a lot of fun with this from beginning to end, I hope you have as well!

Thank you for hosting such a great event

[Elejamie]

27th RUWC Final and 3PPO results

Congratulations on hosting a great competition and commiserations for losing it. Congratulations to Lisander for a second consecutive bronze medal, here's hoping you don't get a third but rather a spot in the finals next time around. Comisserations to Barunia for placing fourth but you did a valiant job of defending your title, so at least that's something for your guys to go home to.

I would congratulate the winner but I lack the ego. I also didn't want to go past the signature line limit, which is why I deleted my sports successes bit from my sig.

And that's all for this edition! Thank you all for participating and for the great pieces I've read over the last few weeks. Elejamie, that was some RP to finish off with. I've had a lot of fun with this from beginning to end, I hope you have as well!

Thanks, I figured that you'd go all out when it came to your final RP so I might as well do the same thing as well. Plus it was inspired by UrinatingTree's Hater's Guide to [insert whatever finals here] and, indeed, was originally going to be originally just that. I changed my mind early on because a) I was worried about it coming across as flaming, b) I didn't know enough IC information about who did what when and where and c) it's not that easy to do a written version of something better suited for a visual format so rather than wrack my brains getting it done I just had jokey dad character Dave Carrey do his own version of it.

[Lisander]

Congratulations to Elejamie. I always thought the Elephants would win the RWC before the Irises, and I was right, in fact. Congratulations and a very big thank you to Ko-oren too, you made a great tournament, as a team and as a host. Now you have 0-2, but we'll be back soon. Thanks for a great game, Barunia.

I'm not that happy with another bronze, but think of us as Wales. Small, rugby lover, growing power, but yet lacking a World Cup title.

[Neu Engollon]

Congrats to Elejamie and the runners up, as well as Ko-oren for running a successful Cup.

[Geektopia]

Congratulations to Eleanor for a bright future in rugby as well as to Ko-Oren for hosting a smashing WC. I have some questions myself such as are the union rankings coming out next World Cup or later on?

[Darmen]

I have some questions myself such as are the union rankings coming out next World Cup or later on?

Unless Apox or Elejamie beat me to it, I'll update the rankings by the end of the weekend. I'll also be posting my ideas on how we can organize the Sevens Series, which is the next phase of the cycle. I had originally planned to do that a long time ago, but school has taken up a majority of the spots on my list of priorities lately.

[Ko-oren]

As my bonus point system caused some discussion in the Signups/OOC thread, I've ranked the group stage according to three different systems:
1) RUWC 25 (old Bonus Points: 1 for a small loss (7 points or fewer) and 1 for scoring 31 points or over)
2) RUWC 26 (no Bonus Points at all)
3) RUWC 27 (new Bonus Points: 1 for a small loss (7 points or fewer) or 1 for a big win (15 points or more)

All three RUWC's gave out 4 points for a win and 2 for a draw, so I've kept those intact.

What you see below is the final group stage tables. Column BP is the RUWC 27 BP system (new system). OBP stands for Old Bonus Points, like in RUWC 25. Pts contains the points gained from winning/drawing - exactly as RUWC 26 was run.

Group A                               Pld   W  D  L   PF  PA  PD  BP  Pts OBP
1 Elejamie                                4   3  0  1  105  39 +66   3   12 2
2 Natanians and Nosts                     4   3  0  1   69  43 +26   2   12 1
3 Kita-Hinode                             4   2  0  2   40  52 −12   1    8 1
4 Pratapgadh                              4   2  0  2   49  64 −15   1    8 1
5 Griemvarant                             4   0  0  4    5  70 −65   1    0 1

  Group B                               Pld   W  D  L   PF  PA  PD  BP  Pts OBP
1 Hutanjia                                4   3  1  0   72  34 +38   1   14 0
2 Mattijana                               4   2  1  1   77  47 +30   2   10 2
3 Busoga Islands                          4   2  1  1   58  54  +4   1   10 0
4 Geektopia                               4   1  1  2   51  51   0   1    6 0
5 Saladistan                              4   0  0  4   43 115 −72   0    0 0

  Group C                               Pld   W  D  L   PF  PA  PD  BP  Pts OBP
1 Barunia                                 4   4  0  0   86  40 +46   1   16 1
2 Alice Bay                               4   3  0  1   74  20 +54   2   12 2
3 Filindostan                             4   2  0  2   52  53  −1   2    8 2
4 Authoritarian Republic of Lochario      4   1  0  3   35  96 −61   0    4 0
5 Pius Desurongcrandis                    4   0  0  4   26  64 −38   2    0 2

  Group D                               Pld   W  D  L   PF  PA  PD  BP  Pts OBP
1 Apox                                    4   3  0  1   77  35 +42   3   12 1
2 Neu Engollon                            4   2  0  2   58  52  +6   1    8 1
3 Sajnur                                  4   2  0  2   83  92  −9   0    8 1
4 Thaulandi                               4   2  0  2   54  70 −16   0    8 0
5 Romanovskaya                            4   1  0  3   26  49 −23   2    4 2

  Group E                               Pld   W  D  L   PF  PA  PD  BP  Pts OBP
1 Darmen                                  4   4  0  0   35   6 +29   0   16 0
2 Ko-oren                                 4   3  0  1   71  29 +42   3   12 0
3 Aimena                                  4   2  0  2   37  41  −4   1    8 1
4 Free Republics                          4   1  0  3   29  52 −23   2    4 1
5 Logria                                  4   0  0  4   17  61 −44   1    0 1

  Group F                               Pld   W  D  L   PF  PA  PD  BP  Pts OBP
1 Abanhfleft                              4   4  0  0   89  51 +38   1   16 1
2 Juvencus                                4   3  0  1   80  50 +30   2   12 1
3 Savojarna                               4   2  0  2   57  56  +1   1    8 0
4 Bongo Johnson                           4   1  0  3   51  63 −12   2    4 2
5 Bernegastad                             4   0  0  4   19  76 −57   2    0 2

  Group G                               Pld   W  D  L   PF  PA  PD  BP  Pts OBP
1 Lisander                                4   4  0  0  121  44 +77   3   16 1
2 Kelssek                                 4   3  0  1   59  45 +14   1   12 0
3 Alpine Union                            4   2  0  2   84  40 +44   3    8 2
4 Aels                                    4   1  0  3   37 107 −70   1    4 0
5 Rakivland                               4   0  0  4    9  74 −65   1    0 1

  Group H                               Pld   W  D  L   PF  PA  PD  BP  Pts OBP
1 United States of Devonta                4   2  2  0   68  34 +34   1   12 1
2 Nova Anglicana                          4   2  1  1   38  18 +20   1   10 0
3 Northwest Kalactin                      4   2  1  1   33  28  +5   1   10 0
4 Crownbrook                              4   1  0  3   21  50 −29   0    4 0
5 Kandonica                               4   1  0  3   44  74 −30   1    4 1

Now here's the interesting bit: the tables for RUWCs 25, 26 and 27 are all exactly the same. It turns out that bonus points don't matter enough (as it's really, really hard to get four BPs, the equivalent of winning a game) to change the table much and teams that have gotten BPs have generally got better PDs anyway - so would still outrank teams with the same number of points.

Further differences between the RUWC 25 and 27 systems: the different BP systems have had more than a 1 point swing for the following nations:
- Ko-oren 3 BP vs 0 (-5 style)
- Apox 3 BP vs 1 (+1.5 style)
- Lisander 3 BP vs 1 (3.25 style)
23 out of 40 nations had no differences between the RUWC 27 and 25 bonus point systems.

For the notion that teams with (heavily) negative style mods are disproportionally aided by the RUWC 27 BP system: Darmen and Romanovskaya (both -5 style) had no changes. Only Ko-oren (also -5) saw an increase in the number of BP between the RUWC 25 and 27 systems.

[Darmen]

Here are the updated Rugby Union rankings. As with the Rugby League rankings, I've had to make some changes for the sake of consistency and also to rectify some errors made in the past. Those changes are:

• Bonus points from RUWC 27 & RUWC 25 have been ignored for consistency
• Playoff Round from RUWC 25 ignored for consistency
• Banija's 8 points from RUWC 26 now accredited to Busoga Islands per rank transfer
• Unified Sunrise Island's 6 points from RUWC 25 now accredited to Kita-Hinode per rank transfer (this switch was missed pre-RUWC 26)

If you notice any mistakes, please let me know.

[Pratapgadh]

Here are the updated Rugby Union rankings. As with the Rugby League rankings, I've had to make some changes for the sake of consistency and also to rectify some errors made in the past. Those changes are:

• Bonus points from RUWC 27 & RUWC 25 have been ignored for consistency
• Playoff Round from RUWC 25 ignored for consistency
• Banija's 8 points from RUWC 26 now accredited to Busoga Islands per rank transfer
• Unified Sunrise Island's 6 points from RUWC 25 now accredited to Kita-Hinode per rank transfer (this switch was missed pre-RUWC 26)

If you notice any mistakes, please let me know.

We are 23rd, not bad!

[Aimena]

23rd as well! Just what we wanted

[Lisander]

Brought from Domestic Rugby:

Huh, I never really thought of it that way. And I didn't realize that technically speaking, there are indeed four teams from Abanhfleft going to the RUCT. And since there's nothing quite like the APOC Coalition in RL (that I know of) there's nothing that I can really point to as precedent.

Having said that, it's not guaranteed that there will always be Fleftic teams qualifying under the APOC banner. It just so happened that this season, two Abanhfleft-based teams qualified under the current criteria. In another season, maybe no Fleftic teams at all qualify.

But, if the community decides that my entries are in violation, I will withdraw Abanhfleft's entries.

I'm not sure how Fleftic rugby pyramid works. I don't know if Premiership clubs act like feeder teams to APOC Coalition, that is what occurs in most multi-associational leagues in Real Life.

Considering no further clarification, this case looks like Italy in real life. Italy have two tiers of feeding teams:
First is composed by Zebre and Benetton Treviso, playing in Multinational PRO14, feeder for the Champions Cup/Challenge Cup (D1 and D2)
Second is composed by TOP12 Championship, feeder to Continental Shield (D3)

I think having a second tier competition to teams who failed the Champions Trophy would be also the best to fit teams playing inside the nations' pyramid, but feeding teams in multi-associational leagues.

[Abanhfleft]

I'm not sure how Fleftic rugby pyramid works. I don't know if Premiership clubs act like feeder teams to APOC Coalition, that is what occurs in most multi-associational leagues in Real Life.

Considering no further clarification, this case looks like Italy in real life. Italy have two tiers of feeding teams:
First is composed by Zebre and Benetton Treviso, playing in Multinational PRO14, feeder for the Champions Cup/Challenge Cup (D1 and D2)
Second is composed by TOP12 Championship, feeder to Continental Shield (D3)

I think having a second tier competition to teams who failed the Champions Trophy would be also the best to fit teams playing inside the nations' pyramid, but feeding teams in multi-associational leagues.

The way that I've imagined it, the Fleftic Rugby Premiership and the Rugby Coalition are two different entities. The FRP is the top level of rugby union in Abanhfleft only, while the RC encompasses all four nations in the Coalition, with the reason being that the Coalition wants to promote rugby throughout. In this arrangement, the Rugby Coalition would be considered the first tier while the Fleftic Premiership is on the second tier. I didn't really imagine the FRP itself being a feeder to the RC because the Fleftic teams in the RC are based in places where there isn't a lot of rugby teams (both giving the locations teams to root for and expanding rugby's reach there) but I would say that there's been movement of players from the Premiership to the RC and also the other way around.

I am always open to a solution to this. If it's withdrawing Abanhfleft's entries for the time being, that's all right. If it's the creation of a second level cup competition then that's all right as well, although I don't know if Apox will be up to scorinating two cups.