On 19 April I was unwise enough to refer to the three nations at the top table, England, New Zealand and France. It was all about world rankings.
I pointed to the narrow margin between the latter two: 88.58 and 88.43
Then came the Big Battle between France and England at Bayonne. Result: not only do Les Bleues lose ground on the Black Ferns, they drop below Canada to fourth place.
I find that quite incomprehensible.
Of course the great minds behind Capgemini (all the world rankings are ‘Powered by Capgemini’) are light years better than me at mathematics. I can refer only to the fixture lists France and Canada are forced to follow by virtue of their geography.
Famously, France have now faced the Red Roses ten times without success. On precisely two of those occasions they conceded over 30 points (41 and 33). Time and again the world’s Number One had to scramble and scramble to bring home the bacon.
Contrast Canada: they are fated to meet the USA time and again. They will do so again in the Pacific-4 this summer (winter in Oz and NZ). And they tend to beat them. They are a fine team.
But when both came to play England in the autumn, they suffered severe setbacks (England 51 Canada 12; England 89 USA 0).
The two margins were wide, but aligned with the difference in rankings, 4th and 6th.
For the sake of my argument: would France have lost to Canada? It’s hard to believe. Even with the priceless home advantage France would not have lost Capgemini points to the visitors. You wouldn’t put much money on the Maple Leafs defeating them on home territory either.
