Do you understand the criteria to rank 3 tied teams ?

[Bail]

http://www.rugbyworldcup.com/home/tournamentrules/index.html
If at the completion of the pool phase two or more teams are level on match points, then the following criteria shall be used in the following order until one of the Teams can be determined as the higher ranked:

1. The winner of the match in which the two tied teams have played each other shall be the higher ranked;
2. The team which has the best difference between points scored for and points scored against in all its pool matches shall be the higher ranked;
3. The team which has the best difference between tries scored for and tries scored against in all its pool matches shall be the higher ranked;
4. The team which has scored most points in all its pool matches shall be the higher ranked;
5. The team which has scored most tries in all its pool matches shall be the higher ranked;
6. Should the tie be unresolved at the conclusion of steps 1 through 5, the team that is higher ranked in the updated Official IRB World Rankings on October 3, 2011.

Are we going to number 2 immediatly ?

 

[ZeFrenchy]

First, it would be matches played amongst the tied teams (I'd think this includes bonus points, it would be stupid if not). A triple tie will almost certainly involve one loss and one win for each, so the bonus points obtained in those matches will be very, very important.

Second is the points difference in the general table.

 

[Tricia McMillan]

First, it would be matches played amongst the tied teams (I'd think this includes bonus points, it would be stupid if not).

The rules do not specifically state that bonus points are to be taken into consideration. For example, if Fiji, Samoa, and Wales were all level on points after the group stage, Fiji beat Samoa but lost to Wales with Wales scoring a bonus point for four tries, and Samoa beat Fiji, the bonus point would not be taken into consideration, since it's "designed" to have given them an advantage by having the extra table point anyway. Therefore, this would not rank Wales ahead of Fiji and Samoa, and it would go to overall points difference.

If they were to include the possibility of bonus points, then it would be worded, "The team with the greatest number of points earned in matches against the other tied teams."

Consider the following scenario also: Teams A and B draw each other, with team A scoring a bonus point for scoring four tries, and team B's score coming more from kicks, so A takes 3 points out of the match and B takes 2 points out of the match. Both A and B lose to team C and beat teams D and E. However, team B makes up for it by scoring a bonus point win against one of teams they beat. A and B would have the same points, and have drawn each other. Is it really fair to rank team A ahead of team B because they got a try bonus point in the match between them, that ended in a draw?

Now that I put it that way, I do. It's kind of stupid, but from what I can see the rules disagree with me.

 

[Bail]

So, if three tied team are 1-1 against each other, criteria is point difference ?

 

[cardassian]

So, if three tied team are 1-1 against each other, criteria is point difference ?

Yep