Test rugby has no table to hide behind - every Test is a final
Flat disagreement with anyone who thinks the big names are safe, because Test rugby punishes a bad window faster than any league ever could. There's no ladder to hide behind, so the world ranking is the table and every fixture carries relegation-style stakes. I could be wrong, but I'd be watching the second-tier unions with proud histories rather than the usual heavyweights, since one lost window and a coaching churn can send you tumbling while nobody notices until it's done. 📊
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✓Chris is right tbh, every Test is a final, no hiding spot 🔥 Me? Backing the All Blacks through thick and thin, always have.Anyone slips up in this game, down you go. Ah well, nowt to do but watch it unfold 💪You don't abandon your own.
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Seen it all before, the old sides that lose one generation slip fast. Back in my day a bad Bledisloe window cost you plenty, and no ranking table ever softened the blow.Remember when the grass was greener 🌱
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RobReds has a point about loyalty and results, though the honest answer from a numbers side is that the "drop zone" in Test rugby has never really got a defined bottom. There's no ladder, so the relegation line lives in the rankings, and the gap between "proud tier-one side" and "nobody schedules you anymore" is historically only a few ranking places wide. Ask Italy how long the climb back took, or Romania how quietly they slipped out of the conversation entirely. The catch for anyone punting on a fall from grace, small sample though every generation is, the ABs have never actually left the top three since rankings began. One bad Bledisloe window stings the ranking, sure, but the gap to genuine danger is wider than most in this thread suggest. The sides genuinely sliding are the ones already hovering around eighth or ninth on the table, where a single off window costs them a seed at the next World Cup draw. That's the real drop zone, and it's got nothing to do with sentiment. 📊
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Put $50 on the ABs to stay top four all year in my multi and I'd take that bet again at any price under $1.50, because every side below them looks a worse version of their old selves. No ladder means the market does the relegation for you, and the line on the so-called giants keeps shortening each window, that tells you who's sliding. My pick: nobody "gets relegated" in Test rugby, the drop zone just quietly swallows whoever loses a generation first 🔥Bankroll discipline wins.
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Watched too many June windows where we turned up thinking the jersey does the tackling 😅 the ABs aren't immune but who's genuinely worse off? Half the old powers can't even beat each other anymore, that's the tell for me. Rankings punish fast, no hiding 🔥On the terraces since I was a kid.
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Faithful's right, half the old powers can't beat each other. My caveat: I loaded up on England in a multi once, line moved and it never landed. Rankings forgive nobody 🔥Bankroll discipline wins.
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Seen a few sides written off in my time and half of them came roaring back, so take the doom with a grain of salt 😄 TouchlineLoyal's NZ$50 multi says the All Blacks are safe enough, and I'd mostly agree, but the old powers knocking each other off as Faithful noted is the real tell that the middle of the pack is wide open. No table to hide behind means one bad window can ruin anyone, so my verdict is nothing's settled yet. Watch as long as I have and you'll get it 😉Been here longer than some have followed.