Minnows closing gap, IRB figures show

Reigning champions South Africa may have thrashed Namibia 87-0 but minnow nations have narrowed the gap on established teams at this World Cup, according to official analysis before yesterday’s match got underway.

Blow-outs such as the Springboks’ hammering of their African neighbours have been rare events at the ongoing tournament, with New Zealand’s 83-7 trouncing of Japan the only similar scoreline.

And figures compiled by the International Rugby Board (IRB), the sport’s global governing body, indicate that “tier two” nations are making life tougher for the elite.

The statistics show that after the first two rounds of pool matches, the average points difference in games between tier two and the tier one teams – New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, England, France, Ireland, Scotland, Wales and Argentina – was 29.

This compares with 42 points four years ago at the 2007 World Cup in France, and 43 at the 2003 edition in Australia.

The research also shows that after two rounds, the average number of tries scored by tier one teams was 5.3 per match and 1.2 for tier two, compared to 7.1 and 1.1 in 2007 and 7.4 and 1.3 in 2003.