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Forget Jake White’s major dummy spit for failing to get the Wallaby job – so he left for home in South Africa and left the Brumbies in the lurch.
Forget why Ewen McKenzie, who did get the Wallaby job, keeps selecting passengers like Ben Alexander and Rob Simmons, and to a lesser extent Nic White, when Benn Robinson, Sitaleki Timani, and Will Genia warm the bench and probably come on when tonight’s game is lost.
And forget the ARU’s “investigation” into suspended James O’Connor’s brain explosion at Perth airport early last Sunday morning. That was six days ago, and nothing has been produced from HQ to show anything has been investigated at all.
What’s more important is this question: where are the Wallabies on the pecking order of world rugby?
The IRB, with its convoluted rankings system, has the men-in-gold at four, behind the All Blacks, Boks, and England.
Not by my simplified system of tries scored for and against in 2013 and wins.
It’s not infallible, but by my reckoning the Wallabies are ranked eighth or ninth, and another loss tonight at Newlands will confirm that.
I have left Samoa and Tonga out of these reckonings due to lack of games this year. Samoa has only played three, with wins over Italy (39-10) and Scotland (27-17), beaten only by the Boks 56-23; while Tonga hasn’t played a Test, a condemnation of the IRB.
1 NEW ZEALAND – tries for and against 22-7, played seven, won seven, beating France three times, the Wallabies twice, and once each over the Boks and the Pumas.
2 SOUTH AFRICA – tries 29-12, played seven, won six, only loss to the All Blacks 29-15 at Eden Park, with wins over the Pumas twice, Italy, Scotland, the Wallabies, and Samoa.
3 ENGLAND – tries 16-8, played seven, won six, only loss to Wales 30-3 at Millennium, with wins over the Pumas twice, Scotland, Ireland, France, and Italy.
4 WALES – tries 11-7, played seven won five with losses to Ireland 30-22 at Millennium. and Japan 23-8 in Tokyo, with wins over England, France, Italy, Scotland, and Japan.
5 IRELAND – tries 11-6, played seven, won three over Wales 30-22 at Millennium, USA 14-12 at Houston, and Canada 40-14 at Toronto with losses to England, Scotland, and Italy, with a 13-13 draw against France,
6 SCOTLAND – tries 13-17, played eight, won three over Italy 34-10 at Murrayfield, Ireland 12-8 at Murrayfield, and Italy 30-29 at Loftus with losses to England, Wales, France, Samoa, and the Boks.
7 ITALY – tries 9-21, played eight, won two over France 23-18 at Rome, and Ireland 22-15 at Rome, with losses to Scotland twice, Wales, England, the Boks, and Samoa.
8 FRANCE – tries 7-13, played eight won one over Scotland 23-16 at the Stade, and drew 13-13 with Ireland at Lansdowne, with losses to the All Blacks three times, England, Wales, and Italy.
9 AUSTRALIA – tries 8-19, played seven, won two over the Lions 16-15 at Etihad, and the Pumas 14-13 at Perth, with losses to the Lions and All Blacks twice each, and the Boks.
10 ARGENTINA – tries 8-25, played seven won one over Georgia 29-18 at San Juan with losses to the Boks and England twice each, the All Blacks, and the Wallabies.
The best defenders – Wales keeping France, Italy, Scotland, and England tryless in 2013. The worst – the Wallabies letting in 19 tries, Italy 21, and the Pumas 25.