It is conceivable, however unlikely, that all four teams in the Rugby Championship could finish on 14 points following this weekend’s final round of fixtures in the closely-fought battle for supremacy in the southern hemisphere.
It is more probable two sides will lead the log, but either way what are the competition rules on separating teams?
New Zealand and South Africa currently sit top of the table with 14 points, followed by Australia (10) and Argentina (9).
The Wallabies travel to Auckland to face New Zealand on Saturday, after which South Africa host Argentina in Durban, when they will know exactly what is required to lift the trophy.
Should the Springboks and All Blacks both win as expected, it could come down to who can manage a try-scoring bonus-point, which is awarded if you manage three more tries than your opponents.
Tiebreakers
Assuming they both do or don’t, the first tiebreaker is the number of wins in the championship, which will not be helpful in this instance as the permutations, however they pan out, suggest two or more sides would still be level.
The second differentiator is the number of wins between the sides in question, but again this is unlikely to provide any assistance.
New Zealand and South Africa each won a Test against one another, and if Australia and Argentina rise to the challenge this weekend, that will be the same all round.
The next tie-breaker is points difference through the series and here New Zealand hold the upper hand.
They are on +41 and can only realistically be caught by South Africa (+28). Australia (-26) and Argentina (-43) are trailing by a huge margin.
Should the results see the Springboks claw level with the All Blacks on that score, the next tiebreaker is points difference in matches between just those sides.
Here the Boks hold the edge as they outscored New Zealand 49-45 across their two fixtures. Australia would also likely trump New Zealand with a win having lost 39-37 this past weekend.
A tiebreaker after that should not be needed, but would be the number of tries scored in the series. If that is also equal, then the trophy is shared.
