What are the abbreviations in a rugby table?


The large majority of rugby competitions use a league table. The whole thing can be pretty confusing, so this should make understanding a league table much simpler. 

What are the abbreviations in a rugby table? P or Pld is for games played, with W meaning wins, D meaning draws and L meaning losses. PF stands for points for and PA stands for points against. This is sometimes summed up as simply PD for points difference. B stands for Bonus Points awarded. PTS stands for points gained, referring to league points accumulated that season.

There are quite a few different abbreviations within a rugby table so it can be pretty confusing. 

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What does P or PLD mean in a rugby table? 

Pld stands for games played in a rugby table. It shows how many games each team has played on the season. By the end of a rugby season all teams will have played the same number of games and the value in the Pld category will be the same. 

What does W mean in a rugby table? 

W refers to wins in a Rugby season, with the number of wins each season often leading to where the team is in the table. It signifies the number of times a rugby team has won games during that league season. It only signifies league wins, not counting and cup victories. 

What does D mean in a rugby table? 

D is for draw in a rugby table. Draws are rare in rugby but you will usually see at least a few teams with a draw by the end of the season. Draws also have an impact on the number of points a team gets in the table, with a draw meaning the team gets two points. 

What does L mean in a rugby table? 

L means loss in a rugby table, referring to the number of losses that a team has had in the league during the current season. Teams do not get any points for a loss in the season and teams to want to keep their win column value as low as possible. 

What does PF mean in a rugby table? 

PF stands for points for. This refers to the number of points that a team has scored in a season. This is an accumulation of all of the games that a team has scored so far in the season, with teams wanting to score as many points as possible. 

What does PA mean in a rugby table? 

PA stands for points against, which is a category that teams want to keep as low as possible. It is the accumulated value of all of the games a team has played in the season, with them being much more likely to be higher on the table the fewer points they have against them. 

What does PD mean in a rugby table? 

PD means points difference in a rugby table. This is the figure when you minus a team’s points against value from their points for value. This gives the difference between the points for and against. This figure is used to decide a team’s position in the table. If two teams are tied for points, the team with the higher points difference value will be higher in the table. 

Teams who are higher up the table tend to have a better points difference, but this has some exceptions. 

What does B mean in a rugby table? 

B refers to bonus points in rugby. The value means the number of bonus points that a team has accumulated in the season. This value gets added to the number of points that a team accumulates through winning or drawing a game. Teams want to get as many bonus points as possible as this leads to having more points in the table. 

They can bonus points two ways, either by scoring four or more tries in a game or losing by seven points or fewer. This is the general rule but there are a few leagues that have exceptions to this rule. 

What does PTS mean in a rugby table? 

Pts refers to the number of points that a team has accumulated. The team get points through winning or drawing a game or picking up points through rugby’s bonus point system. Points are how the team’s position in the table is decided, with the table ordered from highest to lowest on points. 

All teams are trying to get as many points as possible as it helps them to win trophies. 

What does Q mean in a rugby table? 

Quite often you will see a Q next to some teams in a rugby table. This will not happen in a normal league table as there is nothing to qualify forward for, but it is something that you see in the group stage of competitions like the Rugby World Cup and the European Champions Cup. 

It refers to a team qualifying for the next round of the competition. Each team is looking to get a Q next to their name, as it means they have qualified for the knockout stages of the competition, with the group stage often being the first round of the competition. 

What does R mean in a rugby table? 

Every rugby team is looking to avoid having an R next to their name, with it being a bad sign to every team. 

R means relegated when you see it on a rugby table. This means that the team with the R next to it has been relegated in this season and will be playing in the lower division next season due to likely finishing last in the season. 

What does BP mean in a rugby table?

Usually, in a rugby table, you will either see one column that has B or BP at the top of it and these two actually mean the same thing. 

BP stands for bonus points in a rugby table. This is the total number of bonus points that a team has been able to accumulate in the season. This value is added to the points a team has accumulated through wins or draws to get the final value in the points column of a rugby table. 

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