Rugby Champions

Make boring tables readable: use colour-blocking to guide your audience through the data.

This Week's Chart Drop

South Africa retained the Rugby Championship this weekend. Tied on wins and bonus points with New Zealand, the title came down to points difference. Earlier dominant wins built a buffer, and the table makes it clear where the margin was gained (or lost).

Design Trick

Use subtle contrasting colours or conditional formatting in Excel to highlight the interesting aspects. Only colour where needed. Too much, and the table can start to look like a fairground.

Each week, I share one simple Excel visual—from sport, business, or personal finance—to give finance professionals ideas on how to present their data.

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