Six Nations Bonus Points System Approved for 2017

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England v Ireland

Back in the summer the Six Nations organisers hinted that there may be changes to the tournament. At the time, Last Word On Rugby covered the possibilities. Following discussion, the first of these changes will take effect in the 2017 competition [begins February]. After being approved by all parties, there will be Six Nations bonus points awarded over the forthcoming tournament.

Six Nations Bonus Points

These bonus points will be applied as they are in the Aviva Premiership, The Rugby Championship and other tournaments. The trial extends across all versions of the Six Nations: Men’s, Women’s and Under-20’s competition.

The philosophy is so that sides have the incentive to compete for 80 minutes, with tournament points on offer. The four-try point is common, but teams will also be incentivized to keep the opposition within seven points or less-so some of the close results will give a slight reward in that effect. A win is still paramount to a Championship, obviously and it should improve the competition.

Italy to improve competitiveness?

The first benefit may be that we see a more competitive Italy. The perennial strugglers have found themselves on the wrong end of some big defeats, but the incentive of a ‘losing bonus point’ may help reduce one-sided affairs.

Under Conor O’Shea they have already claimed the prized scalp of South Africa and this could give them an initial development target, to encourage competitiveness. For example: if they are trailing by 20+ points after an hour or so, it would still be possible for them to now gain one; if not two bonus points (BP) by playing offensively to close the deficit.

Grand Slam remains ultimate prize

To ensure that a side couldn’t gather enough bonus points to overhaul a Grand Slam performance, a perfect record would still be rewarded. Any team who wins all five matches will gain three tournament points. Although mathematically possible, this is a highly unlikely occurrence so would not be a strong argument against introducing bonus points [itself].

Additionally when Ireland and Wales drew in round one of 2016, this almost immediately ended their challenge to England. With bonus points applied, there will be the opportunity to catch up in following games by gaining ‘attacking bonus points’. While England won with a clear gap to the chasers earlier this year, the machinations today could motivate teams to challenge even harder.

Again, introduction of a BP system should improve the spectacle for fans.

Global parity

The Southern Hemisphere equivalent tournament, The Rugby Championship, already employs bonus points and arguably produces an entertaining spectacle. As mentioned earlier, the World Cup already offers bonus points. Therefore it makes sense that Northern Hemisphere sides should ‘practice’ with these rules in all tournaments. By continuing with different frameworks [having no BP] they were potentially being handicapped when facing sides from other parts of the world.

Unsurprisingly, this announcement has already divided the Rugby community. Critics point to the 2015 ‘Super Saturday’ that was decided on points difference, and saw 221 points scored. This was certainly an exciting ending to the tournament but a bonus point system would still have encouraged such attacking play.

It is surely worth a trial–if only for one year. A bonus point is still secondary to winning the match, and it is International rugby, bot the Pro12 or Top 14. Nationhood and legacy are on the line, not simply a better seeding for 2018. And this is hopefully the first of several improvements to the pinnacle of European Rugby, the Six Nations.

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