Thumbs up for Six Nations bonus points? The jury may still be out at tournament’s end
SO, with the first two rounds of the Six Nations Championship over, are you convinced yet by the introduction of bonus points? Some people were enthusiastic about the idea from the moment it was announced back in November by the Six Nations Council, but there was also a fair amount of scepticism, on at least two grounds. First of all, there’s the old adage: if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. The Six Nations is a massively successful tournament, which appeals to an audience far wider than the normal support for club rugby. Would it really become more attractive still just because a team got four or five points for winning rather than the traditional two?
Secondly, the evidence that bonus points would produce more entertaining rugby is inconclusive at best. For every argument that a team might go all out for a fourth try in a certain situation, there is a counterargument that suggests a side is just as likely to play for a couple of late penalties in the hope of denying its opponents a bonus for a narrow defeat.
Thirdly, there was the way in which it was introduced: “on a trial basis” in all three tournaments this season, men’s women’s and men’s under-20s. We are right to be suspicious whenever an authority introduces anything for a trial period, because we can be sure that if they did not think it were a good idea, they would never have introduced it in the first place.
That much was obvious from the statement by Pat Whelan, chairman of the Six Nations Council, when the scheme was announced three months ago. “We believe that the initiative will enhance our competitions for fans, teams, broadcasters and all of those for whom the Championship means so much,” he said.
Is there any evidence for that thus far? When Scotland scored three firsthalf tries against Ireland in their first match, and were not far away from scoring a fourth, there was certainly a big talking point for spectators that would not have been there before. Conversely, when they had to win the game all over again after surrendering a sizeable lead, they took two penalties to ensure a 27-22 win – and you can be sure that if there had been any time for another, Greig Laidlaw would have gone for that one too, with the aim of denying the Irish a losing bonus.
As it was, in terms of match points, Scotland won the game 4-1. On Sunday in Paris, by contrast, France’s 22-16 victory gave them four points, while Scotland, who had scored two tries to one, picked up a losing bonus.
At no point in that second match did either side look like it was going all out in search of a try bonus, never mind being capable of claiming one.
The same was true, in the end, for the Ireland game, apart from that brief, glorious spell in which Scotland threatened to score a try off first-phase possession every time they had the ball.
As far as the match-by-match experience goes, then, we are right to remain sceptical, though when it comes to the wider picture, this writer for one would have to admit that bonus points have at least made it far more interesting to scrutinise the tournament table and ponder on what outcome might be produced by certain results. And perhaps in the last round or two we will see the kind of all-out attacking approach which bonuses are designed to encourage. But, while the focus has been on the try bonus, the award of a point for a defeat by seven points or fewer possibly acts as a greater incentive – in this case, for beaten teams to keep on fighting right until the end.
The first losing bonus point of the new dispensation was actually won, if that is the right word, by the Scottish women’s team, who were drawing 15-15 with Ireland until conceding a try two minutes into time added on. (It was a fourth try for the Irish, by the way, so they became the first team to get a try bonus). It was the first point Scotland had won in the tournament since drawing 6-6 with Italy back in 2010, and so far it is keeping Shade Munro’s team ahead of the Italians in the table.
Given how heavily Scotland have lost in so many games over the past few years – a trend that continued when they went down 55-0 to champions France at the weekend – the bonus point from the Ireland game is at least a tangible sign of progress.
So, from the point of view of teams who have to go from severe defeats to narrow losses before, hopefully, progressing to the odd win, the new system has an encouraging aspect to it.
For those with higher ambitions? If one team ends up becoming champions thanks to an extra bonus point after winning the same number of games as the runners-up, you can be sure they’ll regard it as the greatest system in the world. For the rest of us the jury may still be out – although it has to be admitted, albeit begrudgingly, that the new format has brought an extra level of intrigue to a league table that was once simplicity itself.
At no point did either side look like they were going all out in search of a try bonus, never mind being capable of claiming one