This whole bonus point thing at Rugby World Cup is a worry. It was always going to happen, whether or not the Northern Hemisphere was originally opposed to it.
It was always a coming thing, most probably championed by the south. It may yet come back to bight us.
But the bottom line for the Wallabies is that England now has one.
Whether they won ugly, or otherwise, that result is in the bag, now and the game itself is irrelevant. They are on the board, and we are yet to open our account.
Not only the bonus point for scoring four tries, but for winning by less than seven.
Why do I think that this is so significant?
Simply, world rugby has always proceeded on the basis that Test rugby is attritional and a win is a win however you get it. A one-point margin is good enough, as is a thrashing, so why differentiate?
The Northern Hemisphere teams have virtually lived under that mantra, whereas the Southern Hemisphere teams have embraced the running game and always put emphasis on winning with panache!
This changes everything.
Don’t get me wrong. I want this competition to be as competitive as possible. I want it to be as open as possible. I want it to be one in which the emphasis is on running the ball and scoring lots of tries.
But when you are in the ‘Pool of Death’, the fact that one of the favourites already has a bonus point is scary. We will have to run out for our games with a new mindset.
Oh,. I forgot, we already have that mindset – let’s chuck it around – just hope that those other blokes don’t figure that out.
But it does create a new an interesting dimension, doesn’t it?
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.
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