The 2019 Six Nations will come down to a final week of matches, with three teams still in the hunt to take out the overall honours.
After England, Wales and Ireland all picked up wins last week to continue their dominance of the competition, there is now the chance for all three teams to win the competition, with France, Italy and Scotland all out of the running.
As it stands, here is the ladder heading into the final week.
| Pos. | Team | Won | Lost | Drawn | BP | F/A | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wales | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 31 | 16 |
| 2 | England | 3 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 83 | 15 |
| 3 | Ireland | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 19 | 14 |
| 4 | Scotland | 1 | 3 | 0 | 2 | -20 | 6 |
| 5 | France | 1 | 3 | 0 | 2 | -36 | 6 |
| 6 | Italy | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | -77 | 0 |
As a reminder, there are two bonus points on the line in each game. One is for scoring four or more tries, and the other for losing by less than seven points.
And here are the fixtures for the final week.
Saturday, 11:30pm: Italy vs France
Sunday, 1:45am: Wales vs Ireland
Sunday, 4am: England vs Scotland
Times are AEDT
As you can see, it’s incredibly close. Here is how it could play out with results across the final two games being the ones which will count.
If Wales win
The rest won’t matter if Wales win. The Six Nations have a feature called the ‘grand slam bonus point,’ which is given for beating all of the other five sides, meaning, they would jump to 21 points.
That gives them an unassailable lead over England, who at most can get five points in their clash with Scotland (four for the win and one for a tries bonus point).
If Ireland win
Here is where it gets interesting. If Ireland were to win, they would jump to a minimum of 18 points, and potentially 19 if they were to get a bonus point.
They will be gunning for the bonus point as well, because if they were to only win, but Wales get the two losing bonus points, the scores would be tied on 18 points, at which point it would go on for and against.
Even that could fail to split the sides. A six-point win for Ireland would leave them tied with Wales on for and against, leaving it to a total tries scored countback, which currently sits at Ireland 13, Wales 9.
Essentially, Ireland will want to win by more than seven points to eliminate that issue, going to 19 and leaving Wales on an absolute maximum of 17.
But what about England?
By the time England run out at Twickenham against Scotland, they will know exactly whether they have a chance at winning the Six Nations.
If Ireland manage to win, then all they have to do is take victory. They have a far superior for and against of 83, and so even if Ireland jump to 19 points with a bonus point, a win takes England to 19, and the tournament victory.
Of course, if Wales win, this match will turn into a dead rubber.
taylorman
Roar Guru
Maybe not, but judging by this years 6N, plenty are????
Neil Back
Roar Rookie
I'm glad you spotted I was patronising. Well done you! The French never contested the TC so your point is irrelevant. A tournament as successful as the 6N didn't need bonus points to be the premier one outside of RWC, it already was. And rather than a few talking about them, they are always talked about - even you can't seem to stop. I'm not the one struggling here me old mate.
taylorman
Roar Guru
Na, not a good enough explanation Neil and I can see youre really struggling with the north south thing. Now its dressing abilities, ha ha. Chill pal. Yes Ive heard of the triple crown but France dont play for that, in case you didnt know that, now that we’re being patronising, so bonus points are pointless for them where thats concerned and I doubt they were brought in for that reason...to provide punch to a non grand slam finish to the tournament...hmmm. They clearly brought them in as a feeble attempt to spice up the tournament and have failed...few talk about going for bonus points, and they clearly bulked at the thought of a side relinquishing the title if they didnt lose. But hey, if you cant see that its a lame addition to the tournament as it is, I cant help you there, though it doesnt surprise. It might help Italy bypass the spoon one year perhaps though Scotland and Italy arent going to be huge bonus point collectors across the tourney so yeah...a claytons addition... we wanna spice it up but hey, not if it costs teams that cant score tries...cant have that.
Neil Back
Roar Rookie
"What is the incentive in going for them. None that you can see." Er, the incentive in going for them is to decide the championship or final league position should teams finish on equal win/loss, which is often the case. It's not always a slam year. Isn't it just obvious as to why teams seek them? There is also a trophy called the Triple Crown attached to the 6N tournament. Heard of it? Again, bonus points can decide that. Isn't it just obvious why teams seek them? They obviously also help distinguish lower placings. No one celebrates second but they much prefer it to third etc. They especially prefer it when it comes to the wooden spoon. Again, isn't it bleeding obvious why teams seek them? Again I wonder how you manage to dress yourself? In allowing bonus points to be won for scoring 4 or more tries and also for keeping a losing score close, they encourage a superior team to keep attacking even when comfortably ahead and encourage a losing team that in all likelihood cannot overtake their opposition in the closing stages, to still have a target. As to slam bonus points, in a system that operates a bonus points system (for all the good reasons above), they reward a team that has beaten every other. It's a really simple concept that puts more value on a clean sweep of wins than individual scorelines. You'd have to be an exceptionally objectionable bloke by nature, determined to find fault with anything to do with the 6N where there really is none, to have a problem with bonus points. Hang on a minute ....
Oblonsky‘s Other Pun
Roar Guru
I guess it's primarily around separating things if multiple teams finish at 4-1 or 3-2?
taylorman
Roar Guru
Yep, so would I, it really takes my point back to why have BPs at all in this tournament if their single only value is to decide a rare non grand slam winning side, or the order in which they finish. What is really the incentive in going for them? None that i can see.
Oblonsky‘s Other Pun
Roar Guru
Yeah, winning the title would be pointless and hollow in that situation. The Grand Slam is the best result possible.
Oblonsky‘s Other Pun
Roar Guru
Ah nah, I see what you’re saying and you do have some valid points, but I personally disagree. I wouldn’t like it if Wales could win the grand slam but not get the title. Would feel very off to me personally.
taylorman
Roar Guru
Not really my point. The old system catered for that, so why have bonus points if theyre just going to flip flop the result under certain conditions. They wouldnt do it at Super qualifying and that would be easy to have, one side winning all matches and no bonus points another winning all but one with bonus points galore. Be interesting when someone wins four and a draw from five and the winner has three and a draw. Havent worked out whether its possible but seems bonus points are only really acceptable if theres pool play. In the case of this weekend it would have been more excitement if Wales could still win but lose from bonus points, ‘excitement’ being the whole point of bonus points...but hey, we’re the north, lets not get too excited huh?
Oblonsky‘s Other Pun
Roar Guru
Nah, I feel like if you go undefeated, you deserve the victory. Would be a crazy situation if you could go through a competition and beat every other team, and then not get the trophy. I also think that Wales have played the best rugby overall in the 6N so far. Could be tough for the Wallabies in the World Cup, although I think the All Blacks and the Boks will be quietly confident that they can handle the best of the northern hemisphere.
taylorman
Roar Guru
Yes but its the whole point of bonus points, to make some wins more deserving, and more importantly, ‘worth’ more than others...then they decide, oh, we’ll take all that away in this scenario, to instaed reward some poor lot that couldnt score tries but managed to fall overthe line on every occasion. May as well not have them at all...and no one cares about minor positions...who celebrates coming third under a bonus points regime?
FunBus
Roar Rookie
I'd be embarrassed. as an England fan, 'winning' the Championship if Wales did the Grand Slam. The 3 point bonus for the Grand Slam is designed precisely for the very rare possibility of this weekend.
Tom English
Roar Guru
Yeah I suppose – although having a team winning the championship, yet behind on the points tally is weird.
Kashmir Pete
Roar Guru
Grand slammer wins every game scoring 3 tries every game: Total bonus points = 3 Another team wins 4, loses game to grand slammer by a point, scoring 4 tries every game: Total bonus points = 6 Latter team wins the Six Nations.
taylorman
Roar Guru
So why award 3 points? So the winner doesnt look embarrassed? Get the grand slam, points are irrelevant.
Tom English
Roar Guru
Surely though, T-man, if you clinch the grand slam, you should get the title. That's really what the rule is there to enforce. Bonus points contribute to the other ladder positions.
taylorman
Roar Guru
Yep, really dont see the point of having bonus points on a table if you are going to award extra bonus points to negate the very reason that you have them in the first place. Its like, yes we’ll have bonus points to encourage open play, but if that very open play can cost a side that can win this entire tournament without scoring tries, we’re not having it.