The Six Nations has for years resisted the bonus point system, citing various reasons including tradition and the possibility of a team winning the grand slam but not the championship, but next year’s tournament will trial a system that is used in every major professional tournament in the world in a bid to encourage more open play.
This year’s Six Nations would not have been affected by bonus points, with England still going into the final round as champions, but its 15 matches produced an average of 4.7 tries. Take away the matches that involved Italy, and that average drops to 3.5.
Related: Six Nations to trial bonus points in 2017 competition for first time
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