Heaslip backs bonus plan

IT’S a moot point now as to what the final score would have been in Paris on Saturday had bonus points been on the table but Jamie Heaslip believes that such a system should be introduced to the Six Nations.

Under current rules, a win earns just two points but it is an archaic formula compared to virtually ever other significant domestic and international competition in the world game.

In tournaments such as the Heineken Cup and Tri-Nations, a win is worth four points, a win with four tries is worth five and a defeat by seven points or less is enough to claim a single point.

Such incentives would put an entirely different spin on the Six Nations, not least Saturday’s game in Paris.

It took France just 59 minutes to score three tries against Ireland at the Stade de France and the home team was content to maintain their lead thereafter with a combination of penalties and drop goals.

It is worth noting too that 2007 was the last year when teams finished on top of the table on equal points. France claimed the title on points difference but Ireland would have earned the silverware had bonus points been used.

“It would reward teams for chasing games and not giving up games,” said Heaslip. “It would reward teams for going out and getting four tries. There’s no harm in trying. Why not? They do it in every other competition I’m playing in.”

The reality is that tradition plays a huge role in maintaining the status quo while the structure of the tournament itself is another factor that mitigates against such change.

In any given season, some teams play twice at home, others three times. To make the use of bonus points fair across the board, each country would need to play the same amount of fixtures on home turf and on the road.

“Ah, I don’t know,” said Heaslip. “Home and away Six Nations? That’s getting like the French, 50 games in a season. Oh God. It would be good to try it out though, not home and away, but the bonus point system.”

As it is, Ireland now face an uphill task in eclipsing France in the race for this season’s Six Nations title given the 23-point gap at the final whistle.

What is beyond Declan Kidney’s side, of course, is a back-to-back Grand Slam but Heaslip has already had enough of the gloom and doom.

“A couple of people said it to me after the game, at the dinner, that ‘ah sure we still have the Triple Crown’ and I’m kind of going, ‘for f*** sake like, there’s still a Six Nations to be won, there’s still a championship to be won’.

“Plenty of teams have won the Six Nations by losing one game. Nothing’s over, I mean, bloody hell, we won the Heineken Cup last year after we lost in our group. It happens, you lose games. You have to be able to bounce back and be more consistent.”

Confidence, he insists, has not been dented by events in Saint-Denis. Heaslip, for one, dwelled on it for only an hour, two at most, before drawing a line under the experience.

He was one of a handful of Irish players who spent Saturday night mingling with some of their French counterparts. William Sevat introduced him to Pernod and Felipe Contepomi popped his head in for a while as well. Life goes on.

“I have been asked if I ever had big losses like that before and I was thinking: ‘Jesus man, I don’t think I ever won a game with Newbridge College’. To say I know how to lose doesn’t sound right though and it wasn’t an easy loss to take.

“I have complete belief in the squad’s ability, the players around me and myself that we can come back and no better place than England over there. You don’t need any more motivation to get yourself going. The only thing is that we have to wait two weeks for it. It’s a shame it isn’t on this Sunday.”

If anything was likely to brighten the mood Sunday it was England’s struggles in Rome where they eventually eked out a thoroughly unconvincing five-point win against Italy at the Stadio Flaminio. Ireland lost on their last visit to Twickenham two years ago — by the same 33-10 scoreline as last Saturday — and Heaslip is predicting another gruelling day’s work for the Irish pack in London.

“They have a big old pack so we’ll have to make sure we provide a lot of quick ball.

“We showed in the Italy and France games that when we provided quick ball we posed a lot of problems. It’s just that I don’t think we got enough of it.”