Tommy Bowe: Ireland can prosper under new rule

Tommy Bowe believes Ireland will return to the early days of the Joe Schmidt reign following the announcement that a bonus point system will be trialled in the 2017 RBS Six Nations championship.

Ireland scored 16 tries in the 2014 championship, Schmidt’s first tilt at the competition; the highest tally of all teams involved.

However, seven of those came in the 46-7 win over Italy, with nine shared between the other four fixtures — with no single test seeing the required four tries scored to earn a bonus point.