Ireland skipper Niamh Briggs welcomes Six Nations bonus point system

Irish rugby captain Niamh Briggs welcomed the introduction of the Six Nations’ new bonus point system yesterday but believes it will have less effect in the women’s game.

“Obviously it’s going to open up the game, you’re going to get people running the ball a lot more,” Briggs said. “But I don’t think it’s going to affect women’s rugby hugely because we don’t kick the ball as much as men.

“We look to run the ball already, we want to play that style anyway and, if it makes for a more exciting brand of rugby, then I’m all for it,” said the woman who captained Ireland in the recent Autumn series, including last weekend’s defeat by the Black Ferns.