Jeff Probyn: Bonus points will hamper the development of Italy

Isn’t it strange how sometimes things happen that on the surface seem to be totally unrelated, but then have mind-blowing consequences? The initiative to make the game safer by lowering the threshold for high tackles is still bedding in, resulting in a number of games being decided by debatable referee decisions, just as, for the first time the Six Nations brings in a bonus point system.
The Six Nations committee have said they thought long and hard about the introduction of bonus points and believe they have found a way of making sure that any team that wins every match will win the Championship – and Granad Slam – even if they never score a bonus point.
However, what they have not considered is the impact that losing players could have on whether or not teams either score or concede bonus points.
Those that say it is a team’s own fault for losing a player and perhaps conceding a bonus point as a result of the inequality in numbers,  only holds true if there is consistency in referees interpretation of the laws.
With referees currently extremely inconsistent in how they deal with high tackles – with some issuing red, some yellow and some just a penalty – the addition of bonus points would only seem to add more pressure on all the match officials.
What is the reason for thinking there is a need for bonus points and what added value do they bring to the game? Personally, I think they are a waste of time and an insult to all competing in the games.
Surely every sportsman or team that competes in any competition wants to win and win by as much as they can, otherwise they wouldn’t bother to enter.
Sport is about competition, a competition between equals, otherwise there can be no pleasure in winning.
If the Six Nations is just about how many tries are scored why don’t we invite some of our other nearby world ranked teams to play. Why not play Spain (22), Germany (24), Portugal (25) and Belgium (26)? Without trying to insult those countries, it would be a lot easier for any of the current Six Nations teams to score a hatful of tries against those countries gaining whatever bonus points were on offer.
Only one problem, no-one would pay to watch what would effectively be a one-sided competition failing to provide all the qualities of a struggle between equals where small margins and mistakes have a huge impact.
The only time the one-sided games attract is when the unexpected happens and the minnows beat the big fish, which is so rare as to go down in the annals of that sport’s history.
All sports grade teams or players in an attempt to balance competition and make the outcome unpredictable – and the beauty of rugby is that at every turn in the game you have true competition.
From the first whistle, when the ball is kicked the chasers get the chance to compete either for the ball or for territory. At set pieces, the scrums and lineouts, provided the ball is put straight down the middle, there is the   chance of competing for it. In the broken field game, the tackle and ensuing rucks or mauls offe the chance of a turnover helping to ensure that competition flourishes from the first whistle to the last, but it must be fair.
The old Five Nations was a competition between equals because it had evolved over the 100 years of amateurism allowing countries to develop at their own pace – but in a professional game, it’s different.
Professionalism changed the game and even the established nations struggled to develop their teams to play the game in this brave new world. Adding Italy, as much as they deserved it, just complicated matters.
Italy are slowly improving at a rate that is slightly behind the other nations, so it will still be a while before they are truly competitive. Putting it simply, that is the main reason why bonus points should not be part of the Six Nations.
Even though Italy have beaten all but England in the tournament, they have so far failed to achieve the consistency needed to win or challenge for the title.
The addition of a bonus point system seems to me an extra punishment for teams that are not yet as good as their opposition and pays no consideration to the possible long-term development of that sport in the defeated country.
If it turns out that most of the bonus points are awarded to teams playing against Italy and, as a result, the Italians suffer big defeats, what encouragement does that give to young sportsmen and women to take up rugby?
Every player wants to be the best he can and hopes one day to be at the top of his sport; no one wants to be humiliated for the sake of a bonus point.