Bogus, not Bonus.

There's no doubting that Shaun Edwards is one of the sharpest tools in rugby's box. When he speaks about the game, everyone should listen. But his call for the introduction of bonus points to the Six Nations tournament is a non-starter. Not only wouldn't it work, but we wouldn't want it to.

The system works well in its original place - to encourage endeavour and discourage negativity in long league seasons. Bonus points add a little extra spice, a token, which can add up to something more valuable - and, by definition, deserved - at the end of the road.

In short tournaments, however, they are an unwelcome distortion. The Heineken and EDF cups are poorer for their inclusion in the group stages, as has been evidenced by recent events. Teams have been effectively eliminated too early, leaving a high proportion of "dead rubbers" (The Newport Gwent Dragons were dumped out of the EDF this season after one defeat, making a mockery of the group format.) Otherwise successful teams are penalised for one slight off-day where - despite winning - they failed to amass sufficient points against a minnow. And lest I be accused of hiding an agenda - yes, it still sticks in this writer's throat that Northampton qualified for the quarter-finals of last year's Heineken Cup at The Ospreys' expense, despite an inferior win/loss record.

The Six Nations is a simple win/lose format, and that works just fine. The driving need to find a winner at all costs has already led to the loss of the perfectly acceptable "shared" championship, and now we declare a winner on score difference. That's bad enough. Bonus points would take this beyond the absurd.

By illustration, here is last year's 6N table:

	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pt
France	5	4	0	1	155	86	8
Ireland	5	4	0	1	149	84	8
England	5	3	0	2	119	115	6
Italy	5	2	0	3	94	147	4
Wales	5	1	0	4	86	113	2
Scotland	5	1	0	4	95	153	2

And here is that same table adjusted by the BP system:

	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pt
Ireland	5	4	0	1	149	84	19
France	5	4	0	1	155	86	18
England	5	3	0	2	119	115	13
Italy	5	2	0	3	94	147	9
Wales	5	1	0	4	86	113	5
Scotland	5	1	0	4	95	153	5

I seriously doubt that anyone not living on the Emerald Isle would argue that this would have been a better, fairer result than the one we received. I'd argue that the title should have been shared. But if we must discriminate, then a comparison of points for/against over the whole tournament is, surely, fairer than rewarding the side who scored fewer points, but in the right games?

So much for all of that. However, I needn't have bothered - there's a simpler objection. One that kills the whole idea in a single blow. With bonus points in place, the possibility would exist that a team could win the Grand Slam, but lose the championship: Pure anathema. Hell, why are we even talking about it?

The press are obviously pestering Shaun Edwards for soundbites daily, and perhaps this was just him dropping a bomb to buy himself a few days' rest. I'd like to think so. His reputation as a rugby fixer extraordinaire is well-earned, and well-deserved.

But the Six Nations simply ain't broke.