It’s all very well to hear that a team has “earned an offensive bonus point”, but you still have to understand what it’s all about! Linternaute.com deciphers this particular rule which can prove decisive in the group stage of the World Cup.
In rugby and for the World Cup, a bonus point is awarded to teams based on their performance during a match. There are two types of bonus points in rugby: the offensive bonus point and the defensive bonus point. Both allow teams to make a difference in the rankings. There are two, offensive and defensive and here are the explanations:
- Offensive bonus point: A team scores an attacking bonus point if they score a certain number of tries in a match, usually four tries in rugby union. This means that a team that scores at least four tries in a match automatically earns an attacking bonus point, regardless of the final result of the match.
- Defensive bonus point: A team gets a defensive bonus point if they lose the match with a small point spread. If a team loses by seven points or less in rugby union, they are rewarded with a defensive bonus point.
Offensive and defensive bonuses are cumulative. For example, imagine that during this World Cup, France loses against New Zealand by 4 points (35 to 31) but that it registers 4 tries or more: it will then take the offensive bonus and the defensive one. In this case, France would collect two points. While the defeat without a bonus would have earned him zero points in the standings.