How does the Six Nations scoring work?
How does the Six Nations scoring work?
The Six Nations is played in a round-robin format, with each team playing each other once.
That means, with six teams in the tournament, each nation plays five matches.
Home advantage will alternate each season. So, if England play Ireland at home one year, 12 months later they will visit them.
Teams receive four points for a win, two points for a draw, and zero points for a loss.
But there are also opportunities for teams to secure bonus points.
The team that secures the highest number of points from their five games wins the Six Nations.
What are bonus points?
Bonus points are given to teams who achieve certain things during a match.
They were introduced to reward attacking play, and to encourage teams to chase additional points even if they are losing.
Six Nations bonus points are:
That means teams can take home a maximum of five points for each Six Nations game (four points for a win, and one point for scoring four or more tries).
Losing teams can earn up to two bonus points – if they score four tries and lose by seven or fewer points.
Last year, these bonus points were decisive in England finishing above Scotland in the final standings. Despite losing 33-31 to France in their final match, England scored four tries and finished within seven points, earning two bonus points.
What happens if teams have the same number of points?
If multiple teams find themselves level on points, the order is decided on ‘points difference’ – the difference between the total points scored and the total points conceded on the field.
Let’s take the 2022 Six Nations table as an example. Both England and Scotland finished with 10 points. They had each won two matches, and lost three.
But England ended up placed above Scotland, in third, because of points difference.
England had scored 101 points and conceded 96, which left them with a points difference of +5.
Scotland had scored fewer points, and conceded more, which left them with a much lower points difference of -29.
If teams are still equal on points difference, the result is decided by the total number of tries scored across the tournament.
When did the Six Nations introduce bonus points?
The Six Nations has used the bonus-point system since 2017.
A three-point bonus for teams that win the Grand Slam (all of their Six Nations Matches) is used to ensure other teams who might have lost one of their matches, but secured lots of bonus points, cannot overhaul them.
A team that wins the Grand Slam will therefore be guaranteed to top the table, winning at least 23 points.
Even if a team win four of their five matches, and take the try bonus point in each game, they can’t surpass a score of 23.
Ireland were the first team to win a three-point bonus, winning the Grand Slam in 2018.
How important are bonus points?
On some occasions, very.
In 2020, England won the title on points difference. England beat Italy 34-5, claiming four points for a win and a try bonus point. France then went on to beat Ireland 35-27 – enough to equal England’s final points tally, but falling behind them on points difference.
England scored more than four tries in their final Six Nations game against Italy, securing what proved to be a crucial bonus point.
How can I follow the Six Nations on the BBC?
The 2025 competition runs from 31 January to 15 March.
You can watch selected games on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
Every Sunday, former England and British and Irish Lions winger Ugo Monye will host the Six Nations Rugby Special, taking you through the highlights and in-depth analysis of all the matches.
Live commentary of every home nations match will be available on the BBC Sport website and app, with the majority of matches on either BBC Radio 5 Live or BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra.
