Bonus Points

[JP14]

Some forum posters will never be satisfied, I'm equally frustrated that bonus points are being left out there but I'm glad the team has winning games as their priority, which on the most part is starting to happen.

[JGrifolas]

last year we wanted points of any type and now we are pushing for bonus points - good progress I think

[mol2]

I think we should be pleased we are winning without our England players.

Over the last few years we would not have gone to the likes of Gloucester for an away game during the 6N with the faintest expectation of a win. I think that tells us we now have a system and structure or game plan into which we fit our players without be reliant on individual moments of magic from the likes of Tuillagi, Ford or May in previous seasons. Don't get me wrong a bit of individual magic is always welcome.

[ads]

I think we should be pleased we are winning without our England players.

We are, well I am any way. But I think the bonus point thing is interesting when you see quite large points differences between teams with similar or the same amounts of wins. Gloucester are rubbish at the moment but have 6 more BPs than us. Maybe it's just luck, maybe it's something else. I dunno, it might not matter to us at the moment, if we're not expecting to be top 4, but when we are, they could very important.

[Scott1]

Win big,lose small. Simples!

[Grimlish]

It’s impossible to look at BPs in isolation from the W/L/D position. Take Gloucester; they have more bonus points but we have more wins. Four more wins. They bring four points not one. Which would you rather have, the wins or the non winning bonus points?

Surely the difference with ‘before the slump’ is that we haven’t been gaining try bonus points (because we haven’t been winning), and before this season we weren’t even getting close to the losing bonus either.

[Wayne Richardson Fan Club]

We are still giving them away too freely, in the Irish game there was effectively a 3 point swing on match points.

[ourla]

We are still giving them away too freely, in the Irish game there was effectively a 3 point swing on match points.

I agree but give it time.

I am good the way things are going. Can't help feeling we've landed on our feet with Borthwick (at last!). Also fair play to the Peter Tom, etc. for recognising their previous mistakes, things needed to change and take some tough decisions. I think there will be plenty of BP's coming further down the line.

[Cagey Tiger]

I think we should be pleased we are winning without our England players.

We are, well I am any way. But I think the bonus point thing is interesting when you see quite large points differences between teams with similar or the same amounts of wins. Gloucester are rubbish at the moment but have 6 more BPs than us. Maybe it's just luck, maybe it's something else. I dunno, it might not matter to us at the moment, if we're not expecting to be top 4, but when we are, they could very important.

We both have 2 TBPs, they have 6 LBPs, we have none. There's the difference. We have 4 more wins, so to draw a inexact parallel, you could say that we won 4 games that they have lost with an LBP. 16 points against 4 (or even 6 if you want include all their LBPs). After the last few seasons, I know which we all prefer. And as I pointed out earlier, since 2015-16, bonus points have hardly ever affected a team's league position (once or twice) and only by one place. Covid affected matches will probably have more of an effect this season with 2 guaranteed points for a loss.

Yes, we may be leaving bonus points out on the field, but opposition teams will often up their game to try and prevent giving away a bonus point. In the overall scheme of things, bonus points are the icing on the cake, rarely anything more. And they don't win you semi-finals and finals.

[chris111]

The “leaving points out there” line has become rather cliched recently. It implies that a team are quite capable of securing a better result but fail as a result of either complacency or carelessness.

I don’t see that with Tigers. I see a team who are at an early stage of rebuilding from a truly atrocious decline, and have decided that low-risk, safety-first rugby is what is required. Chasing that 4 Try bonus will usually entail a degree of risk, and Steve B is evidently determined not to indulge.

As a Tigers supporter, I think this is absolutely the right way to create a winning mentality. When we’re back in contention for trophies then more ambitious tactics will be needed - but that’s probably 2-3 years away.

[ourla]

The “leaving points out there” line has become rather cliched recently. It implies that a team are quite capable of securing a better result but fail as a result of either complacency or carelessness.

I don’t see that with Tigers. I see a team who are at an early stage of rebuilding from a truly atrocious decline, and have decided that low-risk, safety-first rugby is what is required. Chasing that 4 Try bonus will usually entail a degree of risk, and Steve B is evidently determined not to indulge.

As a Tigers supporter, I think this is absolutely the right way to create a winning mentality. When we’re back in contention for trophies then more ambitious tactics will be needed - but that’s probably 2-3 years away.

I interpret “leaving points out there” differently. It's not about taking undo risks but more of a case of not taking opportunities created. Through poor execution, or perhaps, carelessness. I don't see it as an issue right now. However, it should be noted and I am sure the coaches and players are fully aware. We've made a lot of improvements already, it's just something on the list as it were.

[JP14]

The “leaving points out there” line has become rather cliched recently. It implies that a team are quite capable of securing a better result but fail as a result of either complacency or carelessness.

I don’t see that with Tigers. I see a team who are at an early stage of rebuilding from a truly atrocious decline, and have decided that low-risk, safety-first rugby is what is required. Chasing that 4 Try bonus will usually entail a degree of risk, and Steve B is evidently determined not to indulge.

As a Tigers supporter, I think this is absolutely the right way to create a winning mentality. When we’re back in contention for trophies then more ambitious tactics will be needed - but that’s probably 2-3 years away.

I interpret “leaving points out there” differently. It's not about taking undo risks but more of a case of not taking opportunities created. Through poor execution, perhaps carelessness. I don't see it as an issue right now, however, it should be noted and I am sure the coaches and players are fully aware. We've made a lot of improvements already, it's just something on the list as it were.

+1.

[Crofty]

The “leaving points out there” line has become rather cliched recently. It implies that a team are quite capable of securing a better result but fail as a result of either complacency or carelessness.

I don’t see that with Tigers. I see a team who are at an early stage of rebuilding from a truly atrocious decline, and have decided that low-risk, safety-first rugby is what is required. Chasing that 4 Try bonus will usually entail a degree of risk, and Steve B is evidently determined not to indulge.

As a Tigers supporter, I think this is absolutely the right way to create a winning mentality. When we’re back in contention for trophies then more ambitious tactics will be needed - but that’s probably 2-3 years away.

I interpret “leaving points out there” differently. It's not about taking undo risks but more of a case of not taking opportunities created. Through poor execution, or perhaps, carelessness. I don't see it as an issue right now. However, it should be noted and I am sure the coaches and players are fully aware. We've made a lot of improvements already, it's just something on the list as it were.

That's certainly predominently what I mean when I grumble about it, especially when try three is scored before the hour and we spend the rest of the game working the ball into their 22 before coughing it up! the other one is our propensity to be right in a game at 65-70 minutes, maybe three points down and then implode, not even necessarily taking undue risks just lack of attention and ending up losing by 14 or more.

The other grumble on bonus points is letting close rivals have two when we've dominated the game practically all the way through...

[TigerBoy1880]

With our aim of getting back to the top, a fortress home is something to also aim for. As an example, if you win all 11 home games with 4 points, that gives you 44 points. Then away from home, win 5 games with 4 points, that gives you another 20 points. Gain a losing bonus point in the other 6 away games, that gives you a further 6 points, which makes 70 points. That gets you in the top 4 every season. Although bonus points will help in regards to getting top 2, if we can do something similar to the above, that will be an amazing return. It won’t be easy however.