Six Nations chief executive Tom Harrison insists bonus points are unlikely to be abandoned if it transpires that Ireland win this year’s tournament despite claiming fewer victories than England.

England’s triumph over Andy Farrell’s men on Saturday has brought intrigue to the final day of the Guinness Six Nations, with both sides capable of lifting the crown, while France and Scotland also have mathematical chances of winning.

Ireland are in the driving seat and could retain their title even if they lose or draw against Scotland and England topple France, because they have already accumulated four bonus points.

It would be the first time since bonus points were introduced in 2017 that the team finishing top had collected fewer victories than the side in second, but Harrison has indicated the format is here to stay.

When asked about whether a rethink would be needed if the Six Nations was won in that way, Harrison replied: “Yes, if we think bonus points are a problem.

“But remember why bonus points are there – bonus points are there to promote positive rugby. It’s about fan engagement, right?

“It’s also that the players know. It’s not as though we’re saying ‘You’ve played so well we’re going to award you an extra point afterwards’. No, I don’t think it will change.

“I’m delighted that there is some jeopardy going into the final weekend. It’s great. That’s one of the features of the Six Nations – you genuinely don’t know what’s going to happen.”

Harrison was speaking at the launch of the Women’s Six Nations in London – a competition England are aiming to win for the sixth successive year, with France their closest rivals.

With their rivals investing more money into their national programmes in an attempt to catch up, Harrison is confident the playing field will level out.

“It would be great to have more competitive matches and I think that, through the investments that have happened just in the last 12 months, we will start to see some of that,” he said.

“Of course, England and France have obviously also upped their game in terms of their performance, and we have had another year of understanding how to become even better.

“Partners are very interested in seeing those improvements and seeing how teams are becoming more competitive.

“And let’s be honest, this isn’t the domination that you might see in Scottish football, for example. We’ve got a couple of years where the gap has widened and I expect that gap to narrow.

“Our role is to provide increased levels of funding for the women’s game because we don’t really get involved in the high-performance space.

“What we can do, though, is ensure those funding streams are healthy, open and exploited to the full extent.”

 Cricket West Indies (CWI) and the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) today announced an expanded match schedule for England’s tour of the Caribbean in 2022.

The January 2022 Tour will now feature five T20 Internationals (T20Is) – increased from three matches – to be followed by England returning to the Caribbean for three Test matches in March – increased from the original two Test matches.

The Test series will be the first in which the two teams compete for the newly commissioned Richards-Botham Trophy, named in honour of West Indies’ batting icon Sir Vivian Richards and England’s great all-rounder Lord Ian Botham.

The T20I series will be the biggest series to date between the two teams in the shortest form of the game and will be part of the preparations building up to the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in Australia in October 2022.

“This expansion of next year’s England tour to the Caribbean is welcomed news for West Indies Cricket and for the region’s tourism economy. It has come about because of the special relationship that has been developed between our respective boards and we are looking forward to working with ECB Chair Ian Watmore, and CEO Tom Harrison, to expand our partnership even further into new areas of cooperation and support,” said CWI President Ricky Skerritt.

“We have already begun discussions on how the ECB can help us in our development programs and I am pleased that ECB has been showing so much appetite and goodwill to assist.”

Johnny Grave CWI CEO expressed his pleasure at the development.

“We are delighted that the ECB has agreed to increase the number of matches in their tour to the Caribbean next year,” he said.

“An England tour to the West Indies is a special event, so adding a third Test match and two T20Is to the original schedule it will enable more fans to watch the teams do battle and afford more of our countries the opportunity to host matches.”

Meanwhile, Ian Watmore, Chair, England and Wales Cricket Board said discussions between the two boards had been ongoing since the West Indies toured the UK in the summer of 2020.

"We hugely appreciated the support of Cricket West Indies, and all its men’s and women’s players, in helping us host a full season of international cricket in the summer of 2020. Following the conclusion of those tours to England we have been in discussions with CWI to understand how we can best support them moving forward and one way was to extend our existing England men’s tours to the Caribbean in 2022,” Watmore said.

Tom Harrison, Chief Executive Officer, England and Wales Cricket Board said they were thrilled to be able to expand the number of games for the respective formats.

"A tour to the Caribbean is one of the most iconic for both England players and fans alike. So, we are delighted to confirm that our England men’s team will play two additional IT20s and one more Test Match as part of their planned tours in January and March respectively,” Harrison said.

“The three Test-match series will form part of the next ICC World Test Championship, whilst the additional IT20s will provide our England men’s team with valuable preparation ahead of the ICC World T20, which takes place in Australia later that year."

The venues for the matches are expected to be announced by the end of April.

Proposed Match Schedule

Friday, January 28: 1st T20 International

Sunday, January 30: 2nd T20 International

Wednesday, February 2: 3rd T20 International

Friday, February 4: 4th T20 International

Saturday, February 5: 5th T20 International

Tuesday, March 1 to Friday, March 4: warm-up match

Tuesday, Mar 8 to Saturday, March 12: 1st Test Match

Wednesday, March 16 to Saturday, March 20: 2nd Test Match

Thursday, March 24 to Monday, March 28: 3rd Test Match