New Bonus Points System Unveiled.

The Welsh Rugby Union today unveiled their new points system, designed to make the qualification for Heineken Cup places more exciting.
The new system has been devised between the Premiership clubs and the WRU to ensure that every game counts in the coming season.
In the past, qualification was based on a team’s ranking in the Welsh or Welsh/Scottish League.
With clubs involved in so many different tournaments these days, the new system is felt to be a more equitable way of determining who should claim the places in Europe’s top grade tournament.
The points which a team accumulates in the Welsh League will be combined with bonus points accrued in the Celtic League, the Heineken Cup and the Principality Cup to reach an overall score.
The further a team goes the more points they will accumulate, and the four or five clubs with the most amount of points in the Welsh ‘SuperClub’ table will qualify for the Heineken Cup.
“The aim of the new system is to provide an incentive to all clubs in every match, regardless of which competition they are playing in,” said WRU secretary Dennis Gethin.
“There will be a harder edge to all games and that will provide a better competition for the players at all levels in the squads of the Welsh clubs.”
The chairman of the Premier Clubs Association, Derrick King, believes the new system will be of huge benefit to clubs, fans, sponsors and broadcasters.
“The new European qualification system will give added interest to the season has a whole. It will increase sponsorship and spectator values and will allow the best teams across the board to progress into the Heineken Cup,” said Mr King.