The Road to Riches Weekend of 15th-16th August

 

Coming up this weekend

• Horse Racing, Over the jumps at Goodwood, Hamilton, Lingfield, Newmarket and Thirsk.
• Football, the Community Shield between Arsenal and Manchester City
• Cricket, the first Test match between England and Pakistan at Headingley next week and the Hundred final on Sunday
• Golf, the BMW Championship on the USPGA Tour and Nexo Championship on the DP World Tour.
• Tennis, ATP Cincinnati Open continues

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York Ebor Festival

Full Package (19th - 22nd Aug). After successful Royal Ascot and Glorious Goodwood weeks, get all of Neil’s write ups and bets for £125 here

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NFL 2026 

2026 Regular season package now available for £125 here 

Last year the package won 313 points with a ROI of 10% in the regular season. Published on Friday: What to expect from this column this season

Free Tip

The Hundred Eliminator: Manchester Super Giants v Sunrisers Leeds Friday 6pm

The Hundred Eliminator at The Oval where the second and third placed teams from the round-robin leagfue play, the winner meets the winner of the league, the Trent Rockets, in the final at Lords on Sunday.

These two teams played on Tuesday and the very successful Sunrisers Leeds batting line-up failed, dismissed for 127, a total which was chased down with no wickets lost in 67 balls. Four days later they meet at a neutral venue in a semi-final.

Through this tournament Sunrisers Leeds have been the most prolific batting team. Marsh opening the batting is the Hundred’s top run scorer and he, Brook and Lawrence are top of the strike rates.

Their eight games included batting scores of 186,187, 201 and a tournament record 241.

For Sunrisers here are the batting stats:

Marsh 8 innings, 406 runs, average of 50, strike rate of 169.

Marsh has top scored in 5 of the 8 innings, including the last two games. 11/4 in the top batsman market seems more than fair.

Rickelton: 8-291-41-176

Brook: 8-206-29-187

Manchester Super Giants meanwhile have only scored over 180 twice in their 8 games

Their run-making is more concentrated:

Buttler 7 innings, 278 runs at an average of 69 and a strike rate of 174

Tim Seifert 8-322-53-165 including a 40-ball 80 including seven sixes against Sunrisers Leeds on Tuesday. As stated in previous reports, the most boom-bust batsman in the competition, he’ll thrash from the start and either comes off or doesn’t!

Aside from the “big two” the top run scorers are Walter 145 and Klaasen 103 (Walter came in when Markram withdrew from the competition a few matches ago).

In this market it’s Buttler 5/2 Seifert 16/5.

What Manchester probably have over Leeds is more depth in the bowling line up.

They have four bowlers who have taken 5+ wickets (38 total) with Atkinson 11 and Tongue 10 leading the way. Leeds have three players with 5+ (27 total) with Carse 11 and Ellis 10 leading. Probably correctly given this, despite Sunrisers Leeds batting firepower, the Super Giants are odds-on favourites for the game.

10 points Mitch Marsh Top Sunrisers Leeds batsman at 11/4 Betfred, 27/10 William Hill, 13/5 Star Sports, 12/5 Bet365

Fallow

The 2027 World Test Championship final will be played at the Oval amid concerns over the quality of the Lords pitch.

England will host the showpiece final for the fourth time next year. Lords hosted it in 2025, when South Africa beat Australia, and had been expected to become its regular venue.

The International Cricket Council has awarded England hosting rights for the next three finals until 2031, and has specified that it wants the match to be hosted in London. There have been three previous finals: at Southampton’s Utilita Bowl in 2021,at the Oval in 2023 and then at Lord’s in 2025.

In June Lords hosted the first Test between England and New Zealand. While the game reached day four because of rain, the Test lasted just 166 overs, which is less than two full days’ play. There was variable bounce and 24 of the 40 dismissals were bowled or LBW.

The match referee officially rated the pitch “unsatisfactory”, which meant Lord’s received its first demerit point under the ICC’s grading system.  The MCC chairman, described the pitch as “substandard”. 

The MCC Cricket Strategy, launched earlier this year, introduced a number of initiatives to alleviate the pressure on the square, including moving fixtures to Wormsley and developing drop-in pitches that could be used in international cricket by 2029.

With the WTC final moved to the Oval, Lord’s would still host two Tests next summer, as per the staging agreement with the ECB. It could take an early-summer one-off Test. This match, possibly against Pakistan, had been slated for Old Trafford, which does not have an Ashes Test. However, ECB sources have indicated that Manchester is interested in taking a “fallow payment” from the governing body, rather than hosting the match. A fallow payment is a one-off fee paid to Test grounds which do not host a men’s Test in a certain season.

The Road to Riches Weekend of 8th-9th August

Coming up this weekend

• Horse Racing, Over the jumps at Goodwood, Hamilton, Lingfield, Newmarket and Thirsk.
• Cricket, the Hundred continues
• Golf, the FedEx St Jude Championship on the USPGA Tour and the Danish Championship on the DP World Tour.
• Tennis, ATP Cincinnati Open

 

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NFL 2026 

2026 Regular season package now available for £125 here 

Last year the package won 313 points with a ROI of 10% on the regular season..

Here is the publishing Schedule for the next six weeks:

• Friday August 14th: What to expect from this column this season

• Friday August 21st: Ante-Post Team Markets

• Friday August 28th: Ante-Post Player markets

• Tuesday September 8th:Opening game Patriots at Seahawks (on Wednesday Sept 9^th)

• Wednesday September 9th: Thursday Night Football Rams versus 49ers, Melbourne (in the early hours of Friday Sept 11th)

• Friday September 11th: Sunday week 1 Matches

• Weekend of September 12-13th: Monday Night Football Week 1 Broncos at Chiefs

Free Tip

The Hundred Sunrisers Leeds v Welsh Fire Sunday 9th August 2.30pm

Statistics as at Thursday 6th August These are the penultimate matches of the group stages for both teams

Their records after six games each, Sunrisers Leeds are fifth with 3 wins, Welsh Fire third with four wins going into the weekend.

A reminder of the format for the Hundred, and why this looms as a crucial game. Each team plays four matches at home and four away. After the league stage, the top three teams progress to the knockout stage next weekend. The second- and third-placed teams will face each other in the eliminator at The Oval. The winner of the eliminator then met the league-topping team in the final at Lord's. Currently the Trent Rockets are top of the table.

Sunrisers Leeds, in line with their IPL team within the same franchise have the most batting firepower in the competition as shown on Tuesday night when they smashed a tournament-high 241-2 against London Spirit with the top three scoring 76, 94 and 55.

Leeds have the three highest batting strike rates in The Hundred this season (minimum 50 runs): Dan Lawrence, Harry Brook and Mitchell Marsh.

In the top Sunrisers Leeds batsman market for this game prices are as follows:

Marsh 13/5

Rickelton 11/4

Brook 3/1

Crawley 5/1

Lawrence 6/1

First things first Lawrence bats at 5 and has a strike rate of 192 but has only batted in four innings so far with 77 runs off just 40 balls, such has been the form of the top four above him.

Marsh opens with Rickelton with Crawley batting 3. He is the top scorer in this year’s competition with 290 runs off 158 balls faced with a 182 strike rate, 50 runs ahead of Ben Duckett with 240 runs. Marsh has scored three fifties in his five innings so far.

Rickelton with 169 runs and Crawley 95 runs have been far less successful than Marsh whilst batting at 4 Harry Brook has 154 runs off just 81 balls at a strike rate of 190 including a 15-ball fifty in midweek.

Whilst Marsh is obviously the favourite with Crawley so far not in form at 3 and Brook not needing many balls to compile a score backing Brook at 3/1 is the value option in this market here.

10 points Harry Brook top Sunrisers Leeds batsman at 3/1 Bet365 more firms to follow over the weekend.

A case of Mistaken Identity

This season during the first ten days of the competition The Hundred's crowds fell by 30% compared to 2025. This may have nothing to do with the cricket itself.

The competition entered a new era this year. Several teams gained new owners. Many franchises introduced fresh branding. Better overseas players also arrived. Those changes were expected to generate even more interest. Instead, the opposite appears to have happened. One example stands out. Around 4,000 tickets were reportedly given away for the opening match at The Oval. Even then, the official attendance was 20,540. That immediately raises an important question.

If free tickets were needed for the opening fixture, why has interest fallen instead of growing?

I think there are several reasons.

The first is pricing. Many supporters who may have attended in previous years now face noticeably higher ticket costs. Adult tickets for several matches have been priced between £35 and £55. For many families, that turns a simple day at the cricket into a costly outing once travel, food and drinks are included. That is a significant increase from previous seasons. Cricket has always competed with other forms of entertainment. Higher prices make that competition even harder.

But I do not think ticket prices are the only reason. The rebranding has probably had an even bigger impact. The original Hundred identities were never perfect. Names such as Oval Invincibles, Northern Superchargers and Trent Rockets at least became familiar after four seasons. Supporters had begun to recognise those brands. Then many of them suddenly disappeared. Oval Invincibles became MI London. Northern Superchargers became Leeds Sunrisers. Several other franchises also changed their identities after private investment arrived. I think that removed much of the connection people had gradually built with the competition. Supporters usually become attached to teams over time. Changing names, colours and identities resets that process.

That is especially important in England. County cricket already has loyal followings built over more than a century. Many supporters identify with Yorkshire, Lancashire, Kent or Somerset. A supporter from Sheffield may not feel represented by a team carrying the Leeds name. Someone from Kent may have little interest in supporting a franchise based around Surrey. Regional loyalty matters in English cricket. Changing established identities can weaken that connection rather than strengthen it.

Another issue is player identity. In previous seasons, many franchises had strong links with local county players. That connection now feels weaker. Several high-profile players have changed franchises. Others now represent teams with completely different branding. When local identity disappears, it becomes harder for casual supporters to feel attached to a team.

I also think the timing of the competition remains a problem. The Hundred occupies almost an entire month of the English summer. During that period, county cricket is pushed into the background. The Vitality Blast loses much of its attention. The Metro Bank One-Day Cup is heavily affected. Many county squads are also weakened because players and coaches move across to Hundred franchises. That creates the impression that traditional domestic cricket has become secondary.

There is another interesting point. Very few criticisms are actually aimed at the standard of cricket. The quality of players remains high. International stars are still involved. The cricket itself is not the biggest issue. The concerns are mainly about identity, pricing and direction. As an aside though whether on BBC or Sky the television coverage has reverted to the cricketing norm. What was promoted as “fun for the family” and people new to cricket, the commentary is now more serious and technical.

Perhaps the biggest lesson is this. Creating a successful sporting competition is not only about attracting investors or introducing new branding. Supporters also need familiarity. They need local identity. They need affordable access. Those factors often matter just as much as what happens on the field.

The Hundred may still recover. It still has strong television exposure. It has helped introduce new audiences to cricket.The women's competition has also benefited from greater visibility. But if attendances continue falling despite new investment, then English cricket may have to accept that branding alone cannot build long-term loyalty.

In sport, people usually support teams because they feel they belong to them. That connection takes years to build. It can disappear much faster than it was created.

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Betting Emporium results

The detailed results page was updated on 1^st July 2026. They can be found by clicking RESULTS

If you bet £10 per point on every recommended bet since launch you would be winning + £81,889. All bets have an ROI +2.86%

A £4000 bank (see FAQ re bank-roll requirements) betting £10 a point on all selections would now be worth £85,889 a 2047% increase 

The Road to Riches Weekend of 1st-2nd August

Coming up this weekend

• Horse Racing, Over the jumps at Goodwood, Hamilton, Lingfield, Newmarket and Thirsk.
• Cricket, the Hundred continues
• Golf, the Wyndham Championship on the USPGA Tour.
• Tennis, ATP Canadian Open.
• Commonwealth Games, the final weekend in Glasgow

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NFL 2026 

2026 Regular season package now available for £125 here 

Last year the package won 313 points with a ROI of 10% on the regular season..

Here is the publishing Schedule for the next six weeks:

• Friday August 14th: What to expect from this column this season

• Friday August 21st: Ante-Post Team Markets

• Friday August 28th: Ante-Post Player markets

• Tuesday September 8th:Opening game Patriots at Seahawks (on Wednesday Sept 9^th)

• Wednesday September 9th: Thursday Night Football Rams versus 49ers, Melbourne (in the early hours of Friday Sept 11th)

• Friday September 11th: Sunday week 1 Matches

• Weekend of September 12-13th: Monday Night Football Week 1 Broncos at Chiefs

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Free Tip

The Hundred: MI London v Manchester Super Giants Sunday 2nd August 6pm The Oval

The Hundred continues apace, ten days into the tournament each of these two teams have played four games each.

Triple defending champions MI London (the former Oval Invincibles) chased 144 to beat Sunrisers Leeds then lost to the Welsh Fire last weekend failing to chase 167, chased 127 to beat Southern Brave and then failed to defend 167 against the London Spirit. So a mixed start in comparison to performances in recent years at a 2-2 win-loss record.

Manchester Super Giants (MSG) meanwhile defended 138 to beat the London Spirit then scored 187 against the Birmingham Phoenix, dismissing them for 100 to win easily before losing twice in a row this week to Sunrisers Leeds and the Trent Rockets.

The MSG odds for top batsman on Sunday in London are as follows:

Buttler 13/5

Markham 3/1

Seifert 3/1

Klaasen 9/2

Du Plooy 13/2

 

No surprise to see Jos Buttler favourite, with three fifties in four innings so far including his 90 off 50 balls in their second game

Amongst the MSG overseas players is Tim Seifert a New Zealand wicketkeeper-batsman renowned for his explosive 360-degree stroke-play and aggressive powerplay batting. A T20I regular since 2018 with over 2,200 runs, he holds New Zealand’s fastest domestic T20 hundred record and has starred in global leagues, notably winning the 2024 LPL Green Cap and hitting a joint-fastest CPL century in 2025. In the 2026 T20 World Cup, he was the second-highest run-scorer, helping New Zealand finish runners-up.

This is his first year in the Hundred, and he scored 67 in game one, then just one in their second game and 28 off 16 balls in the third with 12 on Friday. This is the highest variance cricket betting format and the big hitting players such as Seifert are the highest variance options within it.

10 points Tim Seifert Top Manchester Super Giants batsman at 3/1 Bet365/others to follow over the weekend

Blockbuster

In early June the LA Rams and Cleveland Browns agreed to a trade to send star defensive player of the year pass rusher Myles Garrett to LA, in exchange for former defensive rookie of the year Jared Verse and a 2027 first-round pick plus day two picks in 2028 and 2029.

Last season Garrett led the league with 23 sacks including 11 sacks on 3rd down and 33 tackles for loss, both league leading figures. Garrett became only the second player with 20+ sacks & 30+ tackles for loss in the same season after T J Watt in 2012.

Rarely do trades for defensive players move markets but this trade moved LA from -2.5 to as high as -3.5 for Week 1 versus the 49ers in Australia and from 7/1 to 6/1 for the Superbowl, 4/1 to 3/1 for the NFC and 11/8 to Evens to win the NFC West.

In part this trade reflects the current league meta. A defense getting home to pressure/sack the Quarterback with just the four defensive players across the front is key to allow defenses to run two-high shells in the secondary and restrict explosive plays. Garrett rushing next to the Rams Defensive tackles (Turner and Fiske were 5th and 14th in pass rush win league-wide at the position) is (on paper!) nasty, nasty stuff.

In the NFL the most valuable positions are commonly understood to be Quarterback, wide reciever, tackle, edge and cornerback, reflected in contract size. The Rams now have a Top-5 player at each position having also acquired Trent McDuffie this off-season.

In roster terms this is moving “all-in” with their win-now window closing soon under 40-year-old Quarterback Matthew Stafford. They absolutely improved by adding Myles Garrett. However, you can also make a case that the Browns, still rebuilding their roster towards competitiveness, won in value. Jared Verse is a young talent, in addition they received a 2027 1st round pick + other draft compensation with the main aim to securing a franchise Quarterback in the near future,

The Rams have only drafted in the first round in two years over the last decade with what has become known as a “eff them picks” strategy trading future commodities for known commodities now. The hardest part is managing the salary cap and they go very top heavy in this. When you don’t draft in the 1st round, draft pick cap hits are significantly less.

It’s not a foregone conclusion now that the Rams will win the SB.. I went back and looked at teams in similar odds ranges (80% to reach the play offs, 6/1 to win the Super Bowl) over recent seasons to see how those teams also fared. Only 2 of a sample of 16 teams won the Championship and only 63% (10/16) actually made the playoffs, well below expected. You just never know in a sport with so many injuries!

The Road to Riches Weekend of 25th-26th July

Coming up this weekend

• Horse Racing, Over the flat at Ascot, Lingfield, Salisbury and York and on the all-weather at Newcastle.
• Cricket, the opening weekend of the Hundred.
• Formula One, the Hungarian Grand Prix
• Golf, the Rocket Classic on the USPGA Tour.
• Tennis, ATP City DC and Los Cabos Opens.
• Commonwealth Games, in Glasgow

 

Free Tip

The Hundred: Welsh Fire v MI London 6pm Sunday Cardiff

The first weekend of the 2026 hundred, the highest variance/shortest cricketing format. Each of the 8 teams has the same budget therefore the selection of franchise and auction players is key, as is the premium on coaching and strategy. Much of this is still a work in progress in this relatively young competition/format, for example establishing what is a good score? In recent years the competition has often been played on tired pitches (just after the Blast) and this year squares will be dry and worn so low scores/the importance of spin might be another feature. Small sample but first innings scores to open this competition have been 143 and 135.

The MI London team (formerly the Oval Invincibles) have won the last three Hundred tournaments but the Hundred this year has seen a huge amount of change, notably in team ownership. The Invincibles are now one of five MI teams worldwide and several of the key elements of their previous success has changed notably coach Tom Moody (who was well ahead of the game in this format) and captain Sam Billings have left as have some key players notably Australian spinner Adam Zampa.

They are 100/30 favourites based on past tournaments but this year more than any other this is likely to have no relevance to this year.

This was their line-up in their opening game in midweek, which they won comfortably at home to Sunrisers Leeds for player market purposes here:

Jacks, Vince, Roy, Pooran, S Curran, Phillipe, T Curran, Rashid, Gleeson, Boult,  Sowter

Nicholas Pooran has now scored 164 runs off 55 balls for once out across his last two short-form innings: Wednesday: 106 off 33 for MI New York at the Oakland Coliseum(!) This week: 58* off 22 for MI London at The Oval.

The Welsh Fire have struggled in each year of the Hundred and are 15/2 pre-tournament, seventh of eight teams in the betting yet the annual auction has allowed them to build what looks to be a much stronger line-up.

This was their XI for the first game at the Southern Brave:

Salt, Short, Root, Ravindra, Cox, Tribe, Kellaway, Jansen, Woakes, S Cook, Ferguson.

Ravindra and Root are clearly high-quality players but it doesn’t look like the punchiest 100-ball middle order, but they have a strong opening pair and Cox is a very talented hitter.

Looking at Salt, Short and Cox’s career records in the Hundred before this year:

Salt (at the Manchester Originals) is the top scorer in the six years of the Hudred:

43 innings, 1,138 runs at a 153-strike rate

He began this season by top scoring with 47* in the win over th Southern Brave in their first game on Wednesday.

Cox, (also at the Manchester Originals)

29 innings, 940 runs at a 154-strike rate

Short (at the Northern Superchargers for 2 years)

15 innings, 276 runs at a 138-strike rate.

Odds at the top of the Welsh Fire top run scorer market are as follows:

Root 3/1

Salt 3/1

Short 15/4

Cox 4/1

Bar 8/1

With his record in the format, opening the batting I think Salt should be a clear favourite.

10 points Phil Salt Top Welsh Fire run scorer at 3/1 BetVictor, Bet365, 29/10 William Hill, 11/4 Ladbrokes/Coral.

All Change

The ECB is considering allowing the new England Test cricket head coach to work in the IPL alongside the England role following the sacking of Brendon McCullum from his Test role though Andy Flower has stated he will not return to the role, preferring to retain his role with double IPL Champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB).

The ECB is operating in a modern cricket world where players are trying to balance between county and international cricket plus lucrative franchise opportunities worldwide in an overcrowded calendar. They may have to adapt to the same with their coaching and supporting staff.

McCullum stepped down from his role at Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) when he took on the Test job, but England staff have previously held concurrent roles with T20 franchises. Tim Southee left the Ashes tour after one match to play in the ILT20, while several backroom staff have worked in the IPL alongside England duties.

However, the IPL's dates occasionally clash with England's Test commitments. This year, Jacob Bethell and Jofra Archer both missed a training camp before the first New Zealand Test (Archer missed the Test itself, too) while in India; next year, England are due to play a one-off Test most likely against Bangladesh in late May which could overlap with the playoffs.

The recruitment process for McCullum's successor will be led by Rob Key who has been backed to continue as England's managing director on a "long-term" basis" which most commentators regard as being extremely fortunate given the results, lack of administrative process and chaos of the last six months. The ECB hope to make an appointment ahead of their next Test series against Pakistan, which starts on August 19. They are unlikely to appoint a successor to Ben Stokes as Test captain until a new head coach is in place, most likely Harry Brook with McCullum gone, though appointing a captain across all three formats will probably be avoided.

The Road to Riches Weekend of 18th-19th July

*Betting Emporium results updated, see below*

 

Coming up this weekend

• Horse Racing, Over the jumps at Doncaster, Haydock, Newbury, Newmarket and Ripon and over the jumps at Cartmel and Market Rasen.
• Football, the 2026 World Cup Final.
• Cricket, the England-India ODI series continues at Lords on Sunday.
• Rugby Union, the new Nations Championship continues including Argentina v England and New Zealand v Ireland.
• Formula One, the Belgian Grand Prix
• Golf, the 3m Open at TPC Twin Cities on the USPGA Tour.
• Tennis, ATP Generali and Estoril Opens.

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Glorious Goodwood

After a great Royal Ascot week next up for us is Goodwood from 28th July. Get all the write ups and bets for the 5 day festival for £150 here 

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Free Tip

Nations Championship Rugby: New Zealand v Ireland Saturday 8.10am Auckland

The third and final weekend of the summer Nations Championship games before the competition continues in the Autumn in Europe.

This game in Auckland this weekend sees two of the three unbeaten teams in the tournament after two weeks meet, the other being South Africa who have beaten England and Scotland to top the Southern Hemisphere pool. Ireland are top of the Northern Hemisphere pool.

New Zealand have beaten France 34-32 and last weekend Italy 47-17 scoring a combined 12 tries. A year out from the 2027 World Cup in Australia New Zealand changed the coaching team in March with Scott Robertson dismissed mid World Cup cycle and replaced by David Rennie.

Through the first two games under Rennie New Zealand are being asked to play at a different pace under the new regime and that it was something that the players have needed to adjust to, plus playing in areas of the field they haven’t been asked to do for 4-5 years. There are new combinations too, plus a new fly-half so perhaps it’s understandable to see some mixed performances whilst everything beds in. Of course, there is tremendous natural talent in the line-up if not quite the depth of resources from previous teams. For example, against Italy winger/fly-half Will Jordan scored three tries to become New Zealand's all-time leading try-scorer with 50 in 56 matches.

Ireland beat Australia 33-31 to start their tournament before beating Japan 36-20 to record their second bonus point win. Against Japan, probably with an eye on the New Zealand game, Ireland fielded a much-changed side with 11 changes and four debutants.

Back to full strength here they’ll be a determined challenge for the All Blacks albeit this is at THE toughest New Zealand venue for visiting sides. New Zealand are unbeaten in 52 games at Auckland since 1994 including most recently beating World Champions and top ranked side South Africa 24-17 last year.

So far, this column has backed two underdogs getting a score-plus in this new tournament and lost twice (England + and Australia +) This weekend Ireland are +10.5 points in the Auckland game

Ireland +10.5 points at 10/11 generally

Pointless

The 127 points shared between Northampton Saints and Bristol Bears in mid-May set a new record aggregate for the Prem. On their way to a 94-33 loss in the 54^th minute Bristol scored a fourth try and gained a consolation bonus point. Northampton had already scored 12 tries themselves. What made the scoreline even more remarkable was that at the time Bristol were still chasing fourth place in the league. This wasn’t a match between a top side and a bottom side with absolutely nothing to play for in a league with no relegation.

Bonus points were introduced before the 2000-01 season. Play-Offs were introduced at the same time. The bonus-point system in England’s top tier is unchanged since: one point for scoring four tries, whether you win or lose, and one for a losing team that finishes within seven points of their opponents. As a mark of how much rarer they were in that maiden season, Bath garnered the most four-try bonus points during the regular schedule. They picked up nine across 22 matches.

Fast forward to 2025-26 and that heavy Northampton match represented Bristol’s ninth four-try bonus point this term, in their 16th league fixture. Five other sides (Northampton, Bath, Leicester Tigers, Exeter Chiefs and Saracens) were in double figures after round 15.

A variety of factors have sent us into this era of dizzying scorelines: better pitches, increased athleticism, intuitive coaching, sharper skills, law tweaks to encourage more broken-field situations amongst them. Defences do seem particularly flimsy in the Prem. Only one club last season, Exeter, were conceding fewer than 20 points per match on average.

There is a different system that incentivises defences. In 2014, the French Top 14 altered the rules so teams picked up a bonus point for scoring three more tries than their opponents. Super Rugby moved to the “three ahead” rule in 2016. The Prem and the United Rugby Championship (URC) have stayed put, though there does appear to be greater emphasis on defence in the latter competition. A “three ahead” system maintains intrigue during matches, because sides who have piled up a sizeable advantage cannot switch off, and recognises truly dominant performances.