Harvey Biljon believes the jury is still out on the new bonus-point system being adopted in Champ Rugby this season.

Biljon’s Rotherham Titans marked their first game back in the second tier after eight years away with a stunning second-half comeback victory over professional outfit Coventry at Clifton Lane last Saturday.

Rotherham scored six tries in the win, Coventry five. In any of the last 26 seasons in English rugby, those tallies would have earned the respective teams a bonus point for scoring four or more tries, regardless of the result.

But this year, Champ Rugby has opted to fall in line with other competitions such as the French Top 14 and the southern hemisphere’s Super Rugby by implementing the “three tries more” rule. That means a bonus point is only awarded to the winning team that scores three tries more than their opponents, so in the case of last Saturday, neither Rotherham or Coventry picked up a bonus point. The new rule will be adopted in Europe’s Champions Cup and Challenge Cup this season, but not in the Prem or below the Champ in the National Leagues.

No bonus: Rotherham Titans scored six tries against Coventry in their Champ Rugby opener last week but under new rules, that didn't earn an extra point.

placeholder image — No bonus: Rotherham Titans scored six tries against Coventry in their Champ Rugby opener last week but under new rules, that didn't earn an extra point.

It is supposed to encourage winning teams to keep playing and discourage the awarding of points to losing teams, although a bonus point is still awarded if a team loses by seven points or fewer.

Biljon admits he is still trying to get his head around how to approach it as a coach.

“I’m not saying it’s right yet, I’m not saying it’s wrong, but it is interesting,” said Biljon.

“Last week we outscored Coventry by six tries to five and we came away with four points. I think you deserve something for scoring six tries, don’t you?

Harvey Biljon has his say on the new bonus-point system being adopted in Champ Rugby.

“Even Coventry, from the other perspective, if my team had worked that hard to get five tries I think they deserve the extra point. But they only came away with one.

“We need context and to work it out over the campaign, but for me last weekend highlighted the number of bonus points that could have been scored but just weren’t out there.”

And the Titans director of rugby concedes the new bonus-point system has come into his thinking as he prepares his team to tackle Worcester Warriors at Sixways on Saturday lunchtime.

Worcester, the phoenix club formed from the ashes of the collapsed former Premiership team, won the Champ last season and began the 2026-27 campaign with a 40-5 drubbing of Bedford Blues - the team they beat in May’s play-off final.

Biljon reasoned: “They’re trying to drive the way the game is played and drive tries, but from a coaching perspective, you start to focus on defence because you never want a team to get more than three tries ahead as you never want to give them that extra point.

“So that makes it a defensive focus, not really an attacking focus.

“And also in a league like the Champ where there’s full-time professional teams and then part-time teams, generally in the past a lot of the part-time teams would go to a bigger club and think let’s try and score four tries and at least try and come away with something.

“Whereas now you’re thinking: how do we not give away a bonus point to the opposition, which puts the emphasis on can you defend?

“Even then, we won’t be battening down the hatches at Worcester, it’s about going in and testing yourself against a team that is a next-level, full-time team, in a Premiership facility.”

"Hell of a day – but let’s not let it be our highlight”

Biljon wants to use last Saturday’s rousing win over Coventry as a springboard for more, and not just represent the highpoint of their Champ Rugby existence.

Titans trailed 28-12 against a full-time outfit before storming back to win 38-35 with four tries.

But life back where they believe they belong doesn’t get any easier with today’s trip to Worcester.

Biljon said: “We had the belief we were going to land in this space and try and compete and be resilient.

“Last Saturday was a huge day for the club. If you were just a rugby supporter or a neutral, what a game to be a part of. Hell of a day all round.

“And that result has given us belief, and belief is an important word, but we also signed off from that game by saying let’s not let this be the highlight of our season, because we still have the highest of highs and the lowest or lows to come.

“Twenty-five tough games to come and that leads us into Worcester, the champions, who just put 40 points past the team they were in the final against last year (Bedford).

“So it’s a whole different challenge again against a team that is on the 4G surface and is aiming for the top of the game.”