The Six Nations Councils decision to trial bonus points in 2017 has met with a positive response.Seventy percent of readers who responded to our poll?said that they were in favour of the move, but how would the new system have affected previous championships?ESPN has looked at four recent tournaments that ended with a tie for top spot, to see if the winners would have been different had bonus points been used.2015Three teams -- England, Ireland and Wales -- went into Super Saturday last year with a chance of winning the Six Nations.Wales kicked things off with a thumping win over Italy that briefly put them in the driving seat. Ireland followed suit against Scotland in Edinburgh, though, to take control and not even a seven-try win for England against France at Twickenham could knock them off top spot.At that time it was only points difference that separated the three sides, and that would be the same outcome had bonus points been applied. Each team would have ended with two from their five games.2014Another tournament in which three teams entered the final round with a realistic chance of winning the championship.Englands lunchtime win over Italy gave them hope of finishing top of the pile, before the other two challengers -- France and Ireland -- went head to head in Paris.In the end a 22-20 win for the Irish ensured they edged England on points difference. Unfortunately for the Red Rose, that would have been the way things panned out even with the use of bonus points.2013One of Warren Gatlands finest matches as Wales coach, as a team featuring Justin Tipuric at openside flanker tore England apart to snatch the title.Wales had begun the championship with a resounding defeat to Ireland but England had no answer amid a cauldron of noise in Cardiff.However impressive the performance, though, it would not have been enough had bonus points been in use. Englands four-try win over Scotland on the opening weekend would have been enough for Stuart Lancasters men.2007As in 2014 and 2015, three teams went into the final weekend nine years ago with a chance of winning the Six Nations.Frances 46-19 win over Scotland in Paris ensured they edged out Ireland -- 51-24 winners over Italy on the last day -- and England, who lost 27-18 in Wales.But had bonus points been used, Les Bleus would not have been smiling. Indeed, their bonus-point win in Edinburgh would have been only the second extra point they picked up in the tournament.With Ireland securing their third of the championship in Rome, it would have left the French second, as the Irish claimed the title by a point. Air Max 1 Wholesale . The Nashville Predators were glad their captain was still on their side. Weber had a goal and two assists, and Roman Josi scored the shootout winner to lift the Predators to a 4-3 win over the Flyers on Thursday night. Cheap Air Max 1 China . 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Six of those 13 changed as a result of significant trades, and weve already seen three closers who have saved 20-plus games this season -- Jeremy Jeffress (27), Cody Allen (20) and Brad Ziegler (20) -- traded into situations where they stand little chance at padding those totals.Thats why its not a surprise that nine of the most-added players in ESPN leagues (as of Wednesday morning) are closers, while no other position absorbed as much change in the Going Forward Rankings as the relief pitchers. Simply handing a talented relief arm a potential 16 saves -- that was the average number accrued by the top 10 in the category from Aug. 3 forward last season -- swings a ranking as rapidly as anything, and this past week, a lot of very talented arms fell into that opportunity.To put into perspective what a closers job means -- and Im borrowing this concept here, I admit, though its one that has become more commonplace in the fantasy industry -- lets play a little game of Blind Résumés. ?The following stats have been accrued since (and including) Mothers Day (May 8):Player A: 35 G, 1.59 ERA, 0.71 WHIP, 36.2 K%, .154 BAAPlayer B: 33 G, 2.12 ERA, 0.82 WHIP, 43.2 K%, .179 BAAPlayer C: 36 G, 2.41 ERA, 1.02 WHIP, 42.3 K%, .193 BAAPlayer D: 33 G, 1.74 ERA, 1.06 ERA, 37.3 K%, .209 BAAMost likely, youd have picked either Player A or B. Player A,?Kenley Jansen, is ranked No.1 among relief pitchers on the Player Rater.?Player B? Hes Andrew Miller, who will probably notch almost all of the Cleveland Indians saves going forward. Chances are, though, that you also took long looks at Players C and D, which is the point of this exercise: Theyre Dellin Betances?(C)?and Ken Giles?(D), the New York Yankees and Houston Astros new respective closers.Now add 16 saves to each of those stat lines. Not only are they remarkably similar players, but cant compelling cases be made that they should comprise four of the top five relief pitcher rankings spots? As is, Jansen (first), Miller (fourth) and Betances (sixth) made the top six, with the only reasons for Giles slotting in at 16th (15th if you remove relief-eligible starter Danny Duffy) being his early-season struggles coupled with more limited overall big league experience than the other three. Still, a compelling case could be made that Giles belongs as high as eighth, between Mark Melancon and Roberto Osuna.If were willing to ignore big league experience, incidentally, a fifth résumé could easily be added to the list:Player E: 25 G, 1.73 ERA, 1.27 WHIP, 46.0 K%, .243 BAAThats the stat line of new Seattle Mariners closer Edwin Diaz, who could easily make a top-10 reliever case right now.And, as an aside, Zach Britton has a 0.00 ERA in his 33 games during that same time span.Here are some quick thoughts about a few starting pitchers...Clayton Kershaw is this weeks toughest to rank. Hes a former No. 1 overall player who is now a pitcher with a range of outcomes as wide as his not throwing another pitch in 2016 to making as many as nine more starts. Granted, the latter is much less likely than the former, but ranking -- nay, valuing for trade purposes -- Kershaw right now comes down to your risk aversity. My ranking below bakes in a seven-start projection, but also one that docks him slightly in the performance department (2.15 ERA and 1.01 WHIP). You might feel he wont pitch that effectively if/when he returns, or you might anticipate a different number of starts, so to ggive a sense of where hed slot in my rankings based on starts with those ratios:Nine more starts: No.dddddddddddd 17 overall, No. 3 starting pitcher. Eight: No. 35 overall, No. 11 starting pitcher. Six: No. 52 overall, No. 15 starting pitcher. Five: No. 87 overall, No. 22 starting pitcher. Four: No. 168 overall, No. 45 starting pitcher. Three: No. 259 overall, No. 69 starting pitcher. With fewer than three starts, Kershaw wouldnt generate a meaningful ranking.From a scheduling standpoint, consider that, as of the games scheduled for Aug. 3, 13 is the most starts any individual could make for the rest of the season, barring a pitcher working on three-day rest at any point. The average team has 51.1 remaining games, which works out to 11.2 average starts per pitcher. Chances are, I might be somewhat optimistic about Kershaws rest-of-2016 prospects, but hes also earned that optimism.Ive been asked about my Noah Syndergaard ranking recently, especially in light of his decent performances in his past two starts. Its picking and choosing samples, but the statistical difference before and after the post-June 22 report that he was pitching through a bone spur in his elbow is stark:Before: 14 GS, 1 GR, 8 W, 12 QS, 2.08 ERA, 0.99 WHIP, 30.8 K%After: 6 GS, 1 W, 3 QS, 3.62 ERA, 1.58 WHIP, 28.4 K%Rankings arent entirely about projections; theres also a bit of feel involved. Gerrit Cole is such an example -- a far more talented starting pitcher than what he has shown in Player Rater terms over the past year and a half. Hes more capable of missing bats than this, and I wonder whether he might lean more on his breaking pitches (curveball and slider) knowing now that he needs to carry this Pittsburgh Pirates pitching staff going forward. Since the beginning of 2014, and among pitchers with at least 50 starts, Coles 39.3 percent miss rate on swings against his breaking pitches ranked 14th out of 114, and only 22 pitchers induced more than Coles 199 whiffs with breaking balls during that time span, despite the fact that 39 pitchers went to the breaking ball more often with two strikes.New ESPN position eligibilityThe following players added new position eligibility within the past two weeks. As a reminder, position players need to appear 10 times at a new position to gain in-season eligibility, while pitchers need to make three starts to earn starting-pitching eligibility or five relief appearances to earn relief-pitching eligibility.Mike Aviles (2B), Joel De La Cruz (SP), Brandon Drury (2B), Carson Fulmer (RP), Matt Holliday (1B), Edwin Jackson (SP), Seth Lugo (RP), Jonathon Niese (RP), Jace Peterson (OF), Miguel Rojas (3B).The following players are within two games of earning new eligibility, with their total games played noted at the listed position.Cristhian Adames (2B, 9 games), Emilio Bonifacio (OF, 8 games), Daniel Castro (3B, 9 games), Ji-Man Choi (OF, 9 games), Christian Colon (3B, 8 games), Chase dArnaud (2B, 9 games), Ivan De Jesus (3B, 8 games), Daniel Descalso (1B, 9 games), Nick Franklin (OF, 8 games), Adam Frazier (2B, 9 games), Paul Janish (3B, 9 games), Raul Mondesi (2B, 8 games), Daniel Murphy (1B, 8 games), Gregorio Petit (3B, 8 games), Tyler Saladino (2B, 8 games), Ronald Torreyes (SS, 8 games), Kennys Vargas (1B, 8 games).Going-forward rankings: Week 17Listed below are my updated, going-forward rankings. 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