The Varsity Cup has gone back to a traditional point-scoring system for conversions, penalties and drop goals.

In the 2014 and 2015 tournaments a conversion was worth three points, and a penalty and a drop goal just two points each. In 2016, however, it will revert back to two points for a conversion, and three each for a penalty and drop goal.

This follows the announcement of a seven-point try and a nine-point try for this year's Varsity Cup.

'This change has come about, as we continuously research and test the new points allocation system for tries,' said Varsity Cup founder Francois Pienaar. 'One has to understand the reason Varsity Cup had previously changed the value of points allocated to penalty kicks, drop goals and conversions. It was done to encourage running rugby and reward teams who put an emphasis on try-scoring. With the implementation of this new point-scoring system for tries, we intend to encourage complete rugby, which will develop all the skill sets of our athletes.

'If we kept the points for kicks the same as previous years, it would take six penalty kicks to catch up with the one nine-point converted try in 2016. So, by changing the points awarded for successful kicks, we are now encouraging all aspects of the game to be utilised and ultimately for individuals to develop all skill sets – including goal-kicking.'

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