The 2025 Six Nations began with a bang as France routed Wales, an injury-hit Scotland defeated Italy and Ireland came from behind to down England in familiar fashion.
There’s plenty of food for thought, but are those reactions irrational or legitimate? It’s time to judge.
Jump to:
England | Ireland | Wales
Scotland | France | Italy
England’s final quarter issue is at crisis level
Ireland came from behind to beat England 27-22 in Dublin, beginning their quest for a third-straight Six Nations title with a bonus-point victory. For England, it was another second-half collapse, but are those late mistakes now resembling an emergency?
Verdict: NOT AN OVERREACTION
The players are adamant they are on the verge of reversing this trend, but the stats and patterns say otherwise. Whatever England are doing in the final quarter is not working. It is a painfully familiar scenario: England ahead in and around the hour mark before the match ebbs away. There are far too many sliding doors moments for this team, where they find themselves slipping down the precipice of a 60-minute meltdown.
It happened against France last year in the final match of the 2024 Six Nations: In the 79th minute, England were 31-30 up. Ben Earl gave away a no-arms penalty, and Thomas Ramos slotted the penalty to win the match 33-31. It happened in their two Tests against New Zealand in July: Marcus Smith missed three kicks at goal in Dunedin while England led 15-13 until the 65th minute when Damian McKenzie slotted a penalty to give the All Blacks a 16-15 win. A week later in Auckland, England were ahead by four points until the 61st minute and lost 24-17.
1:21
‘Pressure growing’ on Borthwick following Ireland loss
ESPN’s Tom Hamilton gives his immediate reaction following Ireland’s 27-22 win over England in the Six Nations.
Come November, they missed a late penalty and drop-goal against New Zealand at Twickenham and fell 24-22. Australia scored after the buzzer to win that Test 42-37. Against the Springboks, England had five lineouts in South Africa’s 22 in the final quarter and didn’t return a single point – they fell 29-20. And then came Ireland – England led 10-5 at half time, but then shipped 22 unanswered points to go into the final five minutes 27-10 down, only to claw their way back to 27-22.
There’s a theme here. Their ability to find the front foot in the final quarter is at crisis levels.
Ahead of Ireland, England changed things up, picking an 80-minute captain in Maro Itoje and loading their bench with big hitters. But it was the same story. England’s foothold slipped in the 52nd minute as Bundee Aki crashed through Smith, and then in the 64th minute, James Lowe darted through a gigantic gap in England’s midfield to put Tadhg Beirne over. A Dan Sheehan try later, and it was game over.
England’s bench impact was negligible, and England were left picking through the rubble of yet another defeat to find some positives. — Hamilton
Ireland on course for three titles in a row
No team in the 142-year history of the championship has won three outright titles in three years. Ireland, after fighting back to beat England, are now four games away from completing that feat … Can they do it?
Verdict: NOT AN OVERREACTION
It already looks like the Round 4 match between Ireland and France at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin will decide where this title goes.
Yes, the Six Nations is a wonderfully unpredictable beast, and that’s why we love it, but Ireland will be favourites for their trip to Murrayfield next weekend and for their date with Wales in Cardiff in Round 3. France will fancy their chances against England and it would take the greatest Italian performance in living memory to stop them in their following clash in Rome
All eyes will be on Dublin on March 8 where Ireland will be likely favourites.
They’re reluctant to talk up their chances in Ireland, aware there’s an awful lot of water still to pass under the bridge in this championship, but the team we saw on Saturday was comfortable in their own skin, and there was an inevitability about the way they played: they were patient and happy to wait for chances to arise to snap the match and twist England into defeat.
The strength of their bench swung the match back in their favour, and when you have Dan Sheehan, Jack Conan and Robbie Henshaw all coming on, the opposition must sink a little further into their already exhausted limbs.
Ireland are favourites to become the first team to win a men’s Six Nations title outright for a third time in a row, but it would be foolish to write off France. — Hamilton
Wales are destined for the wooden spoon
Wales entered this Six Nations looking to end a record 12-match losing streak that stretches back to the 2023 Rugby World Cup. Their first game, against France, couldn’t have gone much worse. They failed to score a point in Paris in a damning 43-0 defeat. Welsh fans must be fearing the worst from here, but are they right to do so?
Verdict: OVERREACTION
Dan Biggar is right. The former Wales and British & Irish Lions fly-half was on pundit duty on Friday evening, watching Wales’ 43-0 defeat to France and said afterwards: “For me, this game next week is the biggest in Welsh rugby for the last 15 or 20 years. I’m not saying that light-heartedly. It’s a huge, huge match.”
With Wales on a 13-match losing run, and having equalled their worst-ever record in the championship of seven straight defeats, Wales head to Rome looking to restore some face.
Warren Gatland wouldn’t be drawn on the magnitude of it on a personal level. “It is an important game for Wales, it is not about where it ranks for me,” he said. “Next week becomes pretty important for us. We can’t hide away from that. We need to get the monkey off our back.”
1:46
Dupont stars as France rout Wales
Antoine Dupont puts in a near-perfect performance as France get their Six Nations campaign off to a flying start as they destroy Wales 43-0 in Paris.
Against France, Wales played with immense spirit but simply didn’t have the power to trouble Les Bleus‘ defence. They looked an improved outfit with Liam Williams and Josh Adams back, but the injuries to Owen Watkin and Aaron Wainwright are a blow Gatland can ill afford. The 43-0 defeat would’ve been tough to stomach.
But there’s still a bit to play out in this championship.
You feel Wales will click at some juncture, they simply have to. Gatland relishes their underdog status and must find a way to turn their siege mentality into results.
They’ll hope to have Taulupe Faletau back against Italy but it will need a Gatland masterclass to get them back to winning ways in Rome. Italy will fancy their chances and will welcome Wales as favourites. Italy played well in spells against Scotland but failed to win the physical battles. Wales will look to out-muscle them on Saturday and will look to somehow turn desperation into victory. — Hamilton
France will win a Grand Slam
Inspired by some brilliant moments by Antoine Dupont, France got off to an ideal start in Paris, aside from seeing fly-half Romain Ntamack receive a red card for a tackle on Ben Thomas. But was France’s perfect start the prelude for a perfect tournament?
Verdict: OVERREACTION
There’s a caveat here, and that is that France can certainly win a Grand Slam IF Antoine Dupont remains fit. It’s conceivable that they could win the title should he miss a game, but anything more would be like replacing the engine in a Ferrari: It might look okay, but it wouldn’t work nearly as well as it should.
Keeping any side to zero points (even this Wales side) is remarkable in the Six Nations, and the truth is they never looked like conceding on Friday.
1:46
Scotland dig deep to see off spirited Italy
Scotland get their Six Nations campaign off to a winning start after defeating a dogged Italy 31-19.
France were too strong, too organised and too confident from the first whistle. They also showed they have the depth in their squad to go all the way. While they won’t be afforded the luxury every week, taking Dupont off after 50 minutes was certainly a flex.
Théo Attissogbé was a worthy replacement, but the return of Damien Penaud to the right wing from here on will add even more punch to their attack alongside Leo Bielle-Biarrey on the left. Even the prospect of multiple weeks without fly-half Ntamack won’t worry Fabien Galthié too much, with Matthieu Jalibert or Thomas Ramos more than able to fill the void.
As mentioned above, this Six Nations looks to be on a crescendo toward March 8. If France can emerge victorious, it will be Les Bleus – not Ireland – who will be staring at a Grand Slam, but that remains a very tall order. — James Regan
Injuries will ruin Scotland’s championship
Scotland started well against Italy, racing to a 19-6 lead, but saw the Azzurri pull the game back level after half-time. It ended with a Scottish victory and a convincing scoreline, but will Gregor Townsend’s depleted squad struggle to get a foothold this year?
Verdict: OVERREACTION
Scotland were without stars such as Sione Tuipulotu, Dylan Richardson, Scott Cummings and Josh Bayliss, but that did not stop them. While they were shaky in the third quarter of the match against Italy, Scotland still had the players they needed for a comfortable win and they have the talent to hurt Ireland next weekend.
Huw Jones’ hat trick on Saturday proved he has the attacking vision for their midfield, while either Stafford McDowall (who started) or Tom Jordan (who came on after 55 minutes) just need to do the basics in defence in the absence of Tuipulotu alongside him to get Scotland through.
They still have the likes of Zander Fagerson, Pierre Schoeman and Rory Darge getting Scotland on the front foot. Plus, Finn Russell will likely have more of an impact this tournament than he did against Italy.
We saw enough for the most part from Townsend’s side to know they are still a threat, even with their mammoth injury list.
It will be a difficult task against Ireland next week: They haven’t won against Ireland in their last 10 Tests, dating back to 2018, with just one win in the last 15, dating back to 2014.
It would be easy to write Scotland off, but the challenge for Townsend is to put a fire under his side. What better way to do that than urge them to make some history. — Regan
Competitive Italy are here to stay
Italy earned two wins in last year’s Six Nations. It felt like a remarkable feat and a sign that Italy were gaining strength. They didn’t quite kick on after that, though, with defeats to Samoa and Argentina followed by a big nervy win over Georgia.
After only a briefly promising defeat to Scotland, can Italy be the surprise package in this year’s championship, too?
Verdict: NOT AN OVERREACTION
They’ll be disappointed with the way they started, but Italy showed some fight to bring it back to 19-19 against Scotland after being 19-6 down. That same spirit is what drove their best-ever run in last year’s championship.
Head coach Gonzalo Quesada will be reaffirming to his players that they’re in different waters now: Everyone is taking them very seriously this year, meaning they’ll have to raise their game each week. There will be tougher tests than Scotland, but also more winnable ones, too.
That brings us to next Saturday. As mentioned, Gatland’s side will be eager not to extend their losing streak to 14, but Italy, unlike years past, have the players to hurt them if they’re at their best.
Quesada will want more from fly-half Paolo Garbisi, who didn’t hit the ground running in Edinburgh, while Ange Capuozzo was largely un-influential on the wing. If those two can get their hands on the ball and create more, Italy could notch an early win and send a signal that they’re not going anywhere. — Regan
– Tom Hamilton’s analysis from Dublin: Another painful case of déjà vu for England
– James Regan’s take from Paris: Antoine Dupont produces virtuoso display
– NEWS: Former England captain Jamie George returns to squad
– WATCH: ‘Pressure growing’ on Borthwick following Ireland loss
– Six Nations and Women’s Six Nations: Full fixture list
– Six Nations history, past winners, more
