The Six Nations lit up the screens this past weekend with riveting matches. The results went to the form book, but not without some dicey moments for Ireland and Scotland against England and Italy, respectively. The 2025 Six Nation promises to be fascinating, with teams showing their hand early in deciding how to play the game. I will look at what worked and what didn’t for these Northern Hemisphere juggernauts.
Hits
France looks like the real deal.
The French pack’s size and power are coupled with Dupont and Co’s X factor. It will be hard to beat on the best of days. In fairness, they never got out of third gear against a woefully overmatched Wales. Behind a powerhouse pack, the French backline marshalled by Dupont oozed class. They will be bitter after being shown the exit at their home Rugby World Cup by the Springboks and chomping at the bit to add a trophy to the cabinet. No other team can match the French’s physicality, making them the odds-on favourites to win.
Huw Jones is a dynamo at 13
Scotland were made to sweat against perennial wooden spoonists, Italy. The match was all square at 19, with the clock ticking down. Huw Jones was a handful every time he touched the ball and possessed incredible acceleration that propelled him through gaps no one else could. He scored three tries and looked like he was peaking in form at the right time. He has gone missing in previous matches but looked fired up for the occasion, and Scotland will need every ounce of his energy to upset the big teams.
Ireland composure
All we heard all week was that Ireland is too old and will fade as the match’s pace picks up. If anything, they looked more assertive as the game went into the final quarter, with the geriatric bench looking like youngsters storming through the English. This game was hanging in the balance with England looking threatening, but the cool heads of Jameson Gibson Park, James Lowe and Josh van der Flier took over the game when it mattered most.
Misses
Steve Borthwick needs a call from Rassie to explain the bomb squad.
England picked a lighter, faster, more dynamic starting loose trio of double Curry and Ben Earl with the powerhouse Chandler Cunninham-Smith on the bench. Conventional wisdom says to use the powerful runners in the first half to inject the slow poison into the legs of the opponents, then let the whippets run wild in the last quarter. Borthwick bucked this trend. It backfired terribly, with England looking entirely off the pace in the final quarter. I feel sorry for the players, as they are on a hiding to nothing with some basic selection errors from Borthwick.
Wales are plumbing the depths of lousy rugby.
It must be the most depressing changeroom having Gatland 2.0 repeat the tired tactics of the past with a new crop of players ill-equipped to play Gatball. They were so overmatched up front that what the backline tried mattered little, as they couldn’t come close to denting the French wall of blue. It beggars’ belief that they aren’t trying to change what is a losing gameplan. Gatland could do with some tips from an Eddie Jones-led Japanese team that ran its opponents ragged rather than trying to run over them.
England defensive structure
England has a tactic to hide weaker defenders on the blindside so that the midfield has no weaknesses. Splitting the defence is great in theory, but a team as astute as Ireland was looking for this and exploited Marcus Smith and Alex Mitchell in what ended up being crucial missed tackles that resulted in tries. Smith was being targeted and was picked on in the air when he shifted to fullback. Good teams will find weaker defenders, especially those left on an island. It is better to match up a top tackler in the same channel as a weaker defender in the midfield. This tactic means they always have support and might give up a few metres in contact, but at least it won’t result in soft tries.
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