A Sports Feature by Steve Carey
The Six Nations, the world’s biggest annual rugby tournament, is back, complete with a hideous new logo (above). Tinteán’s rugby correspondent Steve Carey brings us this preview.
In the dark, dreary midwinter when the turkey carcase has finally been binned and all that lies ahead is bleakness without holiday until Easter, there’s one thing only that can keep the rugby fan from seeking out the library with the bottle of whiskey and the loaded revolver. Six Nations! At the time of writing we’re one round in and the pieces are coming together – and, in some cases, falling apart.
There is the annual cycle, and underlying that a longer, incessant rhythm driven by other factors that gives each tournament an additional beat, though the pandemic has thrown a wobble into the machine. Last year, for example, was the year after the World Cup and thus the start of a new cycle, with grizzled players keen to hang onto their places and new faces eager to make their mark ahead of the next one, down here in Australia in 2027. 2025 is British and Irish Lions year, with players aware that these are the last international opportunities to book a place on a flight to Australia at the end of June. (In fact there’s a pre-tour game against the always dangerous Argentina in Dublin on 20th June.)
So what does this year’s edition of the Six Nations hold? (For those not familiar, the tournament begins on the first weekend in February and ends on the second or third Saturday in March. Each team plays every other, with home-ground advantage alternating annually.) As I write the first round is already over, so some questions are already answered and others have emerged. Ireland, Scotland and France have all got off to winning home starts, leaving Wales and England to come up with the usual cliches of ‘not good enough,’ ‘unacceptable’ and ‘we’ll do better next time’. Under-resourced Italy are always game and have the potential to take a major scalp.
Here’s a little on each team, in the order I foolishly predict they’ll finish.
IRELAND are aiming for a ‘threepeat’ – to become the first ever nation to win the tournament outright three times in a row. It’s a mighty big ask, with coach Andy Farrell absent on British Lions duties, their talismanic number 10 Johnny Sexton now retired, and the club team which provides the spine of the national XV, Leinster, not providing quite the same continuity of playing system as before. In the Autumn internationals, against top-tier sides, Ireland lost to New Zealand and squeaked past an Australian side newly liberated from the Eddie Jones curse (the Eddie Jones curse is to have Eddie Jones as coach), so there were certainly nerves at the Aviva. As it was, they had plenty enough to overcome England.
The match of the championship, and the one which is likely to decide it, is Ireland’s fourth game, against France. Crucially, it’s at home, which narrowly tips the odds in Ireland’s favour, though they haven’t beaten them since 2019.
The battle for the number 10 green guernsey is intriguing, with Jack Crowley losing out in the Autumn to 22 year old Sam Prendergast. Crowley is perhaps the better match manager, while Prendergast is considered to have the greater longterm potential. Irish fans should be grateful to have such talent in a key position.
Six Nations fixtures to come (dates in Australia): Scotland away (10 Feb); Wales away (23 Feb); France home (9 Mar); Italy away (16 Mar)
FRANCE welcome back their scrum half, the world’s best player – and some are seriously considering him as the best player ever, not just currently. Antoine Dupont took 2024 off, not for a well-earned rest but to have a bit of a crack at Sevens… and played a crucial part in France winning Olympic gold. He is outrageously good, freakishly strong and apparently able to see about five seconds into the future. As with Ireland, France were a little rusty early on in their first game, and admittedly didn’t need to be on top form against a woeful Wales. By the time these two meet in Dublin in round four both will be on top form.
Six Nations fixtures to come (dates in Australia): England away (9 Feb); Italy away (24 Feb); Ireland away (9 Mar); Scotland home (16 Mar)
ENGLAND came into this year’s tournament looking promising and being talked up as close to the finished article. But while losing to Ireland by five points is no disgrace, that 27-22 scoreline doesn’t tell the real story, which is that the world’s best-resourced team is still incapable of finishing off games. Coach Steve Borthwick and his 93 assistants consistently come up with game plans and team selections that blunt their opposition’s advantages, and at half-time England were in front and it was all to play for. But you can’t afford missed tackles, a misfiring lineout, poor discipline and an inexperienced bench against a team as good as Ireland, who improved as the game went on. Two tries in junk time were enough to get England a bonus point and put an undeserved gloss on the game.
Strangely, it’s that same ability to adjust their game plan that may be part of England’s problem. They don’t have a clear identity and in the heat of battle when the game is there to be won, they seem to be more concerned about not losing than about stamping their own mark and winning their way. At their best, England have enough to beat Wales and Italy and maybe Scotland, but three wins from five cannot be a pass mark for any side that has the resources and playing depth of England.
Six Nations fixtures to come (dates in Australia): France home (9 Feb); Scotland home (23 Feb); Italy home (10 Mar); Wales away (16 Mar)
SCOTLAND have every right to resent being written off, particularly since they’ve had England’s number for a few years now. But the loss through injury for the entire tournament of their captain Sione Tuipulotu is a serious blow. They certainly had enough in the tank to get past a game Italy, and there’s every possibility of them overcoming England at Twickenham in round three: Scotland are always capable of pulling out a big win. The trouble is, they rarely back it up, and it’s beginning to feel as if coach Gregor Townsend and this golden generation will end up never delivering the sequence of performances that win them a championship.
Six Nations fixtures to come (dates in Australia): Ireland home (10 Feb); England away (23 Feb); Wales home (9 Mar); France away (16 Mar)
ITALY joined the championship 25 years ago, and they’ve become everyone’s second favourite team. Getting by on a fraction of the resources and playing depth of the top-tier nations, they continue to give them mighty frights and are nobody’s fools. This year’s first game, away at Scotland, is a good example: down 14 points after eight minutes, it was one-way traffic. Early in the second half, Italy had clawed their way back to 19-all. Though Scotland overcame them in the end 29-19, it showed Italy can bloody any nose.
Six Nations fixtures to come (dates in Australia): Wales home (9 Feb); France home (24 Feb); England away (10 Mar); Ireland home (16 Mar)
WALES haven’t won a game since seeing off minnows Georgia in the World Cup back in October 2023, 13 games ago, and coach Warren Gatland must wonder where their next win is coming from. Not unrelatedly, the game is in dire financial straits at domestic level, too: national success builds interest in the game, and comes from strong growth at the roots. In their first match they went down 43-0 to a France not at their best. In their favour it must be said they stayed honest and kept their heads up, but taking your beatings stoically isn’t much to build a comeback on. For such a proud rugby-playing nation it’s a sad time.
Six Nations fixtures to come: Italy away (9 Feb); France home (24 Feb); Scotland away (9 Mar); England away (16 Mar)
And if all that leaves you wanting more, the Women’s Six Nations kicks off at the end of March.
You can watch the Six Nations live on Stan Sport.
Steve Carey
Steve is the Producer and Treasurer of Bloomsday in Melbourne, loves his rugby union and says he can sleep when he’s dead.
Tinteán 