A Year of Records, Regrets and Reeling: A Six Nations Round-up
by Dáire McConville
France have been crowned Six Nations Champions for 2025, following a 35-16 win over Scotland. It was Les Bleus’ 7th title since the tournament was established in 2000, and ended Ireland’s hopes of making a three-in-a-row run. The St. Patrick’s Day weekend saw a close to the tournament that broke records, implemented new rules and highlighted up-and-coming players. The tournament ran from the 31st of January with the opening match, with all of the deciding final matches being played on Saturday 16th of March.
The round-robin format of the competition means each team plays every other team just once, and teams are ranked primarily based on the total number of match points earned. 4 points for a win, 2 for a draw and 0 for a loss, pretty simple it seems. However, there are a set of bonus points up for grabs that make the competition more interesting, making every play that bit more crucial. An extra point is awarded for scoring 4 or more tries in a match and for losing a match by 7 points or less. The Grand Slam is achieved by a team that wins all 5 games, worth an additional 3 points, most recently earned by the Irish squad in 2023.
The tournament ultimately all came down to a nail-biting finish on the final weekend, with the champions being decided in a dramatic fashion. This year’s Six Nations featured more tries than any previous championship, with 101 scores across the 15 matches.[1] This was possibly down to a number of rule changes brought in from the 1st January this year in a measure to make rugby union faster and more appealing to fans. Kickers now have just 60 seconds to take a conversion following a try, and scrums and line-outs must be formed within 30 seconds. [2]
The seemingly deflated Irish side would defeat Italy by a mere 5 points the Stadio Olympico on the final match of their campaign to secure a top 3 finish, it was the exact position on the table however that would be determined by the outcome of the other nations games. Wales would face England at their home ground in Cardiff, with the Welsh side hoping to finally get off the mark with a last-
minute victory. However, much to their disappointment, Wales endured a heavy defeat, conceding 10 tries to a dominant English team. This triumphant performance from England would have them top the table… for now, ending Ireland’s desires of three-in-a-row. The title race came down to the final game, France versus Scotland. Les Bleus found themselves trailing 16-13 at the break after a disallowed try. The title was firmly in England’s grasp. Nevertheless, Fabien Galthie’s French side showed remarkable composure as they pulled away to claim only their second title since 2010.
Not only did France secure their 7th Six Nations title, but they also walked away with several new records to their name. 4 tries scored against Scotland not only secured the title, but brought their total try tally to 30 across the 5 games; a new Six Nations record, breaking a previous record of 29 set by England in 2001.[3] It was the Bordeaux Bègles player Louis Bielle-Biarrey that scored the record breaking 30th try for the French side, and in doing so, set a record for himself. The 21-year-old winger scored 8 tries this championship, more than any other player in the tournament has ever, overtaking Jacob Stockdale’s tally of 7 in 2018. [4] This outstanding performance came as no shock to fans when he was undoubtedly named player of the tournament for 2025. Former Scottish international player Ian Smith weighed in, offering his insight from the commentary box; ‘the player of the tournament is just a delight to watch, every time the ball reaches him you can sense the excitement given his astonishing speed, and his short kicking game is razor sharp.’ [5]
So, what about the Irish squad? It was a rather disappointing Six Nation’s campaign for Ireland especially considering their standings in the last 2 years. Although the team did still have 4 wins, just like winners France, it was the nature of the wins that would torment the Irish fans. Strong, early victories against England and Scotland suggested Ireland were ready for victory and hungry for that 3rd consecutive title, something that had never been done since the competition was established in 2000. Despite a promising start, the side failed to gain bonus points from a series of lacklustre results, with a scrappy win over Wales and a heavy defeat against France, only just managing to scrape a bonus point from a 22-17 win over Italy, resulting in their worst finish since 2014 (when they finished 5th).
Ulster and Irish back row Stephen Ferris believe that Ireland have gone backwards, ‘they have regressed over the Six Nations, you expect them to get better, game in, game out and they haven’t. [6] It’s no doubt that Ireland is a strong rugby nation, and have been number 1 in the world on many occasions. The poor performance however highlighted concerns the team need to address in order to remain a top-tier European side. Ireland have never made it to a knock stage in a rugby union world cup, and with international defeats from New Zealand and South Africa in the past 12 months, it begs the question, ‘Is Ireland ready to contest at an international standard in 2025 and beyond?’
