With just two games to go, the Six Nations looks very much as you would expect: Pre-tournament favourites Ireland remain unbeaten, France and England are snapping at their heals, Italy and an injury-hit Scotland look to finish on a high, and Wales are still hoping to end an unwanted losing streak.
This weekend’s penultimate round of games will answer lots more questions, notably with a mouthwatering contest in Dublin between Ireland and France.
Ahead of that, though, ESPN writers Tom Hamilton and James Regan weigh in on the tournament so far and grade each side.
Jump to:
England | Ireland | Wales
Scotland | France | Italy
Hamilton: After a series of narrow defeats in autumn, England have found a way to swing the balance of tight matches back in their favour. They were comprehensively outplayed in the second half of their opener against Ireland, and things were looking ominous. But then came their 26-25 win over France thanks to Fin Smith’s management and Elliot Daly’s late try — bear in mind how profligate France were — and the nail-biting victory over Scotland, to take back the Calcutta Cup for the first time in five years.
There are caveats to both victories, but England won’t care a jot: They’re finding a way to win. Tom Curry has been completely magnificent in the back-row while they have also ushered in the start of the Fin Smith era at No.10. There have been other impressive performers like tight-head Will Stuart, captain Maro Itoje and Tommy Freeman. They have also had a few key players absent, but Steve Borthwick’s England have, crucially, found a way to win. They could yet take an unlikely title if results go their way.
Regan: The most important thing for England this year has been to get wins by any means necessary. Have they been at their best? No. But the frustrations of losing so many close games last year have been eased with victories over France and Scotland. Had those results been different — and they easily could have been — and the narrative around England would be very different.
The challenge now is to ride that momentum and improve. They still need to show more in attack. England have so many talented players who can break a game open and the next step for this side is seeing them take control of the game and put points on the opposition. The team is largely settled, with Fin Smith looking likely to take over at No. 10 for the foreseeable future, so Steve Borthwick will want to see his players look more comfortable and controlled on both sides of the ball in the last two games.
Hamilton: B-
Regan: C
Hamilton: Three from three and history awaits for Simon Easterby’s team. Easterby has been the interim coach while Andy Farrell’s on British & Irish Lions duty, but the team have barely missed a beat. They opened with a comprehensive victory over England, ground out a win in Edinburgh and then won in Cardiff with a much-changed side. Scrum-half Jamison Gibson-Park has been the outstanding No.9 in this year’s tournament, while they have also managed to weather the absence of captain Caelan Doris, Tadhg Furlong and Ronan Kelleher for some of their matches. Bundee Aki has again been magnificent, as has James Lowe, but this is the tournament where Sam Prendergast announced himself as the long-term successor to Johnny Sexton at fly-half.
Up next is France, and that is where their entire championship hinges. If they beat Les Bleus, then it is off to Rome to complete their Grand Slam. If they end up with the title, then of course it’s an A+ tournament. Achieve that, and they will be the first side in the men’s tournament to win three Six Nations titles on the bounce.
Regan: There were a few questions around Ireland heading into the tournament and every single one has been answered emphatically. Yes, they looked below their best in November, but to a man, every player has stepped up these past weeks.
Sam Prendergast looks settled at fly-half, and if you were to select a British & Irish Lions pack with eight Irish players, it wouldn’t even be outrageous at this stage. With Simon Easterby taking over on an interim basis, you get the feeling their senior players have really stepped up off the pitch as well. The veteran trio of Peter O’Mahony, Cian Healy and Conor Murray will say goodbye to Ireland after the tournament. A Grand Slam would be the icing on the cake of three stellar careers.
Hamilton: A-
Regan: A
Hamilton: But for the width of a Twickenham post, they would be two wins from three heading into the final two rounds, but luck has been against Scotland in this tournament. They started off by grinding out a comprehensive win over Italy in their opening match with Darcy Graham looking sublime. Then came a weak, insipid performance against Ireland in Round 2. More recently, against England, they lost by a point but missed three kicks at goal. They have been hamstrung by injuries, including the absence of captain Sione Tuipolutu, while they lost both Graham and Finn Russell against Ireland in the first half.
This was meant to be the championship where Scotland showed cast iron progress. Instead, it has been an inconsistent Six Nations, and you feel they are stuck in a Sisyphean loop of flirting with progress but not quite achieving it.
Gregor Townsend badly needs to beat Wales in their next match, and to cause France some trouble in their final games of the championship.
Regan: This will be remembered as a tournament where Scotland will feel hard done by. Injuries created a feeling of instability before a ball was even kicked. They should have been better against Ireland, but take Russell out of any team and there will be issues. Regardless, the clock is ticking for Scotland’s “golden generation.”
Thanks to factors beyond his control, it doesn’t feel like there is pressure on Townsend, but he will be wary of the wheels falling off in their last two games. Scotland need a convincing win over Wales and to scrap against France to have something to cling to going into next year.
Hamilton: C-
Regan: D+
Hamilton: France should really be three from three. They started with the 43-0 victory over Wales, and dismantled Italy, running in 11 tries for a record win, in their third match. But sandwiched between the two is that defeat to England, where they dropped the ball at least four times for walk-in tries.
Fabien Galthie read the team the riot act after the match and has been brutal with his inner-squad discipline, as he dropped Damian Penaud ahead of that hammering in Rome. They’ve made some collective and individual silly mistakes — for the latter, read that as Romain Ntamack’s red against Wales — but a win in Dublin in Round 4, and they have the points difference behind them to take the title with a victory in Paris on the final day.
There have been some outstanding performances in their back-row, of course from Antoine Dupont, and moments of breathtaking rugby, so it’s far from doom and gloom. It is nicely poised for them, but that defeat in Twickenham has taken a whole load of gloss off their tournament so far.
Regan: In some ways, France have been a joy to watch. In others, you’re left tearing your hair out (see Round 2 against England.) They can absolutely beat Ireland in Dublin — and Antoine Dupont and co. will be praying they do both to banish the pain of the Twickenham defeat and to put themselves in the box seat to win the tournament.
This squad deserves more than the one title they claimed in 2022, but if they finish empty-handed this year, they will be left with a brutal reminder of why the Six Nations is so tough. You can’t have an off day. The wins over Wales and Italy were as routine as they should have been, but victory over Ireland is a must for a squad with this much talent. Until then, it’s hard to judge exactly where France are at.
Hamilton: B-
Regan: B
Hamilton: First up, the bare facts: Wales are without a win in 15 matches. They lost in Paris and Rome, and their head coach Warren Gatland resigned. Those opening two performances were pretty insipid and you could see something needed to change. So it was under interim Matt Sherratt where they pushed Ireland close, but eventually lost out 27-18 in Cardiff in round three. There are little shoots of optimism for around this group, especially the performance of Ellis Mee against Ireland, but they are yet to win and seem destined for the wooden spoon.
Given the upheaval, whatever happens in the rest of this championship is a bonus for Wales. They need to look to the future, develop Test mainstays for year to come, while finding a way to get out of this hole. It’s an unenviable task. Sherratt could yet be the right man to take them forward and he’s already impressed, but Wales need to take their time to plot out the post-Gatland era and ensure this is their lowest point.
Regan: It feels cruel to kick a team when they’re down, especially when the problems with Welsh rugby go so much deeper than the men’s first team. You can’t fault the players’ efforts, and it was sad to see a legend like Gatland go the way he did. The only hope is things can’t get any worse.
They were poor against Italy, despite scoring two tries to one, but showed signs of life against Ireland. The truth is this side just doesn’t know how to win Test matches. They have some good, young players who just aren’t up to Six Nations standard quite yet. It will come eventually, but Wales are so far off the pace at the minute it’s hard to see where the next win is coming from.
Hamilton: E
Regan: F
Hamilton: This is the 25th year anniversary of Italy joining the Six Nations and they promised much. But though we’ve seen glimpses of the Italy we hope they can become, they’re still a frustrating bunch. They were good for one half against Scotland, should’ve beaten Wales by far more, and were utterly dismal against France. We have had the reaffirmation their centre partnership is one of the best in world rugby, but they are still a little way away from constantly challenging the top teams in the tournament.
What they need next is consistency. They have England at Twickenham and Ireland in Rome to come, and you can see them losing both, which would result in an underwhelming tournament. You can see they have the parts there to cause trouble, but they just need to bring them together and find some rhythm.
Regan: A dismal first half against Scotland and an underwhelming attacking performance against Wales — albeit in awful conditions — have made Italy look underwhelming after the highs of last year. Take into account the way they were crushed at home to France and there are more questions than answers for Gonzalo Quesada’s side.
They will see the clash against England at Twickenham as a chance to go toe-to-toe and make life difficult for a big side. However, failure to do so will leave a sour taste in the Azzurri’s mouth, with Ireland to come in the finale week too.
Hamilton: C
Regan: D
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Source: espn.com