It ended as it began, with a Paris party. A great many twists and turns there may have been over the last few weeks but from the moment France dispatched Wales on the opening night with a performance that blended brains, brawn and beauty, one rather felt like the trophy might end up back on the discotheque dancefloor at the Stade de France Saturday night.
And so it proved. Hobbling up on to the rostrum to help hoist the trophy alongside Gregory Alldritt, Antoine Dupont forced a smile, the scrum half sharing in the success despite his cruciate ligament injury. The glitterball prize shimmered under the flashing neon lights, dancing in the arms of the victors as the Eurodance played. After winning Olympic gold last year, Dupont and his sevens teammates broke into a funky routine; if not for a knee in need of reconstruction, perhaps there would have been a reprise.
France were more than worthy winners. There had been worries and wobbles on their way to the title, both in the tournament as a whole and on its final night, but Fabien Galthie and the French mixologists have concocted a potent cocktail capable of causing heady highs. Scotland, and England, may wonder what might have been had Peato Mauvaka’s curious headbutt, an act plucked from France’s problematic past, been looked upon differently but even with 14, the hosts may have had enough.
So another captivating championship is at an end. And the Six Nations always seems to find a way. With its free-to-air future secure, Super Saturday proved a neat encapsulation of a tournament that remains a thing of immaculate conception and construct. The final day brought three wins for the favourites but each encounter provided different thrills: a highly unfancied Italy nearly catching a sloppy Ireland cold; England at last fulfilling their potential to pile more pain on Wales; the valiant Scots throwing plenty of punches before hitting the canvas.
It is easy to focus on the negatives in a sport where dispiriting headlines come rather too regularly but there was so much to celebrate from this campaign. In Louis Bielle-Biarrey, rugby’s Road Runner, France have a jet-heeled gem of a wing, while England have gone from a famine of flankers a decade ago to a surfeit of scavenging sevens, with the Curry twins leading the charge. Tommaso Menoncello will not repeat as Six Nations Player of the Tournament but he and Juan Ignacio Brex’s continued centre unification is one that all of Italy can enjoy.
A fly in the ointment that has soothed a few of the sport’s sores may be the plight of Wales. Their 17th consecutive defeat might have been the toughest yet; however admirably Jac Morgan, Dewi Lake and others front up on and off the pitch, there is serious work to be done to recapture a fading rugby nation. Ahead of kick off in Cardiff on Saturday, a male voice choir belted out Yma o Hyd, a song of defiance that cries Wales are still here – the national side must heed their call. Italy, too, must prove that they are the team that pushed Ireland close and not the rabble that folded so limply against France and England.
A successor to Warren Gatland should be confirmed within the next few weeks, and there could yet be regime change elsewhere, too. Gregor Townsend does not deserve damnation, as certain doomsayers seem to suggest, but he may not overly quibble if the Scottish Rugby Union (SRU) decide the Toonie train has run off the rails. The disallowed Tom Jordan score felt reflective of Scotland’s championship, left to rue a brush of Blair Kinghorn’s buttocks against the touchline. “We were a bum cheek away,” Townsend lamented – the margins in this competition are fine.
Interim Wales boss Matt Sherratt spoke after England’s 10-try rout of how he had taken advice from Steve Borthwick, the visiting coach recalling how his side had suffered a similarly devastating defeat on home soil to France two short years ago. It is proof of how quickly a side can be rebuilt; there have been moments in the last 12 months where England have stumbled or spluttered but Borthwick has never wavered in his belief that he is taking them in the right direction.
A best Six Nations campaign since 2020 will have Borthwick’s bold boys bouncing but England cannot be content simply with second. Five years without a title is not a record that a well-resourced programme should be at all proud of – while already matching them in meetings, the significant challenge now is for them to find consistency and broaden their skillset to usurp France and Ireland more fully.
There is a temptation to overreact to a rough end for Ireland, even if they have lost just two games in three years. The fly half picture seems only to have muddied in the last fortnight, while there are a smattering of stars who didn’t truly quite the hit the heights of which they are capable. It potentially leaves more questions than answers for Andy Farrell – Simon Easterby has filled in impressively but the head coach’s return will surely be welcome once his British and Irish Lions business is out of the way.
That will be the next port of call for the British Isles’ best and brightest. Farrell’s assistant coaches will be named in 10 days’ time, after which a squad will start taking shape. One would expect the squad to Australia to be formed primarily of Irish and English emissaries, with a sprinkling of Scottish stardust and perhaps as few as two Welsh travellers.
A trip Down Under should provide necessary distraction as the quartet of countries reflect and re-tool to prepare for title tilts next year. The 2026 edition will see the removal of a rest week, with three matches before the sole fallow weekend setting up a potentially thrilling final fortnight. Until then, the Gallic glee will remain on French faces after another championship to savour.
