Six Nations 2025 Preview
The men’s Six Nations 2025 kicks off at the end of this month giving rugby fans in the northern hemisphere something to keep them entertained for the weeks ahead. Reigniting old rivalries annually, the 142 year old championship remains one of the most popular tournaments in the rugby calendar, so who is likely to secure the bragging rights by being top dog this year?
Ireland will be out to win the competition for the third year running in the Six Nations 2025, but England, France, Italy, Scotland and Wales will definitely be doing their utmost to make it as difficult as possible for them. The reigning champions are also something of an unknown quantity, with temporary boss Simon Easterby taking the helm while Andy Farrell takes charge of the 2025 British and Irish Lions tour to Australia. Competition for places on that plane is sure to be fierce among the four home nations teams, providing an extra motivation to do well.
France have been Ireland’s closest rivals in recent years and this year sees the return of superstar scrum half Antoine Dupont. They would appear to be the biggest threat to an Irish hat-trick. That being said, Scotland can beat almost anyone on their day, while Steve Borthwick’s England side will be extremely dangerous if they can turn a run of narrow defeats in November’s Autumn Nations Series into victories. Italy, who picked up two wins and a draw last year, have become an extremely competitive outfit under Gonzalo Quesada in recent years and who knows what to expect from Wales, who come into the tournament on the back of a record-breaking 12 successive defeats. Experienced head coach Warren Gatland’s priority is sure to be avoiding a second successive Wooden Spoon.
The tournament is always essential viewing throughout the winter and early spring. Here’s everything you need to know about the Six Nations 2025, including Six Nations fixtures. Overall, England and Wales have both won 39 titles, with England having 29 outright wins with 10 shared; Wales have 28 outright wins with 11 shared.
Fixture list:
Round 1
Friday 31 January 2025
France v Wales
Stade de France, Paris
Saturday 1 February 2025
Scotland v Italy
Murrayfield, Edinburgh
Ireland v England
Aviva Stadium, Dublin
Round 2
Saturday 8 February 2025
Italy v Wales
Stadio Olimpico, Rome
England v France
Twickenham Stadium, London
Sunday 9 February 2025
Scotland v Ireland
Murrayfield, Edinburgh
Round 3
Saturday 22 February 2025
Wales v Ireland
Principality Stadium, Cardiff
England v Scotland
Twickenham Stadium, London
Sunday 23 February
Italy v France
Stadio Olimpico, Rome
Round 4
Saturday 8 March 2025
Ireland v France
Aviva Stadium, Dublin
Scotland v Wales
Murrayfield, Edinburgh
Sunday 9 March 2025
England v Italy
Twickenham Stadium, London
Round 5
Saturday 15 March 2025
Italy v Ireland
Stadio Olimpico, Rome
Wales v England
Principality Stadium, Cardiff
France v Scotland
Stade de France, Paris
Top Six Nations matches
The first big match of the opening weekend sees England travel to Dublin to take on defending champions Ireland, a daunting prospect for any team. England had a poor 2024 and will want to do much better this year but picking up a win in Dublin might be beyond them.
Italy against Wales kicks off round two and it will be interesting to see where these two teams are, the loser will likely struggle for the rest of the tournament. The Stadio Olimpico will be sold out for the first home match and the crowd will be expecting a home win against a Welsh team that had a terrible 2024.
Scotland are dark horses to actually win the tournament this year but they will hope to get something from their home match against defending champions Ireland in week two, knowing that a win would make them serious contenders for the title.
A massive clash in round four sees France travel to the Aviva stadium in Ireland as the two favourites for the title clash in what is likely to be a deciding match. It is very possible that both these teams could go into this encounter with three wins under their belt and Ireland will have home advantage in this key encounter.
Round 5 is always an excellent event as all three matches take place on the same game day. It is hard to predict at this stage who will need what on the final day but France will have home advantage against Scotland in their match. Ireland will be happy to end the tournament with an away trip to Rome whereas England will be hoping that Wales won’t have anything to play for when they visit Cardiff.
Team Analysis
The Six Nations squads have been announced and bar the usual injuries, not many surprises are contained therein. Ireland seek to win the Six Nations for an unprecedented third time in a row without their head coach, Andy Farrell, who is away on Lion’s duty, and with a tough match against England in Dublin to start the ball rolling. Tough assignments against a resurgent Scotland away and a France team this year featuring the world’s best player, Antoine Dupont, will also present a difficult challenge. Italy have been improving in recent seasons, but Wales are in the doldrums having lost their last 12 tests in a row.
Ireland
Ireland’s form in the Autumn internationals wasn’t great with two narrow unconvincing wins against Argentina and Australia and a significant 10 point loss to New Zealand. A big 52-17 win against Fiji was the highlight of the campaign achieved with a few relative newcomers like Sam Prendergast, Jamie Osborne, Gus McCarthy, Cormac Izuchukwu, and Tom Clarkson.
Ireland have a reasonably clean bill of health with Furlong back in harness and Sheehan and Lowe back in full training. Tom O’Toole is suspended for the first two matches, Stuart McCloskey, Jacob Stockdale, and Craig Casey are injured. Van Der Flier is the only specialist open side in the squad, and loosehead remains a concern if anything happens to Andrew Porter. Leinster seem to view Cian Healy as a 20 minute player, although admittedly that was against 150 kg Uini Atonio, now also in the France squad.
The emergence of Sam Prendergast seems to have spooked his rivals, Jack Crowley and Ross Byrne, whose form has suffered as they try to do what he seems to be able to do almost effortlessly. Ireland will be hoping that Crowley rediscovers his form. Looked at as a whole, the Irish squad lacks really speedy wingers, a truly monstrous second row, and depth at prop. They are not a long way from the side that reached number 1 in the world and they are marginal favourites to win the 6 Nations again. A lot depends on Crowley re-discovering his mojo, or Prendergast fulfilling his early promise and taking over Sexton’s mantle.
England
It says much for England’s confidence that the loss of wing Immanuel Feyi-Waboso to injury is seen as such a devastating blow. The 22-year old only has only 10 caps to his name, which makes him something of an up and coming star on the international stage whatever his talents. England never really produce a bad team and will field their usual heavyweight and combative pack. They ran both the All Blacks and the World Champions South Africa close in November and only lost to Australia by a last minute try. They tend to play a limited kicking based game plan, but which can be effective, especially in wet and windy weather. Fans will be wanting more this time around though after a poor Six Nations last year and the aforementioned disappointing autumn results. It will be interesting to see who the first choice scrum half is now that Alex Mitchell and Jack van Poortvliet are both available.
Borthwick has named Maro Itoje as captain with Jamie George and Ellis Genge as vice-captains, all front five forwards, illustrating his forward dominated playing philosophy and the lack of on field leadership he expects from his backs. England’s sole world class back is Marcus Smith, but for some reason question marks still remain about whether or not he plays and whether he should do so at fly half or fullback.
Head coach Steve Borthwick might already be on borrowed time and needs to start winning more tight matches. He managed to do so with a late drop goal against Ireland in Twickenham last year in what was not one of Ireland’s better performances, but can he repeat the feat in Dublin this time? England are never less than competitive, and it could be a one score game, but there are not many players in this squad you could confidently call world class, and that goes for the coaching team as well. England are still looking for that X factor, despite being the wealthiest rugby union with a huge choice of players to choose from.
Scotland
Scotland have a backline to rival any international side and generally quite a good pack as well as being particularly effective at the breakdown. Ireland have beaten them pretty convincingly in recent years but this game is wide open unless there is a significant improvement in Ireland’s form. Scotland will feel they owe Ireland one and there is no reason why they couldn’t win if they put together an 80 minute performance. Scotland would also be a dark horse for the Championship as a whole, but France, and perhaps England, might be too strong for them up front. They have beaten England in recent years and will be hopeful of doing well again, so if they can beat England, Wales and Italy and somehow get a result against either France or Ireland, this might well be their year. Injury to skipper Sione Tuipulotu is a big blow though.
Italy
Italy have been playing attractive if slightly dodgy rugby for some years now, but have lacked the forward power, defensive organisation, and discipline to come out on the right side of the score line in most of their matches. They’re always capable of an upset win, but a team like Ireland would have to seriously underperform or be extremely unlucky with injuries or refereeing decisions to be vulnerable by the time the final whistle comes due. They have still struggled for consistency, managing an impressive win one week only to fall to a disappointing loss the following one.
They will feel that they should beat Wales at home, but after that, we are in serious upset territory. They are capable of scoring tries in most of their matches, however. Their backline has been getting steadily better and they have plenty of options with exciting players making them a great watch.
France
France have picked a strong squad with Antoine Dupont back and Ntamack back from injury. Intriguingly, they have also plucked Rabah Slimani out of retirement, presumably to get his inside knowledge of Leinster and Ireland’s scrum, maul and line out. Lock Joshua Brennan, son of Irish international, Trever Brennan, is also included, as is Antoine Frisch.
With the curious exception of last year, when Ireland hammered a French side in Marseille before it had recovered from its home WC disappointment, Ireland vs France matches tend to be battles with usually little to choose between the sides. It is hard to find any weaknesses in this French squad and they will be looking to take advantage of the fact that Ireland will need to navigate this tournament without their own head coach, Andy Farrell.
Wales
You can put together quite a good first XV out of the Wales squad, but doubts remain about the quality of their bench and back-up players should any of their front liners get injured. Some of their older stars like Taulupe Faletau and Liam Williams are also getting a bit long in the tooth, but their presence in the squad and team should make a huge difference to this underperforming side. On their day, they can play some attractive and effective rugby, and any team taking them lightly could be in for a shock. The fact that they play Italy in Rome means that they are favourites to finish with the wooden spoon in last place. The last game against England in Cardiff will be an occasion that fans will be looking forward to instilling some belief back into Welsh rugby.
Predictions
Ireland and France are once again the odds frontrunners to win the tournament. France’s balance of flair and discipline gives them a slight edge, but Ireland’s cohesion and depth make them strong challengers. Scotland is primed for a breakthrough year with key players in top form and a cohesive game plan, they have the potential to disrupt the usual favourites. Antoine Dupont’s brilliance makes him a strong contender to be player of the tournament, but don’t count out Caelan Doris or Finn Russell to take the spotlight. While Italy continues to improve, they remain candidates for the wooden spoon, although Wales have had a worse 12 months. However, a victory against one of the top sides could shift the narrative. Wales are the other team that many are backing to finish bottom of the table, but the return of some elder key players should help them.
The Six Nations 2025 is shaping up to be one of the most competitive tournaments in recent memory. With high stakes matches, intense rivalries, and world class talent on display, fans are in for a rugby extravaganza.
Last Updated: 22.01.2025
