The 2024 Six Nations has reached its conclusion, and it was Ireland who came out victorious and are back-to-back champions.
Ireland (Winners)
A-
With the departure of Johnny Saxton lingering around the Ireland camp, Andy Farell made it his mission to ensure the champions rectified their lackluster World Cup.
They did just that as they flew out the gates and beat France 38-17 on the opening night in Marseille.
Despite beating France, Italy, and Wales convincingly in their opening three games, Ireland fell at the feet of England, losing their first game of the championship by a drop kick from Marcus Smith in the dying moments of the game.
They then scraped past Scotland to wrap up a successful Six Nations campaign, but it felt like they left a bit to be desired as in recent years they’ve dismantled both England and Scotland with ease.
Failing to secure back-to-back Grand Slams has shed a disappointing light on Ireland’s Six Nations campaign.
However, a title should be celebrated regardless of the circumstance or what could’ve been.
Ireland have set themselves up for a three peat in 2025, something that hasn’t been done since 1883.
France (2nd)
B-
Having been tipped as one of the best France teams we’ve ever seen, they ultimately becoming the tournament’s disappointment. Their Rugby World Cup quarter-final exit seemed to pin them down significantly and Ireland exposed that in the opening fixture.
As the tournament progressed, the absence of Dupont, N’tamack and Jalibert was strongly felt by the France camp as they were a shell of their previous side.
On the upside, France has a young emerging squad and despite not taking their chances recently, having the fight and desire to cause teams problems is huge going forward.
They also squeezed past an upbeat England side in the final round to secure second place.
England (3rd)
B-
It took a couple games for England to properly get going as they looked to be changing their style of play as the tournament progressed.
However, it didn’t seem to click for them, and they paid the price for that with a shock loss to Scotland and just about getting over the line against Italy and Wales.
Expectations are always high when England enter any competition due to the success that has been made over the years. Last winning the Six Nations in 2020, England need newfound success to build upon.
England’s best result was stopping Ireland from getting a slam, which realistically is a failure for Steve Borthwick’s side.
Despite the evident disappointment, England looked refreshed and showed true fight in their last two fixtures going toe to toe with Europe’s best two sides. With new emerging talent and a formula to build on, England could improve significantly.
Sale Sharks halfback George Ford also had an impressive tournament with the boot, maybe cementing his place in the side for a while longer.
Scotland (4th)
C+
Elsewhere among the home nations, Scotland had their ups and downs. A monumental win over England in the middle of the campaign lit a spark under the tails of the Scottish - but ultimately too late to showcase their full potential.
Starting promisingly, Scotland racked up a 27-0 lead against Wales on the opening day, only to draw level and win the game by a single point.
They won only two of their five games which is a disappointing return to the Six Nations for Gregor Townsend’s side.
It seemed to be one step forward and two steps back for the Scottish, they had many quality moments over the course of the tournament but failed to make the mark they would’ve hoped for.
Italy (5th)
B+
This campaign was their best Six Nations return, finishing with 11 points. The quality the Italian’s had was evident from their first fixture against England, where they only narrowly lost.
ITV- Italy vs England highlights
With wins over Scotland and Wales alongside a thrilling draw against France, Italy have showed what they are building towards in the future, and this campaign felt like it could be the beginning of a great generation of Italian rugby.
A new-formed dangerous side playing some incredible rugby in stints, Italy showcased the best centre partnership of the championship in Juan Ignacio Brex and Tommaso Menoncello, who could cause problems for the other five teams for years to come.
Wales (6th)
D-
Finishing their campaign with Warren Gartland offering his resignation to CEO Abi Tierney, Wales had a tournament of turbulence.
The resignation was turned down and fans have made it clear that he is the right man to lead them onto the next chapter, it has been a painful championship as they picked up their first wooden spoon since 2003.
Losing all five games of the championship, Wales started the campaign relatively strongly with two narrow defeats to Scotland and England, but they failed to rectify their mistakes as they progressed.
An incredibly young team represented Wales in this year's Six Nations and that was the downfall, missing the experienced Dan Biggar, Alun Wyn Jones and Justin Tipuric, Wales are undergoing a full-scale rebuild.
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