Best of Six
February and March are two pivotal months for sports in the United States. February brings the Super Bowl and the end of football season, while March brings the beginning of baseball season. Across the pond, February and March are the biggest months of the year for a very different sport: rugby. The Six Nations Championship takes place every year across these two months, played between some of the biggest rugby national teams in Europe. The tournament, one of the biggest in the sport, is made up of the same six teams contesting for the title: England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland, and Wales. As this weekend brings about the final round of this year's edition, let's take a look at each team and how they have performed in the four rounds that have taken place this year.
The current leaders of the six are Ireland, who have won all four of their matches so far. A win against England on Saturday would give them the Grand Slam, the trophy given to the team who wins all of their matches throughout the tournament. Doing so would start a consecutive streak of the champions also winning the Grand Slam, as France did so in 2022. This would be an excellent end to captain Johnny Sexton's career, as he is set to retire following the end of the year. Leading the team alongside Sexton are veterans Cian Healy and Conor Murray, who have been representing the Irish national team since 2009. Having these three players at the helm has proved beneficial to rising young talent, like Josh van der Flier and Jamison Gibson-Park, who have much to learn from their experience. Ireland is set to host their rivals, England, at home at Aviva Stadium in Dublin for the final round. As it stands, they are in a very good position to win their first Six Nations Championship since 2018.
In second place are the defending champions, France. In order for them to have any chance at winning the trophy, a win would be crucial as they are just four points behind the leading position. Their sole loss thus far came at the hands of Ireland, but they cruised through the rest of their opponents, their largest victory being a 53-10 win over England. Les Bleus' captain is Antoine Dupont, who won Player of the Tournament honors in 2022. The scrum half, who plays for French club Toulouse, is considered to be the best rugby player in the world. Another strong player on France's behalf is Gabin Villière, who finished the 2022 tournament tied for the most tries scored amongst all players. Other noteworthy team members include Gaël Fickou, who has made the most appearances of any player on this year's roster, and Thomas Ramos, who has scored the most points of any player in the competition thus far. France will find themselves up against Wales this Saturday in Paris, with a chance to stun Ireland and take the trophy on the line.
Scotland are currently in third place, right in the middle of the table. They sit with 10 points, 5 behind France, meaning that they, along with the rest of the table, have no chance at winning this year's title. Nonetheless, they have had an impressive 2023 campaign, which started with a 29-23 victory over England in round one. They followed that up with a 35-7 routing of Wales, before losing their next two matches to France and Ireland. The team is led by Jamie Ritchie, a flanker who was named as Scotland's captain in October 2022. However, the player who has had the biggest impact for the team this year is Huw Jones, who currently sits at the top on the list of players with the most tries in this year's competition, with 4. Perhaps the most well-known player in the squad is Stuart Hogg, Scotland's all-time leading try scorer, and also the player with the most career appearances for the senior national team. They are set to face Italy in their final match, a home game at the BT Murrayfield in Edinburgh.
Just below Scotland are their southern neighbors, England. Like Scotland, they also have 10 points, only separated by point differential. They opened up the competition with a loss to their northern neighbors, before two consecutive wins against Italy and Wales, and then a sizable loss to France. At the forefront of the team's offense is Marcus Smith, who finished the 2022 edition of the Six Nations with 71 points, the most of all players. The team is without a captain, and they are the only nation of the six to not have one. Their most capped player is Ben Youngs, who made his first appearance for the Red Roses in 2010. Coach Steve Borthwick has called up some more young names before their most recent matches, hoping to make a difference in their last moments of this year's competition. England's final match against Ireland could be a chance for the team to redeem themselves, and dash Ireland's hopes of winning the Grand Slam, let alone the entire tournament. This match is deserving of the utmost attention amongst the three in the final round.
In fifth place is Wales, with the lowest point differential of all six teams. Their only win this year came against Italy in round four, when they scored more points than they had in their previous three games combined. The team's most-capped player, and also the world's most-capped player, is Alun Wyn Jones. Representing Wales since 2006 and said to be the greatest Welsh player of all time, he has won the Six Nations as their captain five times. Other notable players to watch are captain Ken Owens, a hooker who made his first appearance for the Welsh in 2011, and Liam Williams, who scored tries in matches against Ireland and Italy. Unfortunately, Williams will be out for their final match against France due to injury, as will hooker Scott Baldwin. It's safe to say that the Dragons don't have too much to look forward to in round five.
To no surprise, Italy find themselves in last place in this year's competition. Having won the Wooden Spoon, the trophy for last place, a record 17 times in Six Nations history, it is no shock that Gli Azzurri find themselves at rock-bottom. They have lost all of their matches so far, however, they have 1 point due to their loss margin against France being less than 8 points. Their most standout player this year has been Tommaso Allan, who has scored 23 points and made 4 conversions. Italy's captain is Michele Lamaro, who in 2022 led the team to their first Six Nations win in 36 games with a victory over Wales. The majority of players on the squad play for Benetton and Zebre, Italy's two professional rugby clubs, meaning that they generally have less experience than other teams. With not much to play for in their round five matchup against Scotland, coach Kieran Crowley will look forward to ending the competition on a good note with a win.
There is a lot at stake this weekend. Will Ireland win the Grand Slam? Will they win the crown, or will France repeat as back-to-back champions? Will England break Irish hearts? This will all be decided this Saturday, March 18, when another great edition of the Six Nations Championship makes its way into the history books.