IF YOU HAVEN’T yet felt the flutters of Six Nations excitement, the opening 40 seconds of the classic RTÉ montage from over a decade ago usually does the trick.
“It arrives like the spring and like the spring, it too lifts the hearts,” begins Tom McGurk in that inimitable introduction to the 2013 edition of what is a brilliant rugby competition.
It might seem rather grandiose but there’s no doubt that the Six Nations is a special time of year for rugby fans in this part of the world.
If we’re brutally honest, the recent November Tests were a drab affair on the whole. Ireland won three games but the whole thing lacked vitality. It was clearer than ever why the new Nations Championship will launch in 2026, making all of those autumn internationals part of a competition.
The Six Nations remains the big annual barometer for Ireland and their five traditional rivals. Drama, jeopardy, familiar stars stamping their dominance all over it once again, new prodigies marking their rise, and all the magic in between.
Start well and momentum can carry you all the way to a championship crown or even a Grand Slam. Get out of the blocks slowly and you can soon be dealing with questions about a crisis. The Six Nations is big business and the margins between glorious success and era-ending failure can be miniscule.
Ireland have won the last two championships, with a Slam in 2023, but even those titles highlighted how thin the line between winning and losing is. Andy Farrell’s men weren’t perfect in either campaign but they got over the line. No one cares now about a shaky final-day performance against 14-man England in 2023 or something similar against the Scots last year.
What lives in the memory are the beautiful moments of brilliance. Hugo Keenan’s wondrous try from Finlay Bealham’s inside pass against the French in Dublin in 2023, Tadhg Beirne scorching through off Jack Crowley’s disguised front-door pass in Marseille in 2024. Those are the bits that will warm Irish hearts for many years to come.
The timing of this competition means it can throw up brutal battles in teeming rain and howling wind, but also gleeful shootouts in beaming sunshine. The tactical challenges are wonderfully varied – France’s flair, Ireland’s intelligence, England’s explosiveness, Scotland’s skills, Wales’ warriors, and Italy’s imagination.
This year’s edition kicks off with the Friday Night Lights clash between France and Wales in Paris on Friday week, 31 January.
France and Ireland are viewed as the joint-favourites for this title.
Les Bleus have one huge differentiating factor for this Six Nations compared to 2024. His name is Antoine Dupont. They missed him badly and he has returned from his glorious Olympics adventure looking as good as ever in 15s.
The French should benefit from having a big batch of players from the in-form Toulouse and Bordeaux, whose styles of play match up well with what France want to do. They score in the blink of an eye from turnovers, have less interest in long passages of possession, and have other searingly in-form players like Louis Bielle-Biarrey and Damian Penaud.
Romain Ntamack is also back, with his class and defensive quality at out-half possibly making a big difference. Injuries have tested their tighthead prop depth, leading to a recall for Rabah Slimani, but they have quality everywhere in their squad. It’s unclear exactly who will start in the back row but the options are top-end.
One of the possible issues is that France will face both England and Ireland away from home in this championship, which includes only two home games for them against Wales and Scotland.
Ireland also only have two home games but they’re against England and the French, which has always been seen as a big advantage. It helped in the 2023 Grand Slam run.
The visit to Dublin of the English on Saturday week looks like a tricky fixture given how much pressure Steve Borthwick’s men are under off the back of a November campaign in which they did lots of good things but lost to New Zealand, Australia, and South Africa. The quality of the opposition was too readily dismissed amid the criticism and though Felix Jones has been a major loss to the coaching ticket, England must be respected. Their performance against Ireland at Twickenham last year showed what they can do.
Ireland interim head coach Simon Easterby will lead his side to Murrayfield in the second round, by which time Scotland should be up and running after hosting Italy on the opening weekend.
The Scots’ win over the Wallabies was an ideal way to end their autumn campaign and Gregor Townsend has a settled group of players who must be sick of promising signs followed by major disappointments. It’s now or never for some of this Scottish group.
They’re away to France on the final weekend, so Scotland will need to build their tally before that demanding closing task. Given the expectation that this will be a closely-fought Six Nations, bonus points could be decisive in the final table.
Warren Gatland remains in charge of Wales but a run of 11 defeats in a row leaves belief that they can have an impact on the Six Nations at an all-time low. Just two wins in their last 15 Six Nations games is truly saddening for such a proud rugby nation.
The Welsh will hope that France are rusty in Paris on the opening weekend before they face a massive trip to Rome to take on the Italians as they hope to avoid another Wooden Spoon.
Italy looked the part under Gonzalo Quesada in last year’s championship, beating Scotland and Wales, drawing with France, and going close against England.
They had a mixed November as Argentina beat them well before a more convincing performance in defeat to the All Blacks, so Quesada will be looking for more of last year’s effort from what is a talented young group of players.
The squads have been picked and the training camps begin now, with Ireland gathering in Dublin today before flying out to Portugal for a warm-weather camp leading into the England game on 1 February.
The Six Nations is nearly upon us.
As McGurk put it many years ago, “Be still my beating heart.”
Best of luck Prendy. Onward and upward
It would be some craic if he picks a side packed leinster with leinster players.
@chris mcdonnell: I think he has enough players from all the provinces who didn’t make the cut for the national side. Quite a few of them will be from Munster like Ahern, Coombes, Hodnett, Gleeson, Nash, Daly to name but a few. All good players before he even considers the other providences.
@chris mcdonnell: not sure what you mean.
@Con Cussed: The 13 players not selected for the 6N match day squad will be available for Ireland A
@Paul Ennis: Apart from the awkward 2 or 3 guys who need to travel with the main squad in case of injuries.
Always unlucky to be technically higher in the pecking order than some guys playing the A but unable to get gametime to prove it.
@Joe O’Regan: i am talking about how some people on here lost their sh 1t when easterby and paul O’Connell picked their 6 nation squad and how funny this site would be if he picks a leinster based sqaud.
@Con Cussed: Nash is in the national squad
@chris mcdonnell: be some craic if he replaced Cullen soon
@Paul Ennis: thats cool, will be a proper A team then
@Paul Ennis: so take out the likely 23 your left with something something like this.
1 Boyle
2. Herring
3. Clarkson
4. Henderson
5. Cormac Izzy
6. PoM (capt)
7. Timoney
8. Pendergast
9. Blade
10. Frawley
11. Nash
12. Cooney
13. Postwhistle
14. Obrien
15. Osbourne
@Adrian Breen: you can have Cullen, I’d even drive him down to limerick
@chris mcdonnell:
I’d like to see;
1. Boyle, sub Dooley
2. McCarthy, sub Stewart
3. Clarkson, sub Scott Wilson
4. Henderson (c)
5. T Aherne l, sub Sheridan
6. Jensen, sub Soroka
7. Timoney, sub Kindellan
8. McNabney, sub Gleeson
9. Doak, sub Ben Murphy/Gus ….
10. Flawley, sub Harry B
11. Stockdale, sub Zac Ward
12. Postletwaite
13. Forde
14. Tommy O’Brien
15. Jimmy O’Brien
@damien reidy: Yeah, thanks my mistake :0)
@chris mcdonnell: Something like that. I have a funny feeling POM makes the 6N 23, especially v Wales. Osbourne would be unlucky not to make the squad too.
@Barry Moran: Bristol is less than an hours drive from Cardiff so the 24th man plus plus will still be available for the A game. Chances are that both squads will stay in Cardiff. I also forgot about the training panelists, so you will essentially be looking at 17 plus 6 drafted in. Maybe Easterby will use the opportunity for an extended squad gathering in the fallow week to give exposure to another 10 or 12 players over all?
@chris mcdonnell:
Could hardly have gotten Richie Murphy as both his sons will on form likely be playing it.