France will win the Six Nations but round 1 will be key
It is here, the greatest annual international sports tournament in the world. The Six Nations has it all and I expect this year to be closer than ever.
Ireland are on good form but below their recent best, Scotland continue to build but the championship remains elusive, Wales are desperate for a win, England are quietly hopeful of a shock victory, France are as sublime as ever and Italy are as good as we’ve ever seen them.
My prediction? Well, it is entirely based on what happens this weekend.
But I think, on the whole, France will win the Six Nations this season with Scotland a close second. Then Ireland will come third with England fourth. Wales will get the wooden spoon with Italy above them in fifth.
This weekend’s fixtures – France vs Wales, Scotland vs Italy and Ireland vs England – will be paramount in unravelling the above in the order I have predicted.
Six Nations France’s to lose
France are everybody’s second favourite team, and they’re overwhelming favourites to beat Wales this weekend in the opener.
Friday nights in Paris are always special; when 80,000 fans belt out La Marseillaise the hairs on the back of your neck can’t do anything but stand to attention.
And with Wales in the rut that they are at the moment – they went the whole of 2024 without a win against international opposition – this match at the Stade de France is Les Bleus’ to lose.
With the return of No10 Romain Ntamack, having missed the Autumn Nations Cup, and his half-back partner Antoine Dupont it feels as if this is a case not of whether France win but by how many.
Scotland the brave
I am backing Scotland to run France right until the final weekend for the title and they open their account at home to Italy.
The Azzurri are in a much better place now than they ever have been; they were great in defeat against the All Blacks last autumn and have been able to stay in their Six Nations games against the likes of Ireland and England.
Murrayfield is the key advantage for Scotland this weekend, though the absence of talismanic centre Sione Tuipulotu leaves a major hole in the midfield.
Italy are on the rise and the pressure is growing on Scotland to win something in this tournament – their last title came when the competition was contested between five nations in 1999.
Six Nations shock
Can England do it and beat Ireland in Dublin? If we were looking at week two, three, four or five I’d have said no but given it is week one and Ireland have been stripped of Andy Farrell, I do think there is a chance.
England need to be perfect and Ireland slightly off it, but Steve Borthwick’s side have picked three flankers in their back row and will be chasing Ireland around the park.
Ireland are favourites and may indeed challenge France for the title come the end of the tournament but England can be their bogey team.
A poor match for Ireland against England would send the defending champions to Murrayfield an exposed beast, at the mercy of Scotland.
The Six Nations really is the most rousing bit of international rugby, and I love its return.
In the last two editions of the tournament the away sides have won all of the opening week’s fixtures.
There is precedent for an upset this weekend, but where that comes I am less sure. France should be easy winners, Scotland too – but you never know.
Could England, therefore, cause an upset for the ages in Dublin?
My table
| Position | Team |
| 1 | France |
| 2 | Scotland |
| 3 | Ireland |
| 4 | England |
| 5 | Italy |
| 6 | Wales |
Former England Sevens captain Ollie Phillips is the founder of Optimist Performance. Follow Ollie @OlliePhillips11