What we learnt from the Six Nations
France climbed to 2nd in the World Rankings
©Steve Haag
With the Summer Internationals on the horizon, we look back at the 2022 Guinness Six Nations to see how they will fair against the rest of the Rugby World.
France finished top of the pile at the conclusion of this year’s Six Nations, clinching the Grand Slam title for the first time since 2010. Ending their campaign with a solid display against a depleted English side 25-13 at the Stade de France.
They climbed to 2nd in the world rankings, making their clash with the number 1 side South Africa the Autumn Nationals even more intriguing according to Britishgambler.
They will likely face Japan in Japan twice, with a slightly weakened team due to the fixture clash with the Top 14 finals. All things considered they are in a great place with their settled squad and coaching set-up to face the Japan in Japan.
Ireland took second place, losing only to France in Round 2 in a tight contest which ended 30-24. This loss aside, they looked back to their powerful best with their X-factor stars such as Sexton, Furlong, O’Mahony, Henshaw all firing at the right time.
They are a formidable side and will prove a handful for Southern Hemisphere opponents New Zealand, who they play 3 times in July in New Zealand! A true test of their quality.
England managed to squeeze ahead of Scotland in the table on ‘points difference’ which they should feel relieved about. They showed some real character in the France game when they went down to 14-men after just 82 seconds and battled to a narrow 25-13 loss. But overall, their form has been shaky, without a consistent backline selection or finding a replacement 12 with the same destructive power as Tuilagi.
Their Summer fixtures are jam packed, starting off with an exhibition game against the Barbarians, then Fiji and finally moving on to triple Wallaby fixtures all to be played in Australia. Looking at those last 4 games and England’s performance in the Six Nations, they should be targeting a whitewash down under.
Scotland will be disappointed with their showing in the Six Nations, they started with a bang winning the Calcutta cup in week 1, but never seemed to regain that form and failed to land another significant blow. It was a case of their big names not showing up on the big stage resulting in a 4th place finish.
Scotland tour Argentina this summer and will be looking for 3 wins from 3 against the Pumas to restore some faith with the Scottish public.
Wales ended up a disappointing 5th, but with a mounting injury list and narrow loses they had a battle on their hands throughout the competition. They also made a bold call to change their coaching staff just 18 months away from the World Cup, but they could regain some pride with a positive Summer series.
It won’t be easy though as they head up against the World Champions South Africa in Pretoria, Bloemfontein and Cape Town. To get anything but 3 losses would be a huge scalp for Wales not only for the side but for the coaching team as questions flood in due to recent results.
Italy took a huge step forward ending their 36-game losing streak against Wales, in a 21-22 victory at the Principality Stadium. They still finished with the wooden spoon, but this win gave them far more hope than a 6th place finish would have you believe. If they can take this energy into their games against Canada, United States and Argentina, they could and should be looking at 4 back-to-back wins.
