The 2025 6 Nations Championship has come to a conclusion. France came out as winners after defeating Scotland, 35-16. This was their 7th 6 Nations title and 19th title in all formats. On the opposite end, Wales came out with the wooden spoon for a second straight year (finished in last place). In its 25 year history (of being the 6 Nations) there have been a few memerable moments and matches.
England, led by Chris Robshaw, marched into Cardiff with a Grand Slam, Triple Crown and Six Nations Championship at stake. Yet, by the time they left the Welsh capital, they were bedraggled and crestfallen, as all three had been unceremoniously taken from their grasp by an unrelenting Welsh side who were looking not only to spoil their great rivals' party but to move from the boarding gate, to business class seats, on the 2013 British & Lions Tour to Australia.
The game will be forever be remembered for a stirring rendition of Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau (the Welsh national anthem) that raised hairs on the back of the neck; before Sam Warburton led his fired-up team-mates into battle.
A cagey, attritional contest ensued before the game burst into life with Alex Cuthbert scorching around Mike Brown to score. The coup de grace occurred when Leigh Halfpenny freed Justin Tipuric down the right flank to dummy Brown and pop a pass to Cuthbert to complete his brace.
Wales were 27-3 up and in dreamland. With three more points from Dan Biggar, it became a record margin of victory over their red rose rivals as they snared a second straight title; having lost their opening match. The whistle went and the roof was metaphorically blown off as English hopes were dashed and a Welsh-heavy Lions contingent was secured.
Scotland's recent dominance of the Calcutta Cup* fixture has moved away from the scrappy arm-wrestles which typified their rare successes in the early part of the millennium. Elan, ingenuity and dynamism have propelled them rather than sheer bloody-mindedness.
*The Calcutta Cup is the trophy awarded to the winner of the rugby match between England and Scotland played annually in the Six Nations Championship.
That wasn’t the case in 2021. Not that anybody of a Scottish persuasion cared. Back then, Scotland would have taken a 3-0 victory with 100 scrums, 50 lineouts and zero line-breaks just to shatter that damned Twickenham hoodoo which threatened to stretch into a fifth decade (since the icons who became Grand Slam champions the following season won in 1983).
The place lay empty in 2021 as Covid restrictions continued to mandate crowd-less sport. The game was a pig in aesthetic terms, broody and niggly and devoid of any great fluency. Duhan van der Merwe scored the first of his seven tries (to date) against the English, blasting home by the left corner flag. The blonde destroyer’s majestic Twickenham double two years later burns far brighter in the memory; as does his hat-trick in Edinburgh last season.
What was a more perfunctory finish proved seminal in Scottish terms. Cam Redpath, once an England U20 squad member, made a fine debut outside Finn Russell. Hamish Watson laid waste to the English breakdown on his way to becoming a British & Irish Lion.
On the final play, Watson ripped possession from a breakdown and shinned it into the stands. With no crowd noise to drown them out, the howls of Scottish delight were all the more palpable. Captain, Stuart Hogg, handed the Calcutta Cup to Redpath and Dave Cherry to raise into the London sky, a lifelong memory for the new caps and an enduring image of unprecedented Scottish supremacy in the oldest fixture of them all.
The first decade of the Six Nations maintained the pattern of the previous two in the old Five Nations – regular flowerings of French success, with five more titles in the first 11 years of the expanded competition, including three Grand Slams – 2002, 2004 and 2010.
Then…rien. From formidable to faible, France finished in the bottom half of the table in seven out of nine years from 2011 to 2019, including an ignominious wooden spoon in 2013.
An exciting new generation: Antoine Dupont; Romain Ntamack; Damian Penaud; Grégory Alldritt et. al – brought back the joie de vivre while Fabien Galthié and defence guru, Shaun Edwards, instilled greater structure and resolve.
There were two runners-up finishes in 2020 and 2021 before a first title in 12 years – burnished by an epic 30-24 win over Ireland and a 36-17 thumping of Scotland at Murrayfield – was crowned by a 25-13 Grand Slam victory over England.
Fittingly, Dupont scored the final try on the hour as they sealed the deal in some comfort. La Marseillaise bellowed round the Stade de France as Alldritt launched the ball into the stands to kick-start an outpouring of relief and tears of joy as Les Bleus finally banished their Six Nations blues.
In 2003, for the first – and still the only – time in the Six Nations era (and only the sixth in the entire championship’s history), the final match brought two undefeated sides together, both chasing the same prize.
Having seen three previous Grand Slams slip away during Clive Woodward’s tenure in 1999 (beaten by Wales), 2000 (Scotland) and 2001 (Ireland), the glowering England captain, Martin Johnson, was not for budging with another Slam on the line in Dublin – not even for the Irish president.
Johnson's refusal to move from the pre-match space Ireland usually occupied when the sides were introduced to Mary McAleese before kick-off meant she had to walk across the grass rather than the red carpet to reach the Irish team.
Johnson later claimed that he would have moved had the referee asked but that the request had come from someone who looked like he might be the Lansdowne Road groundsman’s assistant. England, similarly unmoveable, went on to smash Ireland 42-6 in the Slam showdown in one of the great performances under Woodward and of the entire Six Nations era.
What Warren Gatland sparked and Eddie O’Sullivan built upon, Declan Kidney brought to new heights at the Millennium Stadium (Cardiff) in his first campaign as Ireland head coach. For that added layer of drama, Gatland was coaching the Welsh and had led them to the Grand Slam the year before.
Wales had an outside chance of pipping Ireland to the title. A 13-point home win would have been enough to crash the Irish party, a plausible scenario at half-time with Wales leading 6-0, until Brian O’Driscoll and Tommy Bowe tries put Ireland back on the Grand Slam track in front of a watching Jack Kyle, captain of the fabled 1948 squad – the last men in green to win a Grand Slam.
Two more Stephen Jones penalties brought Wales to within two points to tee up a grandstand finish. With six minutes to play, Mike Phillips surged past Irish defenders on a huge break that took him to within six metres of the Irish line. Wales may well have got over for a try but made a quick decision, Jones stepping back and skittling a drop-goal over.
Trailing by a point, from an attacking line-out inside the Welsh 22, Ireland had seven pick-and-goes to work themselves to the centre of the pitch. Looking back now, rarely was a drop-goal more telegraphed. O’Gara dropped into the pocket and Stringer hung at the final ruck for eight seconds.
Wales knew what was coming. Jones and Luke Charteris sprinted out and made despairing dives but O’Gara’s kicked cleared them, sailing through the posts as O’Gara sprinted off, one arm raised. Jones had one last chance to deny Ireland with a last-minute penalty from just inside the Irish half but his kick fell agonisingly short. The rest, as they say, is history.
Dominating possession for the majority of the first quarter, England took the lead when Ben Youngs scored a try in the 18th minute. However, Wales steadily gained momentum throughout the half and managed to score a well-executed try from Liam Williams, propelling them to a 13-8 advantage heading into half-time.
Wales continued their offensive efforts after the break but it was England who struck next, with Owen Farrell slotting in a penalty in the 56th minute. Not long after, Wales retaliated with a successful penalty kick from Leigh Halfpenny, widening the gap once again. With just ten minutes left on the clock, Owen Farrell's third penalty narrowed the score to two points, setting the stage for a nail-biting finish.
In a tense moment, as England found themselves deep in Welsh territory, the ball was unexpectedly turned over. With a swift kick downfield, the ball landed perfectly into the waiting hands of George Ford.
Ford swiftly returned the ball and in a moment of pure brilliance, Ford unleashed a perfectly timed pass to Owen Farrell, who, in turn, delivered a precision bullet-like pass to Elliot Daly. Daly seized the opportunity, outmanoeuvring Alex Cuthbert on the outside and expertly touching down in the corner, securing the winning try in the dying seconds of the match. With this extraordinary play, England emerged triumphant in Cardiff.
Shane Williams' winning try against Scotland in the 2010 Six Nations is one of the most dramatic moments in Welsh rugby history. The match took place on 13 February 2010, at the Millennium Stadium and it ended with a thrilling 31–24 victory for Wales.
In the final play of the game, Shane Williams, known for his agility and finishing prowess, collected a well-timed pass from Stephen Jones and darted through Scotland's defense to score the winning try in the corner.
France's Grand Slam-clinching victory over England in 2004 was one of the defining moments of that year's Six Nations Championship. The match took place on 27 March 2004, at the Stade de France, in Paris. France, led by captain, Fabien Pelous, were on the cusp of completing their fourth Grand Slam in the Six Nations era.
The win secured France their 13th Grand Slam title, reaffirming their position as one of the top teams in world rugby. Coach, Bernard Laporte, received widespread praise for his management and the team's success laid the groundwork for their strong performances throughout the decade.
Gavin Henson's iconic long-range penalty kick against England in 2005 is one of the most memorable moments in Welsh rugby history. The match took place on 5 February 2005, at the Millennium Stadium, during the opening weekend of the Six Nations Championship. It marked the beginning of a remarkable Grand Slam campaign for Wales.
Both teams battled hard, with Wales leading 8–3 at half-time thanks to a try by Shane Williams. England responded with a second-half try by Josh Lewsey and the match was delicately poised at 9–9 in the closing stages.
With less than five minutes remaining, Wales were awarded a penalty just inside England's half, around 44m out. Gavin Henson, renowned for his composure and skill, stepped up to take the kick. Henson struck the ball and it sailed between the posts, giving Wales a crucial 12–9 lead. Wales ultimately held on and won the match 12-9.
The biggest Six Nations comeback of all time was Scotland vs. England in 2019. Trailing 31-7 at half-time at Twickenham, Scotland looked down and out. However, in the second half, we saw a new Scotland. Two quick tries put the skip in their step as they went on to lead 38-31 before ending in a 38-all draw.
It remains the highest-scoring draw in international rugby and one of the greatest Six Nations matches of all time.
For 70 minutes in the damp Paris weather, the game appeared to be heading towards a lacklustre win for the composed Irish team over the undisciplined French side. However, everything changed when France made a stunning counterattack, resulting in a magnificent try by Teddy Thomas that seemed to seal the game in their favour.
A challenge was now laid before Ireland. Suddenly trailing by a point after holding a comfortable six-point lead for most of the match, they had just over five minutes to respond.
With a relentless determination reminiscent of Munster, Ireland embarked on nearly 40 phases of play under the relentless rain without a single error. Despite the steadfast defence from the French team, who only managed to inch forward to the 10m line, it proved to be sufficient.
In a dramatic turn of events, with just 3 minutes and 42 seconds into the red, Johnny Sexton demanded the ball. From a whopping distance of 45m, he executed one of the most audacious drop goals ever witnessed in the history of the Six Nations, ultimately snatching a staggering victory.
The Stade de France was left in silence as the underdog Irish team pulled off an unforgettable victory in 2000. O’Driscoll’s brilliance captured the imagination of rugby fans worldwide and remains a top moment in the sport’s history.
Brian O’Driscoll’s hat-trick in Paris was not just a personal triumph but a defining moment for Irish rugby, paving the way for the success that would follow in the years ahead.
The 6 Nations is always set to be an exciting tournament to watch. There will never be a dull moment. A tournament like this is what every sports fan should want. A range of performances and results that can't be predicted. I always get enthralled by the competition.