Ireland defeated Scotland 43-21 to round off a campaign that had a bit of everything from an Irish perspective. The loss to France, the close shave against Italy, the near perfect showing in Twickenham, the wobble vs Wales and then the strong display vs Scotland to round off the 6 Nations for 2026.
The mix of emotions over the past few weeks during the Championship shows you in a simple form how quick things can change.
People probably questioned Farrell in the aftermath of the French loss in Paris. Gradually though he and his charges grew into the Championship and with each passing week you saw improvement that culminated in the 2 strongest performances away to England when the wheels came off the Chariot. And on Saturday against a very bullish Scotland who came to Dublin in search of a 1st win in Dublin since 2010 and a first win over Ireland since 2017.
Scotland were in with a sniff of a first Championship since 1999 but even though they performed ok in the opening 40 minutes in Dublin they could not sustain the challenge and faltered in the final 30 minutes which saw Ireland stretch the lead from 12 points to 20 points and never relinquish the lead all afternoon.
The display put Ireland into pole position but France manged to scramble a late win over England in a crazy game in Paris the saw the full time score read 48-46 which saw France crowned champions for the 2nd year in a row but this time only by the skin of their teeth.
This Championship saw Italy win 2 games and Wales slowly beginning to make improvements on the field after 2 years where performances were simply not good enough even allowing for the off field issues that continue in the background.
England yet again failed to deliver and no matter what may be said publically, the review will be rough on Steve Borthwick and his staff. The questions are beginning in earnest as to whether he is the man to lead England to Australia in 2027.
Italy have shown the seeds of growth may finally be beginning to germinate and they may finally be able to sustain a challenge over a number of weeks rather than a big one off showing. Let’s hope the upward curve keeps going in the Nations Championship beginning this summer.
France are your 2026 Champions but only after an almighty scare on home soil that saw them get over the line but only by the skin of there teeth…..
Here is my team of the Championship
15 Thomas Ramos
14 Robert Balcounne
13 Juan Ignacio Brex
12 Stuart Mc Closkey
11 Louis Bielle – Biarrey
10 Fin Russell
9 Jamison Gibson Park
8 Charles Ollivon
7 Rory Darge
6 Tadgh Beirne
5 Dafydd Jenkins
4 Scott Cummings
3 Tadgh Furlong
2 Dan Sheehan
1 Danillo Fischetti