Six Nations kicks off; order is maintained, for now?
The first weekend of the 2025 Six Nations competition went off without a hitch, with 20 tries scored in front of full houses of local and traveling fans, and the top “seeds” France, Ireland and Scotland, all winning their opening matches.
If Wales had been intimidated by the performance of the French clubs in the Investec Champions Cup recently, their experience at the hands of the French national side justified their fears. The Stade de France crowd of 80,000 + saw their team at full flight as they put 7 tries past WAL and conceded none, winning 43-0. WAL, deep in rebuilding phase played hard but the speed and flair of Les Bleus was overwhelming. One blot on the result was the red card received by starting fly-half Romain Ntamack who will hear his fate later this week. However, FRA have strength in depth and will be favored for their trip to ENG at Twickenham on Feb. 8.
Second on the menu were Scotland hosting Italy at Murrayfield in Edinburgh. Scotland are increasingly favored as a top European side and this would be a tough test against the ever-improving Italians. Starting strong, the hosts scored 3 tries in the first half but indiscipline from SCO allowed the visitors to stay in touch, down 19-9 at the half. Within 5 minutes of the restart, a penalty and converted try brought ITA level and the game was on. However, SCO buckled down and with 2 more tries from center Huw Jones (giving him a hat-trick), ran out comfortable winners 31-19. Next up, SCO at home to IRE and ITA host WAL in Rome.
England started their campaign against Ireland at the Aviva in Dublin and put the hosts under pressure right from the whistle. Despite a yellow card for #10 Marcus Smith after an accumulation of team offenses around the goal line, England went in at the half up 10-5. However, by the 50th minute IRE had scored through Aki and in the next 20 minutes scored 2 more tries going ahead 27-10. Perhaps IRE eased up on the gas pedal a bit as ENG scored 2 late tries, not enough to win but enough to gain a consolation Bonus Point which may be valuable later in the competition. Final score 27-22; next up IRE at Murrayfield against the in-form Scots, and ENG at home to FRA.
The Table after 1 round gives an opportunity to review the rules. 4 points for a win, 2 for a draw; bonus points for scoring 4 or more tries and losing by 7 points or less. In the event of a tie in the number of match points, the ranking will be decided by the difference between points scored and conceded. Therefore, the rankings are: 1) France 5 points (point differential +43); 2) Scotland 5 pts (+12); 3) Ireland 5 pts (+5); 4) England 1 pt. (-5); 5) Italy 0 pts (-12); 6) Wales 0 pts (-43).
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