The penultimate round of the Six Nations lacked close encounters but did make the final round of games very interesting. England need to answer some questions about their defence. Scotland need to bounce back after 3 heavy defeats. Ireland have to secure 3rd to avoid this campaign being a total disappointment. Can France take advantage of a heavily-injured England team to reclaim their title? Can Sean Lynn get Wales's first win in almost a year? Can Italy separate themselves from the bottom 2? Here are the scores that set up those questions:
Italy 33-61 England
Scotland 28-69 France
Ireland 33-12 Wales
Some things never change
The first Six Nations after a World Cup often brings chaos and realignment as teams search for new identities for the cycle ahead. This tournament has bucked that trend. Instead we have seen the same thing we have seen for several years in a row. England and France are clearly the best teams and will meet on the final day of the tournament to decide who wears the crown, just as they did in 2025. Ireland remain frustrated and unable to beat the top two whilst being clearly better than the likes of Wales and Scotland. Without some proper investment from the other Unions, this picture will remain the same for the foreseeable future.
England's defence remains a problem
Despite earning maximum points from their 4 games thus far, England are not entirely satisfied. The players and coaches alike made their disappointment with their defence against Wales very clear. Facing Italy after a fallow week gave the Red Roses a chance to rectify those errors; instead, their defence was worse. Italy ran in 5 tries to score 33-points which is almost unheard of for this team. England scored 9 tries in response, but there were still some worrying signs. The rest of this year will see England take on: Canada, New Zealand, Australia and France. If England defend like this in those games, their winning streak is in peril. Obviously injuries and pregnancies have played a part in these issues but those players, who are out, won't necessarily return in time for those games. Abbie Ward, Zoe Stratford and Rosie Galligan are 3 crucial defensive leaders at a position which is already stretched. Each of them announced their pregnancies earlier in the year and so won't be back for these games. John Mitchell will have to hope that Lilli Ives Campion and Morwenna Talling both recover before the WXV series starts.
Whatever happens with the squad going forward, France will be viewing this game against England as their best opportunity to topple the Red Roses years. They very nearly did it at Twickenham last year against a healthy England team. Hosting a heavily-injured Red Roses team could be enough to return the Trophy to the continent. Perhaps the pressure is now back on the French.
Early pressure mounts on Sione Fukofuka
Far, far away from the top of the table, Scotland are in a very tricky place. The decision to appoint former USA head coach Sione FukoFuka was met with excitement in Scotland. His reign got off to a good start with a narrow win over Wales at the Principality Stadium but things have taken a dramatic turn since. Conceding 84 points to England in front of 30,000 fans at Murrayfied was tough but it was made heaps worse by being battered by Italy in a game that would've been much more damaging if the Italians could avoid getting so many yellow cards. Perhaps scoring a late try to earn a bonus point against France in their 3rd consecutive battering will give Scotland something to build upon going forward. Their game away at Ireland just got a whole lot more important.
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