England

Finish: 5th

Grade: F

Results

WON 48-7 vs Wales

LOST 31-20 vs Scotland

LOST 42-21 vs Ireland

LOST 23-18 vs Italy

LOST 48-46 vs France

England didn't quite finish bottom of the table but, adjusting for pre-tournament expectations, they certainly had the worst Six Nations. Their only win was a comfortable victory against a sloppy Wales team in a game in which England didn't even play that well. The next two games saw England blown away by their opponents before losing to an underperforming Italy team and coming up just short against an inspired France. 

There won't be huge personnel changes for England after this, and there shouldn't be, but some tactical changes are necessary. Defensively, England get caught out wide far too often and in attack they struggle to convert red zone entries into points on the board. These are obviously fundamentals of the game, but they are also fixable. This tournament has put those weaknesses on full display and now Borthwick has the summer to fix those issues and save his job.

In the aftermath of the Six Nations, I've had a go at selecting what a fully-fit line-up could look like for each team by the time the World Cup comes around. In this line-up, I have continued with Ollie Chessum at flanker in light of his performance against France with Coles staying in the second row. Hopefully George Martin will get healthy because he will be a great addition to the "Pom Squad" that was badly missed this year. England's bench will also be bolstered by the return of Baxter and Stuart who give England some proper depth in the front row. At fly-half, I think Fin Smith needs to be backed properly and given time to develop a partnership with Seb Atkinson as his second receiver. Ollie Lawrence has always played well at outside centre for England and provides a big carrying option in midfield. Freeman has played at 13 recently but England are a better team with Lawrence at 13 and Freeman on the wing. Feyi-Waboso being injured badly hurt England's chances in this tournament with England lacking the X-factor that he brings. George Furbank is my choice at fullback due to his familiarity with Fin Smith and his ability to act as a second playmaker that's needed given that Atkinson and Lawrence are the centre partnership.

Starting XV

1.Ellis Genge 2.Jamie George 3.Joe Heyes 4.Maro Itoje(C) 5.Alex Coles 

6.Ollie Chessum 7.Tom Curry 8.Ben Earl 9.Alex Mitchell 10.Fin Smith

11.Immanuel Feyi-Waboso 12.Seb Atkinson 13.Ollie Lawrence 14.Tommy Freeman 15.George Furbank

Bench

16.Luke Cowan-Dickie 17.Fin Baxter 18.Will Stuart 19.George Martin

20.Guy Pepper 21.Henry Pollock 22.Ben Spencer 23.Marcus Smith

France

Finish: 1st

Grade: A

Results

WON 36-14 vs Ireland

WON 54-12 vs Wales

WON 33-8 vs Italy

LOST 50-40 vs Scotland

WON 48-46 vs England

An A grade is the obvious choice for France. Aside from a bad day in Edinburgh, they have been spotless. Dropping several key players such as Fickou, Alldritt and Penaud could have easily back-fired on Galthie but his bravery paid off massively. France have a mixture of World-Class talent and overall depth that is on surpassed by South Africa and it was on full display throughout the tournament. France are supposed to win Six Nations that follow Lions Tours and they lived up to those high expectations. 

There is still room for improvement with this French team and the likes of Alldritt or Penaud could all come back into the side. France also have plenty of young players, who are already performing at a high level, that will only get better with more experience. In my potential XV, I've decided to go with Jalibert ahead of Ntamack but that could go either way. I still don't think Dupont feels entirely comfortable playing with Jalibert but that duo is the one with the highest ceiling and giving it time to develop could finally see France get over the line at a World Cup. 

Starting XV

1.Jean-Baptiste Gros 2.Julien Marchand 3.Dorian Aldegheri 4.Emmanuel Meafou 5.Mickael Guillard

6.Francois Cros 7.Oscar Jegou 8.Anthony Jelonch 9.Antoine Dupont(C) 10.Mattheiu Jalibert

11.Louie Bielle-Biarrey 12.Yoram Moefana 13.Pierre-Louis Barassi 14.Theo Attissogbe 15.Thomas Ramos

Bench

16.Peato Mauvaka 17.Rodrigue Neti 18.Demba Bamba 19.Thibaud Flament 

20.Charles Ollivon 21.Gregory Alldritt 22.Nolan Le Garrec 23.Emilien Gailleton

Ireland

Finish: 2nd

Grade: B+

Results

LOST 36-14 vs France

WON 20-13 vs Italy

WON 42-21 vs England

WON 27-17 vs Wales

WON 43-21 vs Scotland

Although they fell short in the end, this was a very successful Championship for Ireland. They managed to record wins over England and Scotland whilst being forced to test their depth in ways that wouldn't have happened in more regular circumstances. Big players stepped up and found their form whilst some youngsters came through. Ireland are now much better placed going into the next World Cup.

A full-strength Ireland team will gain several players who are currently out. Loosehead prop will get the biggest boost from the returns of Porter, McCarthy and Boyle coming back. O'Toole and Milne did well in their absence and now the competition is on for the spot behind Porter. Mack Hansen and Hugo Keenan are amongst those who could return in the backs.  Jack Crowley looks to have nailed down the fly-half spot whilst McCloskey has surely done enough to keep Aki out of the 12 jersey. Baloucoune brought a level of athleticism to the team and surely has to start on the right wing. Hugo Keenan should come back in at fullback but the left wing spot is wide open. Clavin Nash, James Lowe, Jacob Stockdale and Tommy O'Brien have all had chances at that spot but no one has nailed down the position. If Mack Hansen could play there, he would be my first choice but otherwise Tommy O'Brien could be a good addition to the unit. 

Starting XV

1.Andrew Porter 2.Dan Sheehan 3.Tadhg Furlong 4.Joe McCarthy 5.Tadhg Beirne

6.Jack Conan 7.Josh van der Flier 8.Caelan Doris 9.Jamison Gibson-Park 10.Jack Crowley

11.Tommy O'Brien 12.Stu McCloskey 13.Garry Ringrose 14.Robert Baloucoune 15.Hugo Keenan

Bench

16.Ronan Kelleher 17.Paddy McCarthy 18.Finlay Bealham 19.James Ryan

20.Ryan Baird 21.Nick Timoney 22.Craig Casey 23.Ciaran Frawley

Italy

Finish: 4th

Grade: B

Results

WON 18-15 vs Scotland

LOST 20-13 vs Ireland

LOST 33-8 vs France

WON 23-18 vs England

LOST 31-17 Wales

Italy missed out on the opportunity to have their best ever Six Nations by losing to Wales in Cardiff. However, they did manage to earn their first ever win over England in a historic day in Rome. Italian rugby is in a great place and is only going in one direction.

What makes this performance even more impressive is how many players were out for most of the tournament. With that in mind, here is what Italy's team could look like with some of those players healthy. In the front row, Riccioni is back with Simone Ferrari as tighthead props whilst Lucchesi is back on the bench at hooker. Seb Negri and Ross Vintcent are also both back into the team with Varney and Capuozzo also starting. Italy have now built some serious depth within their squad that will make them much more dangerous come the World Cup.

Starting XV

1.Danilo Fischetti 2.Giacomo Nicotera 3.Simone Ferrari 4.Niccolo Cannone 5.Andrea Zambonin

6.Seb Negri 7.Manuel Zuliani 8.Michele Lamaro 9.Stephen Varney 10.Paolo Garbisi

11.Monty Ioane 12.Tommaso Menoncello 13.Juan Igancio Brex 14.Louis Lynagh 15.Ange Capuozzo

Bench

16.Gianmarco Lucchesi 17.Mirco Spagnolo 18.Marco Riccioni 19. Federico Ruzza

20.Niccolo Cannone 21.Ross Vintcent 22.Alessandro Garbisi 23.Tommaso Allen

Scotland

Finish: 3rd

Grade: B

Results

LOST 18-15 vs Italy

WON 31-20 vs England

WON 26-23 vs Wales

WON 50-40 vs France

LOST 43-21 vs Ireland

After a poor defeat in Rome, Scotland recovered to beat England, Wales and France to give themselves a shot at winning the Six Nations on Super Saturday. Unfortunately, they came up short against Ireland once again and had to settle for a familiar 3rd-place in the end. The wins against England and France are probably enough to take the pressure off Gregor Townsend but this Scotland team is still yet to reach its full potential.

Scotland's team should be pretty similar going forward with only two big questions in the starting XV. The battle to partner Scott Cummings in the second row is still ongoing but I think Max Williamson has got himself into the lead. Grant Gilchrist is already 35 and could be retired by the team the World Cup comes around. Gregor Brown has done enough to be a legitimate option at this position. The other question is an unexpected one. Soon after the Six Nations ended, it was announced that Dempsey is heading to Japan and essentially ending his international career. This leaves a big gap at no.8. I think that Andy Onyeama-Christie is the best option to slide in despite playing more often at flanker for Saracens. Douglas, Bradbury or Bayliss could also fit in there but it really does throw up some questions for Gregor Townsend.

Starting XV

1.Pierre Schoeman 2.Ewan Ashman 3.Zander Fagerson 4.Scott Cummings 5.Max Williamson

6.Matt Fagerson 7.Rory Darge 8.Andy Onyeama-Christie 9.Ben White 10.Finn Russell

11.Kyle Steyn 12.Sione Tuipulotu 13.Huw Jones 14.Darcy Graham 15.Blair Kinghorn

Bench

16.George Turner 17.Rory Sutherland 18.D'Arcy Rae 19.Gregor Brown

20.Jamie Ritchie 21.Jamie Douglas 22.George Horne 23.Tom Jordan

Wales

Finish: 6th

Grade: B

Results

LOST 48-17 vs England

LOST 54-12 vs France

LOST 26-23 vs Scotland

LOST 27-17 vs Ireland

WON 31-17 vs Italy

Despite only winning one game, Wales walk away from the Six Nations feeling very positive after beating Italy in Cardiff. They now have the spine of a team that can compete with the top table in European rugby. Steve Tandy has brought his defensive prowess to Wales which is shown by their improvement over each week of the Championship. After being blown away by England and France, they came very close to beating France and Ireland before their victory against Italy. 

Loosehead prop and hooker are now areas of strength for Wales whilst the tighthead situation is manageable. Jenkins and Carter are a good duo at lock whilst Freddie Thomas can take Beard's spot on the bench if he continues to develop at Gloucester. In the back row, Jac Morgan is obviously straight back in with Aaron Wainwright. Alex Mann has done well enough to keep his place in the team but James Botham could absolutely start there. Either one of Edwards or Costelow could start at fly-half but I've gone with Edwards due to his availability advantage thus far. Mason Grady, Max Llewellyn and Tom Rogers could all come into this team but the back 3 appears to be in good form right now. Wales are in a good place going forward.

Starting XV

1.Rhys Carre 2.Dewi Lake(C) 3.Tomas Francis 4.Dafydd Jenkins 5.Ben Carter 

6.Alex Mann 7.Jac Morgan 8.Aaron Wainwright 9.Tomos Williams 10.Dan Edwards

11.Josh Adams 12.Joe Hawkins 13.Eddie James 14.Ellis Mee 15,Louis Rees-Zammit

Bench

16.Ryan Elias 17.Nicky Smith 18.Archie Griffin 19.Freddie Thomas

20.James Botham 21.Kieran Hardy 22.Sam Costelow 23.Mason Grady