Fabien Galthié

If the Wallabies beat France in Brisbane on Saturday, debutant Declan Meredith should stroll across the road from Suncorp Stadium and order a celebratory beer at the Last Man Standing Brewery

Cam Roigard and Will Jordan scored twice each as New Zealand held on to edge an under-strength France 34-32 in a nine-try thriller that opened the inaugural Nations Championship, in Christchurch, on Saturday, July 4

It was as breath-taking as the November internationals were yawn-inducing and, after a rough start in Paris, it ended as a significant uplift for Irish rugby — regardless of the title being snatched out of their hands by the nerveless final kick by Tomas Ramos

Thomas Ramos’s late penalty won it at ‌the Stade de France, condemning England to a fourth defeat of the campaign despite their most fluent attacking display of the championship

France tops the standings on 16 points and +79 points difference after Scotland's 50-40 Round 4 stunner denied their Grand Slam

England's recent form shows inconsistency and struggles in Six Nations

Wales named unchanged XV to face Italy in final Six Nations match

Wings Darcy ‌Graham and Kyle Steyn scored two tries each ‌as Scotland beat France 50-40 in Edinburgh on Saturday ​to secure a pulsating bonus-point win that ensures the Six Nations will be decided ​in the final round next weekend

It’s unlikely Steve Tandy got to this point in his coaching career without ever alluding to the joy of playing with no baggage

France can retain Six Nations title with bonus-point win

Gregor Townsend’s side just about came through a mighty fright against a vastly-improved Wales in Cardiff, and may now have eyes on a triple crown showdown in Dublin on the final weekend

Wales have conceded 102 points in two championship matches, scoring just 19, and are yet to muster a bonus point

France had eight tries by the hour mark, before the game meandered towards its end

Following last weekend’s 48-7 defeat to England, beleaguered Wales have beefed up their pack with the inclusion of Cracknell for a first Six Nations start, and two changes in the front row as props Rhys Carre and Tomas Francis replace Nicky Smith and Archie Griffin

AN ENGLISH journalist was midway through a question about Ireland’s tackle success at Stade de France when Andy Farrell interjected

France began its Six Nations title defense with five tries and a bonus point after a dominant 36-14 win against Ireland on Thursday

Dupont has not made an international appearance since rupturing his ACL against Ireland last March but will return for France in Thursday evening’s Six Nations curtain-raiser

The final score was 43-0 and, by the middle of March, Les Bleus were hoisting aloft the trophy

The first fixture held on a Thursday in competition history brings together two sides that have split the last four titles, and both begin again with aspirations of lifting the trophy

Star France scrum-half Antoine Dupont will make his return to the team to face Ireland in the opening match for the Six Nations tournament in Stade de France on Thursday, February 5, after head coach Fabien Galthié on Tuesday named him as captain

Remarkably it is necessary to rewind 63 years to 1963 — before any of today’s national coaches were born, never mind the players — to find the last occasion an England squad bucked the trend

Another Six Nations campaign dawns with Europe’s best and brightest vying for supremacy in the annual championship

The Six Nations gets underway this week with another sizeable clash between title hopefuls France and Ireland in the first-ever Thursday night fixture in tournament history

The 2026 Six Nations — or officially the Guinness Men’s Six Nations — begins, for the first time in its history, on a Thursday night

Fellow Leinster looseheads Andrew Porter and Paddy McCarthy are also absent through injury, with the uncapped Connacht youngster Billy Bohan joining Munster pair Jeremy Loughman and Michael Milne in the squad

Out from Galthie’s squad go Gregory Alldritt and Gael Fickou, who both captained France last year; excluded, too, is Damian Penaud, a matter of months after knocking off Serge Blanco as his nation’s leading try-scorer