Six Nations 2022: What we learnt from France, Ireland, England, Scotland, Wales and Italy in superb championship | Rugby Union News

We assess the fortunes of each side and what was learnt after another highly-entertaining Six Nations championship…

France’s huge growth continues ahead of home World Cup in 2023

Fabien Galthie’s France side may have become a bit edgy as the Grand Slam finishing line came into sight – their out-of-sorts 13-9 win in Cardiff in Round 4 a case in point – but, in the end, Les Bleus had enough to wrap up a thoroughly-deserved Grand Slam in 2022.

In many ways it was a Six Nations title three years in the making – France have had the players and played well enough to have won championships in 2020 and 2021 too, but imploded at vital moments despite beating the eventual winners in both years (England and Wales respectively).

When this France team are on song, there is no one in the world that will be able to live with them. Incredibly-talented backs, immensely-powerful forwards, a strong set-piece, mean defence and a fortress home stadium with a hugely-supportive crowd onside, the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France may just be theirs to lose.

They still switch off during Tests, almost losing to Ireland in Round 2 after a fast start, and giving England some hope over the weekend, but, at present, they almost seem able to score exactly when they want to.

Scrum-half Antoine Dupont remains the best player in the world, and he is of incomparable importance to the side – the 25-year-old has, quite ridiculously, scored or assisted 18 tries in France’s last 15 home Tests (eight tries, 10 assists). An injury to him would constitute a calamity.

France’s growth since the 2019 World Cup in Japan is demonstrable in almost every facet, and if they can travel to Dublin and Twickenham in 2023 and pick up victories, they will head into the next World Cup as red-hot favourites, despite never yet winning rugby’s greatest prize.

Andy Farrell’s Ireland in a good place

Ireland are perhaps in a rare position coming out of this year’s championship, in that they may have missed out on the title but depart more than content with their efforts.

They earned a Triple Crown success for the first time since 2018, and did so in utterly-dominant fashion too, crushing each of Wales, England and Scotland to claim bonus-point victories in all three Tests.

They also travelled to Paris in Round 2 and gave France a real fight in a 30-24 defeat, outscoring Les Bleus three tries to two, and exiting with a losing bonus-point.

In their five championship Tests in 2021, Ireland gained a bonus point in each, scoring 24 tries (four vs Wales, three vs France, nine vs Italy, four vs England, four vs Scotland) and finishing way out in front in terms of points difference on 105, compared to France’s 68. Ireland have never scored as many tries in a championship in their history.

They also made more linebreaks than anyone else (30), and played a brand of rugby all watching could appreciate, linking forwards to backs superbly and attacking at will.

Andy Farrell’s side finished their 2021 Six Nations in good form, were outstanding in the autumn and have shown real quality in 2022, with young players combining with an experienced group to great effect.

There may even be a feeling that missing out on the title might just suit them, with Ireland regularly having been accused of peaking too early for Rugby World Cups in the past.

With France and England to come in Dublin next year, and the World Cup still 18 months away, Ireland are in a good place. They next travel face New Zealand in a three-Test series this July, live on Sky Sports, looking to win in the country for the very first time.

England faltering: Eddie Jones under massive pressure

Where to start with England? Results-wise, it is very hard to look at their 2022 campaign and label it as anything other than a disaster.

They lost a Test in Scotland in Round 1 they really should have won, stuttered to a home win over a poor Wales side by four points after a routine win in Rome, were valiant in defeat at home to Ireland after going down to 14 men just 84 seconds in, and then never looked like winning in Paris despite some bright moments.

For the richest union in the world, paying Eddie Jones the highest wage of any coach, two wins and a third-place finish some 11 points behind second-placed Ireland is nowhere near good enough.

Factor in that they finished fifth in last year’s Six Nations after just two wins as well, and also finished fifth under Jones in 2018, and it is clear all is not rosy.

In all likelihood, were it not for England’s stunning run to the 2019 World Cup final, Jones would no longer be head coach now. His campaigns in charge have been too haphazard, too inconsistent and the style of play extremely poor at times.

The 63-year-old Aussie is under fire from mainstream media and pundits alike, with the dominant view now that he should be axed. The RFU’s response was to talk of “solid progress” this week – a more-than-peculiar assertion given results this past two months.

There have been key injuries – Manu Tuilagi, Anthony Watson, Jonny May, Jonny Hill, Owen Farrell played no part; Tom Curry got injured during the tournament – but each and every side had key men out or lost key players at stages.

England next travel to face Australia for a three-Test series this July, live on Sky Sports. They are fortunate in a way to be facing the weakest of the southern hemisphere’s big three (Australia, South Africa and New Zealand), and anything less than a series victory will see the pressure heat up on Jones even more.

This close to a World Cup, that would not be ideal.

Scotland a threat but off-field issues and consistency a concern

Having made such a positive start to the championship, beating England at home, Scotland’s Six Nations petered out in familiar fashion: three defeats from five leaving them well short of anything resembling a title challenge.

So often in recent years, Gregor Townsend’s Scots have picked up marquee victories, only to fail to take advantage by losing when opportunity next knocked.

In the end, they were firmly dispatched by the tournament’s top two France and Ireland, while they also lost in Cardiff a week on from their win over England – that Test a huge chance to stake a claim at the top of the table, but one missed.

Inconsistency remains the main thorn in Scotland’s side, with their performance in Ireland illustrating the talent and ability they do possess: broken-field running, quick, attacking backs, but ultimately their flaws too: power differential, set-piece inaccuracy, needless indiscipline.

Indiscipline on the pitch in the form of avoidable penalties, but indiscipline and headlines off it returned too.

Six highly-experienced squad members defied protocol to go out in Edinburgh after Scotland’s Round 4 victory in Rome – with skipper Stuart Hogg among them. Also there was Finn Russell – whose previous fallout with head coach Gregor Townsend regarding alcohol led to him missing every Test Scotland played in 2020.

He returned to the fray in 2021, but the latest episode saw him dropped to the bench vs Ireland, and even with the game going against Scotland, he was not introduced until the final 14 minutes. Whether he remains in Townsend’s plans from here on remains to be seen.

Whether Hogg stays as skipper is up for debate too, with the 29-year-old scoffing at Scottish media in post-match duties in Dublin.

A side to watch out for no doubt, given their ability to score from anywhere, but Scotland still appear far from a Six Nations title threat. Their three-Test summer tour to Argentina, live on Sky Sports in July, is a must-win.

Wales an ageing team, with outlook bleak

There is no other way to review Wales’ 2022 Six Nations campaign than to term it a catastrophe.

Having won the strangest championship title in history last year, in which red cards saw them past Ireland and Scotland despite being outplayed, and a shocking refereeing display saw them beat England in Cardiff, Wales experienced no such luck in 2022 and were fortunate in the end not to finish with the wooden spoon.

Destroyed by Ireland in every way in Round 1, they beat Scotland at home in Round 2 before losing the rest of their games: away in Twickenham, at home to an off-colour and nervous France, and at home to Italy for the first time in history.

Head coach Wayne Pivac’s campaigns in 2020 and 2022 have been so poor, that were it not for 2021’s fortune he would surely be out of the job.

Two fifth-placed finishes have sandwiched a title win, and taking away last year’s fixtures, Wales won a single game in 2020, and again in 2022.

Yes they have had injuries to highly-decorated performers this year – Alun Wyn Jones, Ken Owens, Justin Tipuric, Leigh Halfpenny, Josh Navidi, Taulupe Faletau, George North – but Jones, Navidi and Faletau all returned during the championship to play parts in defeats, and they are an ageing squad in dire need of refreshment.

The outlook for Wales of any side in 2022 looks the bleakest, with their U20s trounced by Ireland, England, France and Italy, and their four regional club sides all struggling at domestic level, with three out of all forms of Europe.

Their three-Test summer tour to South Africa in July, live on Sky Sports, looks a tall order for this group.

Off the back of enormous victory, what next for Italy?

Saturday brought Italy their first Six Nations win in over seven years and 37 Tests, as Ange Capuozzo and Edoardo Padovani combined to sublime effect in the final minute to secure a memorable victory over Wales in Cardiff.

If ever a side within a sport needed a win it was the Azzurri, who have been beset by questions of relegation, sporting merit and the supposed threat of being kicked out of the championship for several years.

With some sensational young players coming through – 23-year-old back-row and skipper Michele Lamaro made more tackles than anyone in the tournament (86), 22-year-old Capuozzo has scored or made three tries since his debut against Scotland in Round 4 – the future for Italy looks as bright as it has for a very long time.

Their U20s side also won three matches in the Six Nations this year to finish third, beating England, Scotland and Wales, and scoring some stunning tries along the way.

For the senior side, they next face Georgia and Romania in their summer Tests, where they will again look to lay down a marker vs the Georgians, who have so long been suggested as their potential Six Nations replacements.

Thereafter, the Azzurri must keep blooding the talent they have coming through, and next year look to win in Rome in games against Scotland and Wales. Curiously, the Azzurri have not won in the Italian capital now for nine years – their 2015 victory over Scotland and 2022 win vs Wales both coming on the road.

Our Six Nations 2022 Team of the Tournament

15 Hugo Keenan (Ireland), 14 Damian Penaud (France), 13 Garry Ringrose (Ireland), 12 Gael Fickou (France), 11 Gabin Villiere (France), 10 Johnny Sexton (Ireland), 9 Antoine Dupont (France); 1 Ellis Genge (England), 2 Julian Marchand (France), 3 Tadhg Furlong (Ireland), 4 Tadhg Beirne (Ireland), 5 Paul Willemse (France), 6 Michele Lamaro (Italy), 7 Josh van der Flier (Ireland), 8 Gregory Alldritt (France).