France
The grand slam was everything I expected and predicted. From No 1 to No 15 they are so well drilled, disciplined and full of power in attack and defence that it was no surprise that they triumphed. They have truly world-class players in the key positions, such as Julien Marchand at hooker, Cameron Woki and Paul Willemse at lock, Grégory Alldritt at No 8, Antoine Dupont at scrum-half, Romain Ntamack at fly half and Jonathan Danty and Gaël Fickou at centre.
I really thought those two in midfield were amazing in this tournament, both in attack and defence. They are both big, physical men with lovely hands and I genuinely think their partnership can grow to become one of the iconic pairings in the game’s history, like, say, Ma’a Nonu and Conrad Smith for New Zealand, or Mike Tindall and Will Greenwood for England. You look at the other centre partnerships in this tournament and there has been a lot of chopping and changing in personnel, but France have this rock-solid pairing now and that is often underrated when people are looking at the make-up of a side.
In fact I could just run through the whole French team in talking about world-class players — what a talent Damian Penaud is on the wing too. There is simply no weakness anywhere.
They are no longer the nearly men. They have proved to themselves what they can do and I think they are the best team in the world now, so it is up to everyone else to chase them.
Ireland
I think Ireland will be really pleased with their campaign. The only game they lost was away to France in Paris, which is hardly a disgrace. Next year, in a World Cup year, they will have them at home and will fancy their chances of picking off the champions.
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They were so slick generally on both sides of the ball. They conceded only four tries in the whole tournament (France conceded seven), and that is because they are led by Andy Farrell, who is one of the great defence coaches. It has been easy to overlook that aspect of their game because their attack has been so good — and it is very good, to be fair, probably the best in the tournament, and now touching the levels of New Zealand. They are so clinical in the opposition 22 and that is what separates them from so many other teams.
I think they can be genuine World Cup contenders, but their one flaw for me is that they have everything France have, except a little bit of power. They still have more power than most of the other home nations but in comparison with France they are a little bit off those levels.
The wing Mack Hansen has been their find of the campaign and the flanker Josh van der Flier was their best player. He has really evolved and has become a hugely influential figure.
England
By their standards it has obviously been a poor campaign. I don’t buy the idea that they have been rebuilding, though, because there has been a lot of experience in that squad. So I was surprised by the RFU statement about rebuilding and the “solid progress” made.
If that is true, then there is a severe lack of ambition in the English game. Never has winning only two games in a Six Nations tournament been seen as progression. England must have much loftier goals than that.
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But I think it is right to keep Eddie Jones, the head coach. I wouldn’t be throwing him under the bus now. I know that there are a lot of people calling for his head, but you have to remember that he has won three Six Nations titles and taken England to a World Cup final. He has got some massive performances out of his squad and it would be very football-esque to throw him out now. He has done too much. Keep him — but the RFU should be more honest in its assessments.
The positives in this campaign for me were Ellis Genge at prop and Freddie Steward at full back or wing, but they missed Tom Curry and Sam Underhill playing together in the back row. They desperately need those two back together and on form. As a combination I think they are brilliant.
I also think that England missed Owen Farrell’s leadership and competitive nature. Add in Jonny May and Anthony Watson, and England have been missing some key individuals.
Wales
Saturday’s defeat against Italy was a dark day, probably the darkest since losing to Italy in Rome in 2007. There have been some bad days in between, of course, but I just think that losing that match at home was inexcusable — and I mean that with the least disrespect to Italy, who produced one of the great Six Nations moments with the try to get the win, but who have been blown away in their other four matches this season.
I am just baffled as to how that result happened for Wales. Rugby is a great sport because there is always a chance of an upset, but there never should have been a chance on Saturday. And Wales cannot blame the try from Wyn Jones that never was because they still should have put the game to bed easily.
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The buck has to stop with the players — I’ve been there and had to take the brunt of this too — but this defeat does highlight the wider problems in the Welsh game. Everything is just so disjointed. There is little relationship between the regions and the WRU. This has been creaking for some time. It was creaking even in 2019 when a grand slam was won, with talk of mergers and wage cuts. Behind closed doors no one is on the same page.
Something has to change now and it goes much deeper than just the national team and the coaching set-up. Wales have got enough athletes to compete at the top level, and they have got a coaching team worthy of working at that level — even if there will be big question marks over whether Wayne Pivac is the right man and the WRU needs to figure that out quickly with 18 months from a World Cup — but the success of the national side in the past ten to fifteen years has been masking underlying problems that are now manifesting themselves quite startlingly.
Scotland
Same old, really. We know that they can peak emotionally for a phenomenal performance — we have seen that on a number of occasions — but what they cannot do is back it up weekend after weekend. Until they can do that, they will not be challengers for the title.
I do wonder whether they rely on Finn Russell too much, rather like England rely on Manu Tuilagi being fit. Russell was superb when Scotland beat England, but when he was not quite at his best against Wales the game was lost. It is dangerous when a team is so reliant on the form of one player.
The harsh reality is that they, like England and Wales too, will have woken up on Sunday morning and realised that they are some considerable distance off France and Ireland. That distance can be made up over time, but right now they are well off the pace.
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The flanker Rory Darge has been a great find, and the wing Darcy Graham has been excellent, as has the No 8 Matt Fagerson.
Italy
The victory over Wales, as emotional and as pleasing as it was for them, cannot disguise another campaign where they have struggled to compete.
I think people have misunderstood my stance on Italy and possible relegation from the Six Nations. I want Italy to do well. Every weekend in the Six Nations I was willing them to perform better, and I am not trying to scapegoat them by suggesting a relegation play-off with the next best side in Europe. I am trying to grow and develop European rugby in general.
I actually think that if Italy had to play off against Georgia, they would win, but it would be great entertainment and great for the game. I am saying this as a Welshman, whose team could have been playing a seriously high-pressure game against Italy on Saturday had it not been for a few extra bonus points collected before then.
There are some good signs in Italy, with Benetton Treviso now a much more consistently competitive side, and the national under-20s beating Wales at the weekend, having previously beaten England and Scotland, and while the win over Wales is a huge step forward, my main wish now is that they can back it up with further victories.
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