Alastair Telfer

BBC Sport journalist

France overpowered Scotland to lift this year’s Six Nations, with England hammering Wales in Cardiff to finish second and Ireland overcoming Italy in Rome on an entertaining Super Saturday.

Here’s our round-up of the big talking points from the final round of fixtures in the 2025 championship.

Heading into the final round, England knew they almost certainly needed a big bonus-point win in Cardiff to have a shot at a first title since 2020.

Narrow victories over France and Scotland came through a more conservative gameplan, before Borthwick delivered on his promise that his side would play more aggressively in attack during the seven-try win over Italy.

England were even more ruthless in their final game in Cardiff, as they scored 10 tries to hammer Wales at the Principality Stadium

Picking three ‘fetchers’ in the back row helped lay the platform for England’s dominance, with both Curry brothers and Ben Earl bossing the breakdown.

“I think England have got the best back row in the championship,” former Scotland captain John Barclay told BBC’s Six Nations Rugby Special.

“Both Curry brothers and Earl were world class. It is not just the breakdown, but there is a physical raw edge to everything they are doing.

“It all makes your job so much easier, their back row were unbelievable.”

In this year’s Six Nations, England lead the way for turnovers won (36), slowing down their opponents’ ruck speed, and jackals won (21).

The depth in the back row is only growing after 20-year-old Northampton Saints flanker Henry Pollock scored two tries on his debut, 21-year-old Chandler Cunningham-South also dotted down twice against Wales, while number eight Tom Willis, 26, impressed on his three starts.

Wales’ match in Italy in round two was their best shot of a victory this campaign but defeat ended Warren Gatland’s troubled reign and left interim head coach Matt Sherratt with a tough task to restore pride in his three games in charge.

Hope that they could end their dreadful run of defeats before the end of the championship grew after a much-improved performance against Ireland.

However, the campaign finished with Wales falling to a new low by conceding 68 points against England – the most in their Six Nations history.

A 17th Test defeat on the bounce was also a record for a tier-one nation in the professional era and condemned Wales to a second successive Wooden Spoon.

Former Wales captain Sam Warburton believes now is the time for “big changes” and suggests cutting one of the Welsh regions in the United Rugby Championship.

“No action is the worst action now,” he told Six Nations Rugby Special.

“Four regions do not work. Look at the impact – by accident – of losing three teams in the [English] Premiership. We need to concentrate our player pool into three teams.

“You can’t make a decision that pleases everyone but you have to try and make the best decision that genuinely has the best impact on Welsh rugby.

“I can’t see us winning another championship for five years, but if there is a five-year plan to buy into and get on board with then we will be on the right path.”

Ireland began this year’s Six Nations aiming for a record third successive title, and with games against England and France at home that goal seemed more than realistic.

Victory in their final match against Italy meant Simon Easterby’s side ended the campaign in third place with four wins out of five – the same as England and France – but the feeling in Rome differed from their rivals.

A crushing defeat in Dublin against champions France ended their Grand Slam bid, and even with a possible title on the line, Ireland’s championship petered out, with Italy pushing for a shock victory in the closing stages.

The campaign marked the end of the road for a trio of Test centurions as Peter O’Mahony, Cian Healy and Conor Murray all bowed out of the international arena.

Eight of Ireland’s starting XV against France were also aged 30 or older, and Warburton feels there is going to be a “good changing of the guard” over the next three to four years in Irish rugby.

“When they start to lose those players [in their mid-30s], you start to think there is maybe not as much coming through as they would have had five to 10 years ago,” he said.

“It is a bit alarming so they might want to hang on to those older players until some more players start to come through.”

Interim head coach Easterby will continue the transition this summer before Andy Farrell returns after British and Irish Lions duty this summer.

France have been the great entertainers this championship, scoring a record 30 tries in five games to win their first title since 2022.

It was not all plain sailing in the first half against Scotland as a disallowed try prevented the visitors from leading at half-time.

However, a dominant second-half display saw France score three tries to get the win they needed, with wing Louis Bielle-Biarrey racing clear for a record eighth score of the championship.

“He is probably going to get player of the tournament,” Warburton said. “A real superstar, another one France have to lean on.”

Fabien Galthie again opted for a 7-1 bench split, which has proved a point of difference, as his side scored 1.2 more tries per game in the final 40 minutes.

They also gained more metres and line breaks on average in the second half of games.

“Their tries against Scotland were all caused from their power and physicality,” Warburton added.

“When France got into the Scotland 22, Scotland found it difficult to contain them. I have it as 23 points scored from maul and carry dominance which led on to tries.

“In international rugby, if you win the power game, you win the game.”

Scotland finished fourth for the second year running – and have now finished outside the top three six times since Gregor Townsend took charge in 2018.

Full-back Blair Kinghorn topped this year’s championship stats for carries (86), line breaks (9) and offloads (13), while he was second for defenders beaten (25) – only behind team-mate Duhan van der Merwe (28).

Given the majority of Scotland’s backline are in contention to be heading on the Lions tour this summer, more was expected than just wins over Italy and Wales.

Dubbed as one of the most talented Scottish sides in the modern era, Barclay believes they lack punch in the forwards to support their talented backs, evident through France’s seven destructive replacement forwards.

“The sense of frustration is why this group of players are not kicking on,” Barclay said.

“I think there are generational backs in that team and the Lions selection will reflect that.

“They lack a little bit of grunt up front that France or England have. They are also lacking that ruthless edge.

“Whether it is lapses of concentration or lack of accuracy, it is holding them back.”

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