Six Nations 2025: England, Ireland, Dupont and more talking points from opening games

The opening round of the 2025 Six Nations Championship was filled with excitement. Defending champions Ireland defeated England, France's Antoine Dupont made a strong return against Wales, and a hat-trick from Huw Jones helped Scotland overcome Italy in their first match.

England suffered another narrow defeat, continuing a pattern from 2024 where they lost several matches after leading in the second half, which repeated itself against Ireland. Despite leading 10-5 at halftime in Dublin, the hosts scored 22 points in the second half to win 27-22. Former Scotland back John Barclay, on the BBC's Six Nations Rugby Special, said England "certainly had positives," showing marked improvement in defense and competing well for possession, but "the same story played out again," with a drop-off in the last 20-30 minutes, failing to cope with sustained pressure from their opponents.

On the BBC's Rugby Union Weekly podcast, former Ireland winger Tommy Bowe questioned England's ability to maintain a high tempo for the full 80 minutes, while a lack of impact from the bench and player decision-making also came under scrutiny. 2003 World Cup winner Matt Dawson, in his BBC Sport column, suggested that England's game plan "might be asking too much," but their first-half performance was enough to "stay positive." Former Wales captain Sam Warburton believes England doesn't need a complete overhaul, but rather a fine-tuning of details, correcting individual technical errors and addressing some player discipline issues.

Ireland are aiming to win the men's title for the first time in three consecutive years since Italy joined the expanded Six Nations Championship in 2000. Under interim head coach Simon Easterby, their strong second-half performance secured a winning start to their campaign. "If I was Ireland, I’d probably be enjoying people saying we might be past our peak," said Barclay, "The fact is, it was 27-10 at one point, England just scored a couple of late tries. Ireland weren't at their best, but they still won convincingly, and that's the reality. They’ve got so many good players coming back, so be careful about writing Ireland off now.”

Scotland, without injured captain Sione Tuipulotu, saw center Jones score three tries in their 31-19 victory over Italy at Murrayfield. Barclay praised co-captain Rory Darge’s “world-class” performance in the back row, while wingers Duhan van der Merwe and Darcy Graham played key roles in Jones’s first two scores. Warburton said, "In a top team, you need players who can create magic, and Scotland have that spark." Graham’s break in the second half, beating multiple defenders to assist Jones’s score, was a highlight of the match. Barclay added, "You want your wingers to be getting double-digit touches, and in the absence of Tuipulotu, they have to get their hands on the ball as much as possible.”

Dupont, who chose to focus on representing France in the Paris Olympics Sevens Rugby in the 2024 Six Nations, helping the hosts win gold, showed his magic at the Stade de France in a 43-0 win over Wales. His precise chip kick assisted Theo Attissogbe’s opening try, and he later broke through the Welsh defense to set up the winger’s second score. Barclay said, “His rugby IQ is on another level. When was the last time we saw a player at 28, still playing, and saying ‘this is the best we’ve ever seen’?” Warburton added, “The rules have changed to protect the number nines and allow them to be more involved in the game, which will make him even stronger. We keep asking if he is the greatest. There is no doubt, in this generation, it's not even a question. He is the best player of this generation by far. And definitely one of the greatest of all time, if not the best.”

Wales’ loss in Paris was their 13th consecutive test defeat, and the first time they have failed to score in a Six Nations match since the tournament expanded in 2000. Their focus now turns to Saturday’s match against Italy in Rome, which could be crucial as they look to avoid finishing bottom for the second year in a row. Former Wales fly-half Dan Biggar, in his ITV commentary of the France game, stated that the Italy match is "the most important game for Welsh rugby in 15-20 years." Warburton believes, “I don't think it's their most important game, they've been in Grand Slams and semi-finals. I think what Dan means is, the ramifications of this game are potentially the worst it’s been in the last 15 years. If they lose this game, they’ve got Ireland, Scotland, and England to come, and it's hard to see where they are going to win from, and that's why there is so much pressure on this game. If they lose to Italy, that's 14 losses in a row, and potentially 17 losses on the bounce, which is unheard of in Welsh rugby.”