Six talking points from final round of Six Nations

France clinched the Six Nations title after an astonishing win over England in a Paris thriller, after Ireland ended Scotland’s hopes with victory in Dublin.

And Wales ended their miserable three-year losing run in the championship by beating Italy in Cardiff.

England’s last-gasp defeat by France will have their fans discussing certain moments for years to come, but their indiscipline throughout the Six Nations came to the fore once again – particularly at the end of both halves in Paris.

Leading 27-17 with half-time looming, Ellis Genge was sin-binned after referee Nika Amashukeli ruled the prop had dragged down a maul, soon after two quick penalties had handed momentum back to France.

“After those three penalties in less than two minutes, England then conceded 21 points including that penalty try,” former Wales and Lions captain Sam Warburton said on BBC Rugby Special.

“Then with 14 men they conceded another 14 points, so that is 21 points in that period. It was a really crucial two minutes that they got wrong.”

Then in the dying moments of normal time with England 46-45 ahead, the referee gave France the option of a penalty kick from either of two positions, following infringements by Trevor Davison and Maro Itoje.

Thomas Ramos made no mistake to secure the title for France. Speaking on Rugby Special, former Scotland captain John Barclay said that short spell will be one England will regret.

“In the final two minutes after Tommy Freeman scored, France had a player in the sin-bin. When England look at how they managed this period, they had the game in their hands and threw it away.

“It was a really disappointing end for England. It will be a really tough debriefing on how they manage those crucial moments in the final bit of the game.

While England fans will be scratching their heads over a sub-par championship, France’s followers can celebrate an eighth Six Nations title win that came courtesy of some breathtaking play.

Former England fly-half Paul Grayson told the Rugby Union Weekly podcast, “France have been on an amazing odyssey, the Top 14 is magnificent and France loves its team so all credit to them.”

Key to the title was Louis Bielle-Biarrey’s incredible form, which saw the winger grab another nine tries to make it 18 tries from 14 appearances in the Six Nations.

“It’s a cheat code that France have got, they kick into space and Bielle-Biarrey is there,” Warburton told Rugby Special.

Ireland secured a fourth Triple Crown in five years with a pulsating 43-21 win over Scotland at a raucous Aviva Stadium.

There had been a feeling in some quarters that Ireland were not quite the force of yore, and an opening day defeat in Paris did not bode well.

But a second-place finish and four consecutive wins point to a bright future, as former Ireland and Lions winger Tommy Bowe told the Rugby Union Weekly podcast.

“Going into this campaign they were without Mack Hansen, James Lowe, Hugo Keenan, all tried and tested players who had been starting for Ireland in the back three for so long,” Bowe said.

“But all of a sudden, Jamie Osborne comes in, Robert Baloucoune has been absolutely sensational, and there was Tommy O’Brien.

“Stuart McCloskey has been there or thereabouts for so long, but to think that Bundee Aki has been lucky to make the bench against Scotland because McCloskey has been playing out of his skin means that there are so many positives for Andy Farrell.

“There are questions in the scrum, and they maybe are not the vintage side of a few years ago, but they are a year and a half out from a World Cup.

Scotland’s campaign was bookended by losses to Italy and Ireland, but superb wins over Wales, England and France gave Gregor Townsend’s side hope of a first title since the final Five Nations in 1999.

The 50-40 victory over eventual champions France will live long in the memory, and former Scotland captain Andy Nicol says it was a positive campaign although the side were running on empty by the end of the defeat in Dublin.

“When you think how low it was in Rome, the reaction has been really good,” Nicol said on the Rugby Union Weekly podcast.

“This is a disappointing end, but there are still positives in the performances. We need to develop more depth, Ireland had an extra day to prepare and Scotland looked out on their feet at the end.

Wales brought their three-year losing streak in the Six Nations to an end in their final match with an impressive 31-17 victory over Italy.

The hosts raced into a 21-0 lead at the break in Cardiff, before Italy – seeking their third win of an excellent campaign – ran in three second-half tries.

Wales’ chastening opening defeat by England was followed by three more losses, but with markedly improved performances and now with the win over Italy, there is hope Steve Tandy’s side have turned a corner.

“There were questions about whether Wales’ physicality was up to it and maybe those fears were asked after England in round one, but they have been answered very well,” Warburton said on Rugby Special.

The 2026 Six Nations delivered attacking rugby in spades, with 111 tries the most scored in the championship since Italy were admitted.

France ran in 30 of them, just as they did in 2025, so with defence coaches wondering how to set their teams up, pundits were left to wonder at how the game has evolved.

England World Cup winner Matt Dawson told the Rugby Union Weekly podcast: “France deserved to be champions. They played some breathtaking rugby and continue to set the standard with Scotland on how international rugby will be played. It feels like the ‘you score 30 or 40 points, and we’ll score 50’ might be a theme going forward.

“It wasn’t terrible defences from either side [in Paris], it was awesome attack – and that is telling. All the teams realise that if you do not perform like that then the opposition do, then you are going to lose by 20 or 30.”

Grayson was pleased matches were not just end-to-end attacking play but featured “massive collisions” and other traditional rugby elements.

“A maul turned the game, with Genge having to infringe and getting [sin-] binned at half-time. The scrum was a contest and the line-out was a contest,” Grayson said.

“A game that produced that many points also had everything that rugby is about – Ollie Chessum’s try was a barnstorming run from the halfway line – it had the lot.