Will Ireland achieve first Six Nations three-peat?

Ireland enters this year’s championship hoping to make history after only losing one of its six nations games.

The back-to-back champions were eliminated from their previous Grand Slams in 2024 when they were defeated by England at Twickenham, but they are now eligible for a second opportunity this year.

No team has ever won three straight titles, including the shared crowns that were present in the then-Five Nations until 1988, but Ireland have been widely regarded as the favorites to win them once more in Dublin with what they thought would be their two toughest games of the year.

With prop Jack Boyle and Jack Aungier, the latter following Tadhg Furlong’s injury-forced withdrawal, the only new faces among a 36-man squad that boasts an average of just over 40 caps per player, continuity remains key for Ireland.

The side’s brains trust resisted the urge to make radical changes to their panel and received a second Six Nations title after another disappointing quarter-final exit in 2023.

In a group with experience, Test centurions Peter O’Mahony, Cian Healy, and Conor Murray can be relied upon once more.

However, there will be a significant change in the British and Irish Lions’ preparation for their summer Test series with Australia, with head coach Andy Farrell being sent back.

In his absence, defence coach Simon Easterby takes up the reins.

The 49-year-old former flanker has been a member of the Irish Rugby Football Union since 2014, and he has already attracted the support of players and performance director David Humphreys.

Speaking of the Lions, no fewer than eight of Ireland’s playing squad, plus coaches Easterby and Paul O’Connell, know the feeling of pulling on the famous red jersey.

There are a number of key players who are hoping to get their first call-up to the invitational side because the tourists’ last trip comes after a season when Ireland finished third in the Six Nations and were still finding their feet under Andy Farrell.

Josh van der Flier, for example, may be a former World Rugby player of the year, but at 31 years old has never represented the Lions.

A final chance for him to do so in his prime will likely be the three-test series against the Wallabies.

While slightly younger, Garry Ringrose, 30, Hugo Keenan and James Ryan, both 28, will be in the same boat.

Caelan Doris has been touted as a potential first-time visitor to the Lions as well as the native Australian wing Mack Hansen, who both have become key Test players since the previous tour.

How about a Lions bolter from one of Ireland’s fly-halves? It seems likely that Finn Russell, Scotland’s only experienced Test 10 player, will start in the home nations’ starting lineup.

The only question is – which one?

After Johnny Sexton held the sway of the jersey for more than ten years, Jack Crowley of Munster won the first game and won the 2024 Six Nations.

The 25-year-old played his part in Ireland’s drawn series in South Africa last summer too, even if it was Ciaran Frawley who sealed the side’s victory in Durban.

Fans who were denied a straight-height match over Christmas when Crowley was rested for Leinster’s home defeat have hardly stopped debating the pair’s respective merits.

Their star tight-head’s struggles with a calf injury after he missed the entire autumn slate through injury should again see Finlay Bealham in the number three jersey, but third-choice in the position, Tom O’Toole, is also banned for the opening two fixtures.

Hugo Keenan, James Lowe, and Dan Sheehan, a Leinster trio, have all returned from injury in recent games, the latter of which was played just six months after a torn ACL, but have not had many games to play.

There isn’t much time left to work your way up to Test match speed during an England first-up visit, and Easterby anticipates a general increase in accuracy.

Ireland made a ton of handling errors in their November defeat to New Zealand (21), but they still managed to win their final game versus Australia despite posting a 28th-high total. The victories over Argentina and Fiji did not, either, provide the least cohesion.

The problems with their line-out date back to the 2023 World Cup, and slipping discipline was a hot topic last year. Ireland had been the first team to become the top-ranked nation in the world after placing on the right side of the referee, but they were shown 11 cards through 2024.