Men’s Six Nations Round 5 Recap
- therookiereporters
- 4 days ago
- 5 min read
Our final round of the tournament was nothing short of spectacular rugby from all nations. Here’s what you missed in our last 3 matches.
Ireland v Scotland
The match kicked off fiercely, and just 2 minutes in, Jamie Osborne made an impressive mark to score the first try of the game, putting Ireland on the front foot briefly, but Scotland charged right back at them. After 19 phases with persistent courage, it was Graham who took 5 points 4 minutes later. If we’ve learnt anything about the two sides is that they won’t be defeated when disadvantaged on the scoreboard, as Ireland’s Dan Sheehan was the next to take a try following the resilience and powerful maul from an Irish lineout. Just under 20 minutes i,n Robert Balocoune was thrown the ball over into enormous space, allowing him to storm down the wing to run to the try line, leaving the halftime score 19-7.
Our second half saw a Scottish flurry as Finn Russell slipped through the Irish defence to score after 12 phases, doubling their points to 14. However, 4 minutes later, Ireland responded with a try by Doris after a gruelling 16 phases. At 60 minutes on the clock, Darge scored a try for himself and Scotland after Steyn made a huge break to push Ireland back quite suddenly. Just as you’d think the score was settled, Tommy O’Brien gave a firm no with two tries. The first came from a pass by Frawle,y and the second came from a messy play that saw a Scottish knock on, letting him scoop up the ball and carry it all the way under the posts from down the wing. The final score was 43-21 to Ireland, which saw them become the 2026 Triple Crown Winners!
Wales v Italy
Many came into this game not expecting much from Wales, with them having a run of losses, yet everyone was pleasantly surprised when Wainwright scored the opening try 15 minutes in, giving them a 7-point lead over Italy. Wainwright decided one try wasn’t satisfactory and 10 minutes later took another 5 points after a lineout. Wales were on a scoring streak with the next try being at 28 minutes by the captain - Dewi Lake - following a lineout turned maul.
By halftime, a hunger had grown in Wales for more points after such a deficit in the tournament, with Dan Edwards scoring a try, conversion and drop kick in the space of 5 minutes to take his country 31 points up. Just as we were questioning Italy’s strength to respond, Tommaso Di Bartolomeo got their first try from a rolling maul. The Welsh side had begun to fatigue, which was evident in their mistakes (one that saw a yellow for Griffin), with Allan taking 5 points for Italy at 68 minutes, making it 31-12. Luckily for Wales but disappointingly for Italy, TMO would go on to disband two tries; however, Garbisi managed to sneak another try in the final passage of play as the clock was red, making it 31-17 to Wales.
England v France
English fans had the same expectations as the Welsh for a significant loss, but the Red Roses were ready and raring to battle Les Blues, with Atkinson piling on the pressure to nearly score at the first play if it weren’t for a knock on. France were never going to let England take control as Bielle-Biarrey scored his tenth try in 10 Six Nations Matches (the first player to score in every Six Nations match across 2 years) to make it 7-0. Roebuck made an impressive response 2 minutes later to take the 100th try of this year’s tournament. Bielle-Biarrey took his second try before Murley scored his first, following a kick by Spencer that Fin Smith just narrowly missed. Jalibert - a player who has had a very deserved spotlight on him this year - kicked the ball into English territory after 10 phases and contested with Murley to get an on-field try, but the TMO disputed this as footage showed Murley preventing the ball from being grounded. As a result of this incident, France still managed to take 3 points with a penalty kick by Ramos. At 26 minutes, the score became 17 all with Chessum scoring a try from a lineout into a maul. The next to score was Coles, and Fin Smith still managed the conversion even after the ball strangely rolled off the tee with a drop kick. He then took a penalty with the ball staying on the tee that time to give England a 10-point lead. However, celebration of the advantage was cut short with a yellow card awarded to Ellis Genge for tackling in a maul, making it the 8th in the tournament for England, and cheaply giving France a penalty try into halftime.
Bielle-Biarrey made it a hat-trick of tries, and Attissogbe took his first try after 8 phases, as France capitalised on England being a man down. Chessum made a perfectly timed break after reading Jalibert’s pass to intercept the ball and run it all the way to the try line at 50 minutes, making the scoreboard 38-312. Our next try scorer was Marcus Smith, who made his 50th during the match and then got the conversion. Bielle-Biarrey wasn’t satisfied with his three tries, so he took a fourth at 65 minutes, making him the first Frenchman to score 4 tries since WW2. Just as France looked to be clawing it back, they received a yellow card warning for collapsing a maul and then at 71 minutes, Bamba was shown the yellow for an early drive in the maul. England’s Tommy Freeman then flew past the French defence with less than 5 minutes remaining and France a man down to make it 45-46 to England - the highest score against France in France to date. With all fans on the edge of their seats, England hoping for a win, France hoping for the title, along with Ireland hoping to take that title away from them, in the final moments of the match, England gave away a penalty which Ramos scored, resulting in a 2-point win (48-46). This win was enough to get them back-to-back Men’s Six Nations Championships.
Overall, we had a fantastic tournament filled with so many breath-taking moments and many memories made with history being created. The Six Nations is a fan favourite tournament for rugby fans as it’s no shock why; many may be saddened by the closure of the event, however should look forward to the Women’s Six Nations that will begin on the 11th of April.
Article written by Alice Seager ©️Alice Seager 2026
