2025 Six Nations Recap: Ireland’s Bid Falls Short

Ireland entered the 2025 Six Nations looking to make history by becoming the first side to win the Championship three years in a row. Instead, what happened was an Irish team that produced performances that to be fair got progressively worse with every passing game. Without Andy Farrell at the helm, Ireland really flattered to deceive under interim coach Simon Easterby and have ended the Six Nations with a whole lot more questions to answer.

Now, completely writing off this Irish team, as many have done after the Six Nations ended on Saturday night is wildly premature. In a Lions year however, it was possibly the worst time for the Irish team to produce their worst collective displays in years. These performances have started to lead to doubts about certain players Lions tour prospects, as well as whether the Irish team should make up a large swell of the squad, doubts that would have been unheard of six months ago.

The Six Nations Performances

The funny thing is the 2025 Six Nations Championship started off so well for Ireland and their interim Head Coach Simon Easterby. They welcomed England to Dublin on the opening day and emerged with a 27-22 win. The final score certainly flattered England, who, after a bright start were outclassed by Ireland for much of the game. Ireland held a comfortable 17-point lead heading into the closing stages before a couple of late tries put a bit of respectability on the scoreboard for England. The 35-minute stretch when Ireland scored 22 unanswered points was particularly impressive, as they secured a bonus point win to kick off their three-peat bid.

Next up for the two-time defending champions was a trip to Scotland. Ireland were on a ten game winning run against Gregor Townsend’s Scotland side, who despite all their trash talking over recent years have never delivered when it matters against Ireland. The 2025 edition of Scotland vs Ireland proved no different, as Scotland once again did not back up their pre-match notions of being capable of beating Ireland. Ireland put in a ruthless and dominant display of rugby over Scotland to earn another bonus point victory and bring their winning run against their rivals to eleven matches.

Ireland’s Decline Begins

Unfortunately for Ireland and their fans the sharp decline in performances began in Round Three when they faced Wales. Wales had lost their coach Warren Gatland between Rounds two and three, with Matt Sherratt stepping in as interim for the rest of the competition. Wales also entered the game against Ireland on the back of a 14-game losing run, so confidence was high amongst fans that another bonus point win was forthcoming in Cardiff.

What happened was a lucky escape for the Irish side as they left Cardiff with a narrow 18-27 win. A mediocre performance that was marred by a red card Leinster centre Garry Ringrose saw Wales lead by eight points at one stage of the second half before Ireland managed to come through and earn the slender win. That deficient performance left few of an Irish persuasion confident ahead of the visit of France, in what was now ultimately a Grand Slam decider for Simon Easterby’s team.

Ireland entered the Round 4 clash with France unbeaten in their last two against Les Bleus, looking to all but secure their third Championship in a row as well as another Grand Slam, but what unfolded was a nightmare. Ireland actually led 13-8 in the opening minutes of the second half, before being ripped apart by a rampant and ravenous French team, who had to play much of the match without their talisman Antoine Dupont, after his early exit through injury. Ireland had started well and were dominant for the first quarter, but they did not convert that dominance into scores and appeared to wilt after their early failings. France’s confidence grew after that tricky opening and took over for much of the game after that, running in five tries to win 27-42.

That loss and the manner of it meant, not only were their Grand Slam hopes in tatters, but their chances of securing that historic Three-Peat were now slim at best. Ireland begun the last day of games in third place behind champions-elect, France and England, and would need both those sides to lose to have any chance of winning. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen with France securing the title in Paris against Scotland and England hammering Wales in Cardiff. Ireland for their part, put in another below par showing to luckily earn a 17-22 win in Rome against Italy. That win meant they finished in third place behind the French and English.

To conclude, new blood is certainly needed to freshen up this squad as they move forward while perhaps completely trying to alter how Ireland played was a mistake given their relative dominance over Northern Hemisphere rugby in recent seasons. The team’s slide in the last three games has certainly brought questions about what Andy Farrell does when he announces his Lions squad on the 8th of May. Ireland should still have a large contingent heading to Australia this summer, but for the team, after failing to make history during the Six Nations, who knows when that chance might come around again.

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