Ireland were crowned Guinness Six Nations Champions on Saturday in front of an Aviva crowd that was at its liveliest for this year’s renewal.
Defending the title is difficult with Ireland having only achieved the feat once (2014/15) since the tournament expanded to include Italy in 2000, and no country defending it more than once (England 2000/2001, 2016/17. France in 2007 and Wales in 2013 are the only other two defences.
Back in the day the tournament was only decided on games won leading to a number where the Championship was shared but since an outright winner has been declared (1989 was the first) no team has won it three times in a row.
That will be the target now for Ireland but things are perhaps a little tighter than they looked this year.
In 2015 when the tournament had three teams capable of winning it on the final day and a dramatic final round of games, five of the fifteen matches were decided by five points or less. In 2024 that number rose to 10.
The focus for the organisers is now switched to the Women’s tournament getting underway this weekend but the beauty of sport is that it keeps on coming around and the fixtures and times have already been confirmed for the 2025 men’s tournament.
Much as this year’s scene was set on the opening weekend, Ireland will get the tournament underway next year with the opening round featuring the visit of England to the Aviva Stadium on Saturday 1st February for a 16:45 start.
Then Ireland are on the road to Scotland on Sunday 9th February at 15:00, and to Wales on Saturday 22nd at 14:15.
France visit the Aviva on Saturday 8th March at 14:15 and the final round is a trip to Rome against Italy on Saturday 15th March, again at 14:15.
There is of course a lot of sport to be played in the meantime but with history beckoning digital diaries will be filling up already with those dates.
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