With the Six Nations JUST around the corner, we start 2025 with a look at England and France and what lies in store for them this year.
2024 was a challenging year for England. They put in some good performances make no mistake, but the vast majority of them weren’t convincing and displayed a singular inability to close out big games. England’s 2024 was very much a story of could have/should have/but ultimately didn’t. Of the 12 games they played, they only managed five wins. Their performance last year can be best summed up as downright frustrating for their supporters.
Of their five wins, only two of them were dominant – their away and home games with Japan. While their win over Ireland in the Six Nations was a big scalp, it was only by one point and hung in the balance for the vast majority of the match. Of their three games against New Zealand in their summer tour, two of them could have seen England emerge victorious as England had the lead until the final quarter. In the game against Australia in the Autumn, England had the game won by the 79th minute, only to then lose it in the final 30 seconds. If England can’t fix their seeming inability to close out big games, then 2025 could be an even more painful and frustrating year for them, with the axe likely to fall for Coach Steve Borthwick.
For France, it was a much better year by comparison. A strong second place finish in the Six Nations, followed by a tour of mixed but in general solid fortunes in South America and a clean sweep of their Autumn Nations campaign with a narrow one point win over New Zealand in arguably one of the best games of 2024.
Club Rugby in France is in exceptionally rude health with the TOP 14 seen by many as the world’s finest club competition. Despite French clubs’ budget for a seemingly inexhaustible supply of international talent, it’s French players who consistently make the headlines, week in week out in the competition, providing France with the kind of depth that is the envy of her Northern Hemisphere rivals. France’s U20s team continually produces results with France consistently finishing in the top 2 in the Under 20s World Championship since 2018.
This year sees a challenging program with tough trips to England, Italy, and Ireland in the Six Nations not helped by a troubling injury list. That’s followed by a three Test tour to New Zealand, which has already been under a negative spotlight as France announced that the vast majority of their A-List players will not be making the trip. Nevertheless, watch any TOP 14 or European Champions Cup game featuring a French side, and we have a hunch that New Zealand might need to be careful of what they wish for and could even end up having to eat humble pie this summer.
England need to find that final quarter fix and develop some consistency in both execution and selection
2024 was a frustrating year for England, whichever way you cut it. So close yet so far, ultimately from being the team they need to be. They struggled to assert themselves against Italy and Wales despite narrow wins in both games in the opening two games of last year’s Six Nations and managed to fluff their lines for the fourth year in a row against Scotland and with it the Calcutta Cup. A third place finish in the Six Nations saw them put in a strong performance against Ireland to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat in the dying seconds. Their campaign ended on a low note as they were handed an agonisignly close loss in Paris against France as once again they failed to close out a high stakes game and lost the plot with 1 minute left on the clock.
The Six Nations was followed by a trip to Japan where they thumped their former Coach Eddie Jones’ charges 52-17 and a two Test series in New Zealand where in both matches they fell agonisingly short of upending their hosts. New Zealand came to Twickenham in the fall, and once again, England simply couldn’t close out the game – a theme that was to be repeated against Australia and South Africa over the next two weeks. Their only solace being another thrashing of Eddie Jones Japanese charges at the end of the Autumn Nations.
Don’t get us wrong, England are a good team and are blessed with some truly world-class players. Steve Borthwick seems a decent Coach committed to results. However, this ongoing inability to close out big games is concerning given the talent at his disposal. If anything, England seem plagued by the All Blacks’ recent struggles with the final 20 minutes of Test Rugby. New Zealand would appear to have sorted that out, but England still look off the mark. A conservative play style and perhaps not the best decision making when it comes to choosing their starting 15, seems to be hindering England, in conjunction with the fact that they are clearly struggling with how to integrate the world class electric talent of fly half Marcus Smith into a cohesive game plan. In our humble opinion, until England can crack that nut, their struggles will continue. Smith has a remarkable ability to spot opportunities, but the rest of his team seem to be several pages behind on the team playbook sheet, leaving him exposed and without the necessary support. If England can fix that and ally the rest of their considerable talent to Smith’s sense of vision as games unfold, they could be unstoppable.
So, what are England’s prospects this year? You’d have to argue it gets off to an uneasy start with a tough Six Nations opener featuring a trip to Dublin to face back to back champions, Ireland. That’s followed by hosting a red hot France and then a Scottish side, which appears to be a permanent thorn in England’s side. As a result despite the tough trip to Ireland immediately followed by a visit from tournament favourites France, England’s draw improves as the tournament progresses with a run of three back to back home games at Twickenham, and then a final trip on Super Saturday to Wales to take on a Welsh side likely licking plenty of wounds at that stage and with one hand already clutching the Wooden Spoon.
After the Six Nations, it’s most likely Lions duty in Australia for the likes of key players like new England Captain and talismanic second rower Maro Itoje, dynamic back rower Chandler Cunnigham-South and fly half wizard Marcus Smith among others. For those not going to Australia with the Lions, there is a challenging summer Two Test series in Argentina. As yet, we are unsure of England’s Autumn Nations campaign, but if England have a positive Six Nations, then the stay of execution for under pressure Coach Steve Borthwick should be assured.
As for the Six Nations, which will be the ultimate Test of what England has learnt in the last twelve months, we think another third place is in the offing. A lot of it is going to depend on Borthwick’s decision-making around who his fly half is going to be. Go with Marcus Smith allied to an attacking fast paced back row including players like Cunnigham-South, Ben Earls and new sensation Tom Willis and England could seriously cut up the turf against big rivals like Ireland, France and Scotland as well as potentially get some serious momentum early in the tournament.
On that note, although England are still rueing the loss of Jack Willis to French club rugby where he is steadfastly performing miracles week in week out with Toulouse, his younger brother Tom looks set to carry on the family tradition and is already showing exceptionally promising signs for Saracens. If however, Borthwick allies Smith to a more grind and graft forward pack approach then the Harlequins fly half and the rest of his team are likely to be out of sync, and the more conservative play style of a fly half in the mold of George Ford or Finn Smith would be the more appropriate choice.
The other big call in terms of Borthwick’s selection decisions is the choice of second rower and all action man Maro Itoje as the Red Roses Captain this year. There is no denying that England needs a Captain who is likely to stay on the pitch for the full 80 minutes, a role Itoje often performs, as well as his constant energy and enthusiasm in spurring his teammates on at every turnover ball or penalty won by England. Former Captain and Hooker Jamie George, although a noble servant, rarely lasts the full 80 minutes, and it is evident that the change in leadership on the pitch at such crucial junctures is costing England that final 20 minutes. As a motivational speaker on the pitch, England will be hard pressed to beat the highly vocal and animated Itoje.
If England get through this Six Nations with a settled squad that clearly demonstrates a selection policy reflecting the game they want to play and who they are going to build it around, then 2025 could be a rather special year in terms of looking towards a future that has always promised but never materialised. If they chop and change throughout the Six Nations, we fear England may continue to find themselves stuck in a garage filled with high quality components but without the manual on how to assemble them all into a world beating machine, and sadly Steve Borthwick ending up having to start dusting off his resume come the end of the tournament.
France could prove to be one of THE hottest tickets of 2025 with a level of depth that few countries can boast
France had a good year last year make no mistake. They still managed to finish second in the Six Nations, despite being without the services of arguably the greatest player on the planet, scrum half Antoine Dupont who was busy preparing for Olympic Sevens duty for his country, and a shaky start to their campaign which saw them lose to Ireland in Marseille in the opening round. Then there was a tense trip to Scotland where they almost came unstuck, followed by a draw with Italy which should have been the Azurri’s game but for an unfortunate wobble of the kicking tee and a rushed kick in the dying seconds of the game in Lille. Then it was a demolition job on Wales in Cardiff, finishing with a nervy win over England in Paris.
Nevertheless, in the process France unearthed a bucket load of rising talent, a challenge which they intensified on a gruelling summer tour of South America which saw them get solid wins over Argentina and Uruguay, but come just short of clinching the series as a Pumas side with a point to prove taught them a few harsh lessons in their final Test which they lost in Buenos Aries.
Then, with their full complement of superstars, they proceeded to annihiliate Japan in the Autumn and get revenge for Argentina getting the better of them that summer. In perhaps one of the best games of the year, they held on to close the game out against New Zealand by a mere point, but it was a masterclass in holding one’s nerve in the face of a determined and dangerous opponent who kept clawing their way back into contention – a trait that has been sadly absent all too often in France’s recent past.
It was a year where phenomenal winger Damian Penaud scored tries simply for fun, while his partner on the other wing Louis Bielle-Biarrey left us speechless at times with his turn of pace and magic feet. Giant second rower Emmanuel Meafou struck fear into every opposition forward pack he encountered and proved almost impossible to bring down, a trait that has made him one of Toulouse’s most valuable assets this season both in Europe and the TOP 14. Whenever one player was unavailable due to either club committments or injury, another simply stepped into his place and picked up where they left off. In short, whatever squad France turned out on any given day, it was hard to find a weakness, even if the names weren’t overly familiar at times.
In short, France seems to be developing a level of depth that is the envy of most of their opponents. There are the tried and trusted veterans and a host of up and coming stars in the making. Head Coach Fabien Galthie must feel that the Rugby Gods have blessed him with a golden horn of riches.
Much talk has been made of their current injury list for the Six Nations, which sees them missing the services of key forwards like back rower Charles Ollivon, but also centres Gael Fickou and Jonathan Danty. Unfortunate, yes, but not exactly the end of the world, given France’s talent pool. Watch any TOP 14 game, and you’ll see that France is blessed with more quality centres than they know what to do with, while the back row has a queue out the front door of potential replacements. Admittedly, experience may be lacking in some cases, but there is still enough of a seasoned spine in this French team to carry them through. There are temporary injury issues affecting superstar winger Damian Penaud and in our opinion one of the world’s most dynamic second rowers at the moment Thibaud Flament, but both players should be available for at least the second half of France’s Six Nations campaign.
It’s our humble opinion that while France may not clinch a Grand Slam this Six Natioins, they are odds on favourites to lift the trophy on March 15th. After that it’s a three Test Tour to New Zealand, with an exciting development squad as Galthie and the French Union have elected to rest the majority of their A-List players much to the chagrin of the New Zealand public. While the Kiwis may be upset, we can’t wait to see France’s “next gen” team in action and feel that New Zealand may well end up having to eat humble pie in at least one of those Tests.
France end their year with dates scheduled for the Autumn Nations series against World Champions South Africa, followed by fixtures with Fiji and finally Australia. If the summer tour goes well and some valuable experience is gained by France’s newbies, and come November their big guns gain revenge for France’s World Cup semi final exit at the hands of the Springboks, then what a year this could be for Galthie and his players – especially if the Six Nations trophy is sitting locked away in Paris by the time his young charges board the long flight to New Zealand at the end of June. If you’re a neutral this year, then we have a hunch you’ll be watching and wearing a lot of blue in 2025!
We’ll be back tomorrow with Ireland and Italy!
The Lineout 