Women's Six Nations 2026 Week One

As the first Six Nations after a World Cup, there are changes galore. Ratier has replaced Mignot and Ortiz in charge of France, Fukofuka is in charge of Scotland, and although Mitchell, Bemand, Roselli and Lynn remain the men in charge for England, Ireland, Italy and Wales, I know at least England and Wales have had pretty major shifts in their assistant coaches as well. Players have, inevitably, retired. This seems to have mostly affected England, but everyone has probably lost a few. The English squad has also been hit by a rash of post-world cup pregnancies, I’m not sure I’ve got them all, and I’ve got four on my list. Most teams have injuries as well, I’m not sure it makes much difference to the squad if they’re RWC winners or not, but the British media certainly reports it that way.

The Games

France v Italy

In the early part of this game both sides looked better than last year. Some of that was little things, Italy have shifted Dinka in to 13 to replace Rigoni (of the yellow scrum cap) who has been dropped for lack of form, and she looked great throughout, certainly Italy's best, potentially good enough for consideration for POTM, although the French media chose all French players, and it’s hard to argue with that.

The French went into this with a new coach and new systems. Honestly, despite that, they looked better than they have for most of the last few years. The Ortiz and Mignot system, when it clicked, was fast and devastating, but too often it had players looking confused and running into each other. This might have been new, but it looked smoother. There were errors, particularly in the driving maul in the first half, but they were small and easily adjusted at halftime.

France only scored once in the first half, although they had one try disallowed and one threatening position stopped, both by offside in a maul. However, Italy never got close. France might have been nervous, if Les Bleues carried on not scoring, Italy could sneak a try or two and steal the game. However, by the time Italy did score, in the final moments of the second half, France had scored five more tries, including one from a maul and everything was coming up dark blue. A 40-7 victory and whilst there are little things for the French to work on, essentially all were of Ratier's decisions paid off. Where he’s selected youth over experience, they scored tries, made turnovers, dominated in the scrum or whatever. And the senior players have looked refreshed by playing in his system and stepping up into the role of leaders too.

England v Ireland

On one hand this was job done for the best side in the world. They absolutely dominated the first half, scoring three tries to none, and making Ireland look ordinary. In the second half they went on to score a fourth and secure the bonus point before Ireland troubled the scorers. But it you look a little more closely at the 33-12 final score it reveals that the second half was 12-12, and that’s something we haven’t seen in the W6N in a while. The Black Ferns have done it, years ago France did it, and before that Wales did too. But in the last decade it’s only been the Black Ferns.

It’s hard to tell what really happened. I think rather than just one thing, the Irish coaches tweaked the defensive system a little, which slowed the English attack, and that gradually built confidence in Ireland’s players and their attack. At the same time, it felt as if England perhaps lost focus a little - there were quite a lot of new faces, so that killer instinct we’re used to seeing seems to have gone - and that let the Irish back into the game in a way that the Red Roses of last year would not have done.

Wales v Scotland

This match started with Scotland's backs ripping the Welsh defence to shreds and scoring a lovely try, before the Welsh forwards went to work, a long driving maul that went unrewarded, then two shorter ones that led to tries. This woke the Welsh backs up, and suddenly the red tackling matched the slick passing from the blues and the Welsh breakdown work was strong and it looked pretty comfortable.

Set pieces were a bit of a mess. Scotland dominated the scrum but Wales the lineout, which is something both teams will want to work on, but it probably can’t be fixed today. One thing that didn’t show in the half-time stats, the tackles made was pretty even, but Wales were making tactically better tackles far more often. Tuipulotu hit someone and drove her back 10m in the tackle. There were a number of other big tackles like this, maybe not with the 10m drive, that stole the momentum. There were several turnovers from choke tackles turned into mauls. Scotland had their defensive moments too, of course, but Wales had many, many more of them.

Neither side were exactly ruthless, but at halftime Wales were 12-10 ahead and had taken more of their chances, really scoring tries both times they got deep into the opposition 22. By contrast, Scotland came away with one try and two blown chances from three visits to the 5m line, plus a penalty that will please the Australians who scream “take the points.”

Unfortunately the second half did not start as brightly for Wales. Scotland's first try was, arguably, lucky, although there’s an old rugby adage about never letting the ball bounce and the Welsh backs did, twice. That let it bounce into a charging Scot's hands and she kept going to score under the posts. Their second try was much more conventional, a kick to the winger who cut a lovely angle to beat the defender and score. Wales didn’t help themselves, a yellow card to their number 8, which cost them on both sides of the ball, but in particular when they made breaks on attack they were turned over while she was off, almost as often as during the other 70 minutes. As soon as she came back, Wales scored right under the posts, and with 86 minutes on the clock the final whistle went and Scotland clung on, somehow. 24-19 and a losing bonus point to Wales. Lynn has always demanded effort from his teams, they delivered that in this game, absolutely.

Happy Coaches

1. Ratier. France weren’t perfect, particularly in the first half, but they adapted and improved markedly in the second half, which is a good sign. And all his young selections had good games. He has headaches going forward, yes, but they’re of the good kind. Do I stick with the players who performed well in this game or revert to the experienced ones?
2. Fukofuka. It’s a win. Just. Wales might count themselves unlucky but Scotland come away with the win.
3. Lynn. There’s a lot to work on, but Wales could have given up the ghost after going down by 12 points, instead Scotland will count themselves lucky to come away victorious. Lynn will be happy with the fight and effort from his team.
4. Mitchell. A win is a win, right? But there are a lot of questions after the way England let Ireland back into this game.
5. Bemand. I honestly considered putting Bemand above Mitchell, but the Irish response came so late I decided I couldn’t quite. But he will be delighted with the second half and the way Ireland fought back.
6. Roselli. Despite a big loss, some of Roselli's calls looked good. France are still a top-four team and Italy are not, they’re in the mix with Ireland, Scotland and Wales. The rankings suggest away to Ireland is too much, home against Scotland and away to Wales are pretty winnable.

Looking Ahead

1. Scotland v England: Even at home it’s hard to see the Scottish women emulating the men and sticking it to the Red Roses. A performance from them would be being within 30. England will be looking to perform in both halves.
2. Wales v France: Both teams have things to improve, but for France it’s tinkering with the details, for Wales there’s a lot to do. That doesn’t mean I don’t believe Lynn can’t achieve that over the course of the championship, but not by next week.
3. Ireland v Italy: This match will almost certainly be won by Ireland, which is a shame that it’s so predictable. However, we’ll get some measure of good England, Ireland and France all are. Which half from Ireland, and England, was the real one? France effectively kept Italy scoreless, how do Ireland cope with them?