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Six Nations 2025 predictions based upon AI 2024

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I can honestly see England finishing 5th. We won't beat Ireland or France, then we have Scotland who have had our number for a long time now. If we go into Italy 0 from 3, the Italians will be massively pumped and eyeing up history. This Italian generation of players will beat England, it's a question of when, not if. Fiji won at Twickenham last year, there's no reason why Italy can't do it.

France - GS
Ireland
Scotland
Italy
England
Wales

Can’t see anyone touching France. They beat NZ and comfortably beat Argentina playing at probably 65%. They were nowhere near full-strength in the Autumn either.
 
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OllyM97 said:
I can honestly see England finishing 5th. We won't beat Ireland or France, then we have Scotland who have had our number for a long time now. If we go into Italy 0 from 3, the Italians will be massively pumped and eyeing up history. This Italian generation of players will beat England, it's a question of when, not if. Fiji won at Twickenham last year, there's no reason why Italy can't do it.

France - GS
Ireland
Scotland
Italy
England
Wales

Can't see anyone touching France. They beat NZ and comfortably beat Argentina playing at probably 65%. They were nowhere near full-strength in the Autumn either.
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Agree with this. If we can get up for it we can knock over France at home. But not wothout progression and a few changes.
 
Speaking of AI generated, have you seen the slop they've churned out for the new 6N logo?

1733006337201.png
 
As much as I like the 6N, the skewed nature of the fixture lists every year has too much of an effect on the competition in my opinion. Certain years favour certain teams too much. I think the fixtures should be done by a seeding system annually. Yes it would mean that alternating home and away against each opponent may be more difficult but I’d rather it be the case that every team, every year, has a chance of doing well and is not handicapped before the tournament has even started by an uneven draw. There’s should be no such thing as a “easier or harder year” of games for any team.
 
Wouldn't seeding it make it MORE skewed?
The fixture list is because each match is a one-off, with no return fixture. In which case there will always be 3 teams with 3 home games, and 2 away; and 3 teams with 3 away and 2 at home - skewing the fixture list.

No way would seeding it so that the top 3 seeds get 2 away and 3 home matches and vice versa, which would be the only way to even up the advantage, and I don't think that would even be possible, as when they play each other, SOMEONE'S got to be at home.
It would also mean turkeys voting for christmas, as teams have to vote to reduce the number of home matches (and pay days) they get.

TL : DR
You'd need to propose how your seeding system would work, allowing for 5 home fixtures in a 2-year cycle, before it could be taken seriously.
 
Have a sneaky feeling England will finally get the W over Scotland at Twickenham. The hoodoo has to end sometime and some of the recent games have been very tight - it hasn't been as one sided as the results suggest. A couple of the wins were primarily down to Finn and Duhan.

I also think Scotland have a decent chance of finally beating a Fazless Ireland at Murrayfield. I think our pack has improved a lot in the past year and might not get bullied like it has in the past. The performance of the back row in particular v Australia was very encouraging. No guarantees of course and it is a fixture where the hope usually ends up killing us.

Think we'll end up with 3 wins - Wales, Italy and one of England/Ireland.

France
Ireland
Scotland
England
Italy
Wales
 
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I think France will most likely do a Grand Slam.

It remains to be seen how Ireland will go without Farrell and this Autumn suggests that they’ve slipped back from their best by a reasonable degree. I fancy France to beat them and Scotland to have a decent crack. At this moment in time, I can’t see England beating them - particularly in Dublin - but at the same time, I feel like this England team is inconsistent which means they’ll probably be crap but they still have the ability there to pull of an upset. With it being round 1, you never know.

Scotland don’t fear coming to Twickenham anymore and I feel like they are a kind of kryptonite team for England these days, matching us in the tight and ripping apart our naive defence in the loose.

Italy are improving and could run England close. I still don’t see them beating us at home though.

TLDR: France for a Grand Slam, Scotland to compete hard for 2nd with a sub par Ireland, England to pick up 2 measly wins. Wales winless for the wooden spoon.

1. France (GS)
2. Ireland
3. Scotland
4. England
5. Italy
6. Wales
 
BPM said:
TLDR: France for a Grand Slam, Scotland to compete hard for 2nd with a sub par Ireland, England to pick up 2 measly wins. Wales winless for the wooden spoon.

1. France (GS)
2. Ireland
3. Scotland
4. England
5. Italy
6. Wales
Click to expand...

Very possible. And if that happens, presumably we’re looking for a new head coach again given recent run rate, the target of 4 wins, and that 2 wins from 3 home fixtures would be a step back from 24.

I can see us adopting the Ben Youngs principle though and somehow winning an unlikely 3rd in style that gives just enough to cling to thinking things will be better next time. Which they won’t.
 
Even then, I just don’t think there are many (if any) outstanding alternatives. Or at least none that we can realistically get.

Borthwick is not where he needs to be right now but I do think he will get there eventually. I think we’re just going to have to be patient, as a painful as it may be.

I expect a similar story to the Autumn. 3 close (single digit) defeats to Ireland, France and Scotland and two wins against Italy and Wales. Basically close enough to keep saying we’re not far off without actually getting the results.

Honestly, I would settle for that IF we see obvious improvements in attack and even more in defence.
 
OllyM97 said:
As much as I like the 6N, the skewed nature of the fixture lists every year has too much of an effect on the competition in my opinion. Certain years favour certain teams too much. I think the fixtures should be done by a seeding system annually. Yes it would mean that alternating home and away against each opponent may be more difficult but I'd rather it be the case that every team, every year, has a chance of doing well and is not handicapped before the tournament has even started by an uneven draw. There's should be no such thing as a "easier or harder year" of games for any team.
Click to expand...
All the teams depends on home games for their respective unions funding. You have to even up home and away for that reason alone.
 
TRF_Olyy said:
Speaking of AI generated, have you seen the slop they've churned out for the new 6N logo?

View attachment 21992
Click to expand...
Every single sport I love seems to have the soul absolutely sucked out of it by incompetent, unknowledgable and desperately out of touch corporate.

What an absolute monstrosity.

I’m glad they put the M there though because I hadn’t got a ******* clue that men played in this one.
 
PS France will absolutely waltz to the title, ENG/SCO/IRE could be close for second with England being in a lot of close games with good sides, Scotland with a strong autumn, and Ireland slightly below par and without Faz.
 
Anywhere between two and five wins is possible for us I think. Our defence will keep us in all games, just need to get the attack back to one that scores 20 points minimum as a habit, fix the lineout and we're contenders imo.

Reckon we get past England but they have been a horrible match up for us since Lancaster's days. Scotland will really fancy their chances against us and actually merit it this time, they really nearly upset us this year. France will be favourites and rightfully so but I still find it hard not to back us in Dublin.

If we make a few minor personell changes and get a bit more youth on the bench (which we did last week in parts to good effect) I can see us making the improvements needed. Equally, I wouldn't be surprised if the team's at the start of a 12 - 18 month journey to get back to being a match for anyone, anywhere.

With Faz gone, it's not the most important 6n we've ever had, the rest of the year will be bigger for various reasons. Not delighted that he's off with the ugly side chick but can't begrudge the man either.
 
BPM said:
Even then, I just don't think there are many (if any) outstanding alternatives. Or at least none that we can realistically get.

Borthwick is not where he needs to be right now but I do think he will get there eventually. I think we're just going to have to be patient, as a painful as it may be.

I expect a similar story to the Autumn. 3 close (single digit) defeats to Ireland, France and Scotland and two wins against Italy and Wales. Basically close enough to keep saying we're not far off without actually getting the results.

Honestly, I would settle for that IF we see obvious improvements in attack and even more in defence.
Click to expand...

Agree except that I don’t think Bothwick can get to where he needs to be and certainly not in the short to medium term. His only real chance is to recruit and retain top quality assistants…..when Jones and Walters can talk, their opinions might be telling.

Fra GS, Wal WS. The rest could be anything. Ire, Sco, Eng, Ita possibly.
 
Vieux Talonneur said:
Agree except that I don't think Bothwick can get to where he needs to be and certainly not in the short to medium term. His only real chance is to recruit and retain top quality assistants…..when Jones and Walters can talk, their opinions might be telling.

Fra GS, Wal WS. The rest could be anything. Ire, Sco, Eng, Ita possibly.
Click to expand...
I did say ‘eventually’. I agree on the assistants. Maybe not his only chance, but definitely his best chance.
 
I expect nothing less with the way the sport is going...

The rebrand looks like a grinder ad, a sign for the M6N and cheap 3rd rate news station all in one.

I swear everyone involved in this sport, have all sat around in their Dublin offices, shorted the value of rugby union and thought to themselves, how can we Pelosi this to our financial advantage?!?!?!
 
In ‘20/21 Ireland were in the doldrums. Everyone who was an “expert” was saying that Faz was “Continuity Schmidt” etc. England are at the same stage of the cycle now.
Yes, the loss of talented assistants like Walters & Jones is a worrying sign, but only a handful of weeks ago posters were questioning why the Lions should go to Australia, when any of the home nations could beat them on their own!
Of all sports, rugby is momentum based, and England are not far off the mark. The Australia game was 1 handling error away from a win, and a decent, if unspectacular AI campaign. Sweeny is clearly a genius, if only because he managed to get a £1.1m payday. In Bill we trust! At least until they go to Dublin and get spanked….
 
BPM said:
Even then, I just don't think there are many (if any) outstanding alternatives. Or at least none that we can realistically get.

Borthwick is not where he needs to be right now but I do think he will get there eventually. I think we're just going to have to be patient, as a painful as it may be.

I expect a similar story to the Autumn. 3 close (single digit) defeats to Ireland, France and Scotland and two wins against Italy and Wales. Basically close enough to keep saying we're not far off without actually getting the results.

Honestly, I would settle for that IF we see obvious improvements in attack and even more in defence.
Click to expand...
I think we have to keep Borthwick at the helm for now but this 6n will be very telling. We do need to be patient and we ran Nz close three times this year but now we need to convert those close margins to wins. The change of coaching staff in the summer has obviously hurt England and I am not sure that Joe el Abd is the right man for the job. The all or nothing defensive system also worries me as we conceded some extremely soft tries this autumn that were unacceptable to let through at test match level.
 
ShropshireAllBlack said:
In '20/21 Ireland were in the doldrums. Everyone who was an "expert" was saying that Faz was "Continuity Schmidt" etc. England are at the same stage of the cycle now.
Yes, the loss of talented assistants like Walters & Jones is a worrying sign, but only a handful of weeks ago posters were questioning why the Lions should go to Australia, when any of the home nations could beat them on their own!
Of all sports, rugby is momentum based, and England are not far off the mark. The Australia game was 1 handling error away from a win, and a decent, if unspectacular AI campaign. Sweeny is clearly a genius, if only because he managed to get a £1.1m payday. In Bill we trust! At least until they go to Dublin and get spanked….
Click to expand...
England arent far from the mark, yet they only beat italy and wales by one score as well. Only team beaten comfortably are the worst japan team in a decade.

Hope I am wrong, but I really do not see it going as the postiive amongst us think it will.

France
Ireland
Scotland
England
Italy
Wales

On logic and performance of the past 12 months.
 
Predictions based on AI are not reliable...and les Bleus don't win GS on the road. We have Ire, Eng, Ita away. CCup form is no indicator either.
Galthié is in charge of a golden generation we've never seen before. Yet he's got one title since 2019.
Toulouse are on four French titles and 2 CCup over same period...Ugo Mola is Noves 2.0

People forget how useless les Bleus were in last 6N. 2-pt win at home over an improving England, defeat at home to Ireland, a draw vs Italy, a Tmo-based win over Sco! Dupont's absence does not explain everything...

Ireland
France or England
Scotland
Wales
Italy

Ollivon, Danty are out. Fickou will miss first games.
 
Ok balls on the line...

I think Ireland are waining and without Farrel, France are on the road, England are not just playing poorly, but aren't showing a progression under dumb dumb, Welsh squad is lacking talent, physicality, flair, pace and experience, and Italy look to have a very difficult fixture list, having to travel to England and Scotland.

I don't see a classic 6N ahead of us, and aside from Ireland looking handy favourites with their fixture list Scotland away might be a banana skin, I think the rest can beat each other (maybe even Wales could nick a win or 2).

Reality is probably that Ireland win it, France and Scotland contest 2nd, England and Italy contest 4th, and Wales will do well with 5th.

However I like to think we will see a shock away win in round 1, and that could lead us into a roller coaster of a tournament...

If a miracle in Paris happens, and Wales stun going to Rome the week after would be huge for them, and 2 from 2 could blow the tournament wide open. Ireland at home would be too far, but would certainly be more pressure on Ireland. Even if Ireland were too much, a revitalised trip to Edinburgh would be on the cards, before an actual show down in Cardiff.

If Italy shock Edinburgh, home to Wales next up become a real opportunity for a first top half finish in forever, and then turns Rome into a couldran for visiting French. Win or lose travelling to Twickers, and Ireland in Rome become pressureless tests.

England invading Dublin and making it Belfast 2 electric boogaloo, and would then relish 3 home games against beatable teams before a Cardiff GS decider?!?!

So my predictions are simple, if we see 3 home wins in round 1, my above table happens, if we see a shock away win, I think and hope all heck breaks lose and we can see a few more shock results and a bolter from nowhere...

So ye, definate Welsh grand slam, thoroughly deserved and knighthood for Gatland. Easy this predicting lark
 
This could be pretty open.

Ire on the wane and no Farrell. But Fra and Eng at home.

Fra had no Dupont last year and a RWC hangover. They’ll be better. But 3 consecutive fixtures on the road including Fra and Eng.

Wal are crap, but you just know what’s going to happen in Cardiff on the last day. It’s written in the stars.

Ita. Hard to see them repeating last year, especially with 3 away, but they’ll definitely be targeting Wal at home.

With Wal and Ita at home Sco should get 2 wins. They’ve got a great record at HQ, but I can’t see them getting more than a draw on the road this time. Will continue to flatter to deceive.

Eng. We’ll lose to Ire over there, meaning we’ll need to win the other 4 to meet SB’s target. Won’t happen. Fra and Sco at home could go either way, but I’m not expecting 2 wins. Ita should be fine, I don’t think our first loss to them will be at home. Wal away is a total banana skin, they always raise their game, probably especially so if they’re facing wooden spoon / whitewash.

Ire to just edge it from Fra. Eng and Sco fighting it out for 3rd, It’s 5th and Wal last. So kinda like last year!
 

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