Six Nations: Five talking points ahead of Super Saturday including Ireland on the cusp and George North’s swansong

David Skippers
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Defending champions Ireland's players, the Six Nations trophy and Wales centre George North.

The Six Nations will come to its conclusion this weekend, and the 2024 edition has certainly produced some drama-filled and entertaining encounters.

With so much to discuss in so little time, Planet Rugby has drawn up five talking points ahead of rugby’s greatest championship’s final round of fixtures.

Ireland on the cusp

Although they suffered an unexpected setback against England at Twickenham last week, Andy Farrell’s charges are still in the driving seat to defend their crown.

While they missed out on the opportunity to clinch back-to-back Grand Slams – which only France have achieved in 1997 and 1998 – there is no doubt that they have done enough to clinch the title yet again.

The men from the Emerald Isle head into their clash against Scotland in Dublin in the pound seats as they won their first three matches – against France, Italy and Wales – in style as they secured maximum points in all of those games and also picked up a bonus point in that defeat against England.

While that latter defeat is a definite blip on their record, they head into Saturday’s clash against the Scots in a favourable position thanks to that losing bonus-point against the Red Rose, which gives them a four-point buffer on their closest rivals (England) in the standings.

Ireland will fancy their chances against Scotland as they have won the last nine matches between these teams and will be looking to notch number 10 in front of a capacity crowd at the Aviva Stadium.

Wales and Italy’s duel for the wooden spoon

This weekend’s action gets underway at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff where Wales and Italy go head-to-head in what promises to be an entertaining encounter between two sides who are both desperate to secure victory.

While Wales will be playing on their home turf, it is not a foregone conclusion that they will be victorious as the previous match between these teams in Cardiff saw the Azzurri clinching a 22-21 triumph.

This, after some magic from Ange Capuozzo set up Edoardo Padovani for a 79th minute try which was converted by Paolo Garbisi.

Apart from that result, Italy’s game has come on in leaps and bounds since Gonzalo Quesada took charge of the team and they will be brimming with confidence as they are currently in fifth spot in the standings after claiming a shock win over Scotland last weekend and drawing their Round Three encounter with France.

Meanwhile, Wales have lost all their matches so far – against Scotland, England, Ireland and France – and have amassed a paltry three points in the standings. That is four adrift of the Azzurri and whichever team loses this fixture could be propping up the table.

While Italy have been doing just that for the past eight seasons, Warren Gatland’s side are in unfamiliar territory as a negative result could see them claiming the wooden spoon for the first time since 2003.

Was England’s heroics a one hit wonder?

England were responsible for arguably the biggest surprise of this year’s Six Nations when they sealed a thrilling last-gasp victory over high-riding Ireland at Twickenham in Round Four.

Steve Borthwick’s troops came into that game with few people giving them a chance of clinching a victory against an Irish side who were riding the crest of the wave after clinching bonus-point victories in their first three matches.

Ahead of that game, there was even talk in some quarters that the Irish’s impressive form meant they were the best team in the world, but England produced their best ever performance since Borthwick took charge and were deserved winners in the end.

Six Nations permutations: How England can win more games than Ireland but finish second and a historic place awaits Italy

The big question now is if the Red Rose can reproduce that performance when they travel to Lyon to take on France. In their previous matches, against Italy, Wales and Scotland, England received heavy criticism for their unimaginative approach to the game which resulted in narrow wins over the Italians and Welsh and a disappointing loss to the Scots.

However, they caught Ireland by surprise when they took them on at their own exciting style of play and came out on top. They’re up against a French outfit who have also not reached their usual heights but showed signs of a revival in their win over Wales last week. With both sides coming into this weekend’s clash in a positive frame of mind, we could see an entertaining encounter in Lyon.

Scotland at risk of mediocrity… again

When Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend looks back at the 2024 Six Nations it will be with some regret as this was the ideal year for his team to kick on and challenge for the title.

However, while they have promised much under their boss, if truth be told, they have, once again, not lived up to expectations.

Scotland raced out of the blocks in their tournament opener against Wales and were 27-0 up early in the second half but went off the boil spectacularly and eventually held on for a narrow 27-26 victory.

Their next match was at home against France and while they had the upper-hand for most of that game, they lost in controversial circumstances after a lengthy TMO call disallowed a Sam Skinner try, which would have secured them a win, in the dying moments.

They bounced back with an impressive Calcutta Cup triumph over England at Murrayfield in Round Three, which set them up nicely as Ireland’s closest rivals for the Championship, but a shock defeat to Italy in Rome last weekend means they need a miracle in this week’s clash in Dublin to claim the title.

Instead, Scotland will be hoping a victory will help them to win the Triple Crown for the first time since 1990 and a positive result could also see them clinch second position on the final table, if results in other matches go their way.

That would secure them a runners-up spot for the first time in the history of the Six Nations but with the odds stacked against them, it’s more than likely that they will have to settle for a mid-table finish again.

George North hoping to bow out in style

Saturday’s clash in Cardiff will be a sentimental occasion for the Principality Stadium faithful who will say goodbye to one of their favourite sons in George North.

The outside centre announced his retirement from the international arena earlier in the week and with his team coming into this match at the bottom of the table and still without a victory after four games, he will be desperate to go out on a high with a win.

The 31-year-old’s retirement came as a surprise, especially as he was recalled to Wales’ matchday squad after he was dropped for their previous match, along with his centre partner Nick Tompkins – against Les Bleus.

However, both are back in their usual positions and after a 14-year stint in the Test arena, North will be determined to finish his international career in the a similar way that it started.

He made his debut as an 18-year-old at the same venue against South Africa in 2010 and celebrated that occasion with a brace of tries against the Springboks. That meant North became the youngest player in almost 117 years to score a try on his debut for Wales and he is currently in second position on his country’s list of all-time men’s try-scorers with 47 tries.

Shane Williams holds that record with 58 five-pointers and North will be eager to the narrow the gap by crossing the whitewash again against Italy.

READ MORE: George North: Tributes pour in for ‘once in a generation’ Wales great ahead of final Test

England George North