State of the Nation: Familiar story for Scotland who ‘regressed’ in yet ‘another underwhelming’ Six Nations campaign
Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend and full-back Blair Kinghorn.
Following the conclusion of the 2025 Six Nations, we update you on the state of the participating nations. Next up, it’s Gregor Townsend’s Scotland.
Like most Championships in recent years, Scotland came into this year’s Six Nations with plenty of optimism but, yet again, they flattered to deceive as they did not deliver on their early promise.
Townsend and his troops will be wondering what could have been as they were competitive in all of their fixtures but only managed to be victorious in two of those – against Italy and Wales, who both finished below them in the table.
That meant that, like 2024, the Scots finished in fourth position but they have one less point in the final standings (11) than last year, while their points difference (-16) is also worse which means they will be far from happy with this year’s campaign and, if truth be told, they have actually regressed which will be a concern for Townsend and the rest of his coaching staff.
Townsend has been involved in the Six Nations as Scotland‘s head coach for eight years now and under his guidance his troops have developed into a competitive unit but their inconsistency is one of their biggest faults and once again their fans were left frustrated after another underwhelming campaign.
Six Nations summary
There was plenty of confidence in Scotland’s ranks in their Championship opener against Italy at Murrayfield and it showed during the first half as they raced into a 19-9 half-time lead.
However, they took their foot off the pedal midway through that encounter which saw the Azzurri drawing level at 19-19. Scotland regained the initiative in the game’s final quarter with Huw Jones leading the way and he was rewarded with a hat-trick of tries as the home side eventually clinched a 31-19 victory.
Next up was another home fixture against the only side in the Six Nations which they haven’t beaten with Townsend as their head coach – Ireland.
Unfortunately, it was a familiar story for the hosts as the Irish raced into a 17-5 lead at half-time, although they were helped by the departures of backline stars Finn Russell and Darcy Graham after the duo clashed heads midway through the half.
Although Scotland narrowed the gap to six points, losing Graham and especially Russell was a massive setback for the hosts and Ireland took control of proceedings during the final quarter to cruise to a 32-18 triumph, their 11th successive victory in this fixture.
Graham and Russell both sustained concussions which meant there were concerns over their availability for their next match against England at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham and only the latter was eventually selected.
Scotland headed into that encounter in a confident mood as they have dominated that fixture in recent years as they have won their last four matches against the ‘Auld Enemy’.
Things did not go according to plan, however, and although they outscored the Red Rose by three tries to one, Russell failed to convert any of those scores as England regained the Calcutta Cup courtesy of a 16-15 victory.
That defeat meant Scotland had to secure a convincing win in their next fixture, against Wales at Murrayfield, and they looked set to do that as they raced into a 35-8 lead by the 50th minute but Wales finished stronger during the final 30 minutes and scored 21 unanswered points during that period as Townsend’s charges eventually held on for a 35-29 win.
That set up a mouthwatering clash with France at the Stade de France ahead of the final round with the hosts needing just a victory to be crowned Six Nations champions.
The Scots put up a brave fight and were still in the match at half-time with France holding a slender 16-13 lead but a strong second-half performance from Les Bleus blew the visitors away and they eventually sealed a 35-16 victory which also secured them the title for the first time since 2022.
Standout players
Scotland’s backline players came to the fore with some outstanding performances during the Championship and leading the way was star full-back Blair Kinghorn. The Toulouse stalwart was Scotland’s only player who played the full 80 minutes in all five of their matches and that is because he has proven to be indispensable for his team. Kinghorn proved to be a genuine attacking threat from the back, scoring two tries – both against Wales – and his impressive form should see him being rewarded with a call-up to the British & Irish Lions squad.
Although his poor goal-kicking proved costly in that Round Three defeat to England, Finn Russell‘s importance to the Scottish cause was best illustrated in their previous match against Ireland. Without him on the field – after that head clash with Darcy Graham – Scotland battled to get going and in the end, Ireland cruised to victory. Like Kinghorn, he should also be included in the Lions squad.
Another player who has enhanced his chances to be included in the famous touring team’s squad for their tour to Australia is Huw Jones, who caught the eye with several excellent attacking performances and although he was without his usual centre partner Sione Tuipulotu, who was injured, he combined brilliantly in midfield with rookie outside back Tom Jordan, who was one of the surprise packages of the Six Nations as he delivered solid performances throughout.
Toulon scrum-half Ben White will also be in the discussion for the Lions’ tour Down Under as he started all of Scotland’s matches and was solid throughout while amongst the forwards, experienced back-row Jamie Ritchie delivered several excellent performances as a ball carrier and on defence. Meanwhile, Zander Fagerson was also a player who showed his worth with some superb showings at the coalface of the forward effort.
Stat leaders
Kinghorn was one of the star performers in the Six Nations and it is hardly surprising that he is amongst the four-man shortlist for the 2025 Six Nations Player of the Championship award.
The 28-year-old was brilliant with the ball in hand and leads the way in the Championship for metres carried (857.9), metres gained (574.6), offloads (13), carries (86) and line breaks (9).
Meanwhile, Ritchie made more breakdown steals (7) than any other player in the Championship and Rory Darge topped the charts for cleanouts (45) and ruck arrivals (153), which was nine more than Zander Fagerson who occupied joint second position for that category with England skipper Maro Itoje.
Elsewhere, White finished in first position for total passes made (412) and in second spot for kicks in play (56) while Duhan van der Merwe was runner-up behind Kinghorn for metres carried (478) and Jones finished in fourth spot in that category (455.2).
Scotland also had a healthy representation for carries in the Six Nations as apart from Kinghorn, Fagerson (57), Van der Merwe (53) and Jones (52) finished in fourth, fifth and sixth positions respectively in that department, while the latter also occupies fourth spot for tries scored (4).
Success story
We’ve mentioned him already but rookie outside back Tom Jordan emerged as a genuine international player after delivering several superb performances in Scotland’s midfield. The loss of first-choice inside centre and captain Sione Tuipulotu was a massive setback for the Scots but Jordan who, despite starting on the replacements bench in the opener against Italy, soon cemented his place in the starting line-up and started all the remaining Tests in the number 12 jersey.
He was thrown a curveball in his first start of the Six Nations when Russell left the field against Ireland due to concussion. That meant Jordan was shifted to fly-half and he came off second best in his direct duel with Sam Prendergast as Scotland ultimately lost that encounter. Jordan continued at inside centre in Scotland’s remaining Tests and showed his class with his outstanding skill-set and was rewarded with a brace of tries in the victory over Wales.
Main regret
After winning their last four matches against England, Scotland were hoping they could clinch another victory over ‘the Auld Enemy’ and the fact that they had done just that in 2021 and 2023 at Twickenham boosted their confidence. The Scots eventually scored three tries to England’s one but Russell left his goal-kicking boots at home as he was off target with all his conversion attempts.
Russell is usually solid off the kicking tee and that was proven in Scotland’s two remaining fixtures against Wales and France but he will battle to come to terms with the defeat to England, which came by the narrowest of margins, and a victory in that clash would also have improved their position in the standings after three rounds and who knows where they would have finished in the table at the end of the Championship.
Results
Scotland v Italy (Scotland won 31-19)
Scotland v Ireland (Ireland won 18-32)
Scotland v England (England won 16-15)
Scotland v Wales (Scotland won 35-29)
Scotland v France (France won 35-16)
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