The Six Nations individual records that are nearly impossible to beat

Dylan Coetzee
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Split with former stars Sergio Parisse (Ita), Brian O'Driscoll (Ire) and Jonny Wilkinson (Eng)

Split with former stars Sergio Parisse (Ita), Brian O'Driscoll (Ire) and Jonny Wilkinson (Eng)

The 2024 Six Nations is rapidly approaching with less than a month to go until the famous tournament gets underway as the northern hemisphere’s best fight for glory.

Before the action begins, Planet Rugby takes a look at some of the competition’s individual records that will be incredibly difficult to beat.

Appearances

In what some might find a surprise it is actually not the great Welshman Alun Wyn Jones that holds this record but instead the legendary Italian Sergio Parisse.

The number eight represented Italy a whopping 69 times in the Six Nations. Interestingly he started every one of those games, showcasing how immensely valuable he was for the Azzurri as their greatest player in history.

Jones is just behind on 67 with only two of his caps coming from the bench. There are no active players near the top of the list with three Irishmen rounding out the remainder of the top five in the form of Brian O’Driscoll (65), Rory Best (64) and Ronan O’Gara (63).

Points

This is another category that will not see much change this year with the only active player within touching distance being Owen Farrell, who is taking a break from Test rugby to prioritise his and his family’s well being.

Recently retired Irish legend Johnny Sexton leads the way with an impressive 566 points in his Six Nations career, only nine points ahead of compatriot O’Gara (557). Former England superstar Jonny Wilkinson comes in next with 546 points not too far ahead of Farrell on 528 while Welshman Stephen Jones rounds out the top five with 467.

Tries

Perhaps the only category that is really threatened is the try scoring tally with George North of Wales only three tries off the top. However, even though the star is still an active player it remains to be seen what role he will play going forward and whether head coach Warren Gatland wants to look at younger talent or not.

Famous Ireland centre O’Driscoll leads the way with 26 tries followed by Ian Smith of Scotland (24), North’s 23 as two other Welsh greats round out the top five in Shane Williams (22) and Gareth Edwards (18).

Points scored in a season

The impressive records continue with Wilkinson’s outrageous 2001 campaign notching up a lofty 89 points, including 35 points against Italy in the same year – a record on its own.

Tries scored in a season

Remarkably both players who hold the record achieved the number in fewer games than the current edition as the tournament had not been evolved to six teams by then. In 1914, England’s Cyril Lowe bagged eight tries to hold the record on his own until Scotland’s Smith equalled the feat in 1925.

It would be incredible to see the finishers in 2024 come close to challenging the record and with five games to work with it is certainly possible but is no mean feat.

READ MORE: Six Nations: All the fixtures and kick-off times ahead of the 2024 edition

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