Who Will Win the 2027 Six Nations Team-by-Team Breakdown

The 2027 Six Nations Championship is on the horizon and anticipation is already building ahead of what is guaranteed to be another festival of world-class rugby at some of Europe’s most impressive sporting cathedrals.

When winter begins to bleed into spring, you can hear battle cries on the breeze, as England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, Italy and France converge to skirmish for the Grand Slam, Triple Crown and outright Six Nations title.

Six Nations tickets are already changing hands quickly as fans across the continent start to plan excursions to follow and roar their teams on. But which nations are expected to be in the mix for glory and silverware?

Will Les Bleus triumph again? Or will a challenger emerge to dethrone the defending champions? Below, we assess each team’s prospects ahead of the 2027 Six Nations.

France – the favourites and defending champions

Fabien Galthié’s Les Bleus are chasing immortality in 2027 and can become the first team in the history of the Six Nations to win the competition outright for three years in succession. With that carrot providing more than ample motivation, France should be very hard to stop.

In the last edition of the tournament, France won five of their six fixtures while scoring an impressive average of 42.2 points per game, capping their campaign with a final flourish against old rivals England.

Four tries from winger Louis Bielle-Biarrey and accurate kicking from Thomas Ramos helped France to a dramatic 48-46 victory over the Red Rose. Bielle-Biarrey was the leading try scorer (9), while Ramos scored the most points (74) at the last Six Nations, and both players will be ready to star again next year.

Galthié will also be able to call upon the services of France’s all-time leading try-scorer, Damian Penaud, who missed the 2026 Six Nations, strengthening his hand even further.

France open their account for the Six Nations Championship 2027 at home to Wales at the Stade de France on February 6th and finish up in Dublin on March 13th for what could be a crunch clash at the Aviva Stadium. Six Nations tickets for Ireland vs France are likely to be in high demand.

Ireland – Can Andy Farell’s troops close the gap?

Ireland matched France for results last year, earning wins in four of their five assignments at the last Six Nations, though they couldn’t keep pace with Les Bleus’ ferocious point-scoring power, and ultimately fell short for that reason.

The Irish lost their curtain raiser in Saint-Denis against the French (36-14) in what proved an almost fatal early blow, and they were always playing catchup thereafter. They held up their end of the bargain by winning four times in a row, but were denied on a dramatic climactic day when France pipped England in Paris.

The Triple Crown Ireland claimed with their victories over the other home nations, offered some consolation and gave Farrell a platform to build on.

Their chances of prevailing in 2027 might hinge on the make-up of their squad. Ryan Baird, Shayne Bolton, Jack Boyle, Jack Crowley, Edwin Edogbo, Tom Farrell, Mack Hansen, Paddy McCarthy, Calvin Nash and Andrew Porter all missed the Nations Championship through injury, and Farrell will hope to have most if not all of those names back for the Six Nations.

Ireland did win back-to-back Six Nations titles in 2023 and 2024, and but for their efforts, France might have won the pot five times on the spin. They’ve lost their last two meetings with Les Bleus and will need to tip the balance of that H2H back in their favour.

However, if the 2027 Six Nations does run according to form, the density of the title could be decided in Dublin when France visit on March 13th.

England – Still more questions than answers for the Red Rose

The last Six Nations was an unmitigated disaster for England, who lost four times in five tests, including a historic first-ever defeat to Italy, with their only reprieve coming on matchday one against a Wales (47-7) outfit that finished bottom of the table.

Unsurprisingly, there were calls for Head Coach Steve Borthwick to be sacked after that nightmare showing, though he isn’t likely to go until after the 2027 Rugby World Cup, which leaves England in limbo.

However, it’s not all doom and gloom for the Red Rose. England played with pride, power, technical skill and seemed to have a working gameplan when they pushed champions France to the wire on the final day of the Six Nations a year ago, scoring seven tries in their narrow 48-46 loss.

England showed resolve again in defeat to South Africa (45-21) in Johannesburg in the Nations Championship in July, and recovered well to beat Fiji (73-8) and Argentina (31-24) after that, with younger players like Finn Smith (24), Immanuel Feyi-Waboso (23), Seb Atkinson (24) proving their worth.

Their 2027 Six Nations opener in Dublin on February 5th will help to inform, though supporters can be optimistic about England’s chances of improving on last year’s dismal displays. Admittedly, that wouldn’t be hard.

England will play three of their five matches at Twickenham in 2027 and Red Rose supporters are already buying Six Nations tickets for England vs France, as well as tickets for their clashes with Italy and Scotland. Harnessing the full power of home advantage will be key to England’s chances of success.

Scotland – Scots can beat anyone on their day

There were some moments of genuine Scottish joy at the last Six Nations and their performances offered a glimpse at a bright future and potentially, a real charge for trophies.

Their 18-15 loss in Italy was a confidence-knocker, but it didn’t prove a foreshadowing defeat and Scotland rebounded superbly with a 31-20 triumph over border rivals England in Edinburgh on matchday two.

They backed that win up with another against Wales (26-23) before they turned over France (50-40) at Murrayfield in round four, in one of the most exhilarating Scottish performances in a generation.

That victory went down in folklore, but also showed this talented Scottish collective that they are good enough to beat just about any team on the planet on their day. The challenge now, is to find that level of consistency that will allow them to compete.

Italy – The Gli Azzurri continue to make strides

The Italians are on the march and are on route to becoming a major force in European rugby. Their performances at the last edition of the Six Nations sparkled with head coach Gonzalo Quesada moulding a talented set of players into a cohesive, powerful unit.

Last year, they started the Championship with a bang, defeating Scotland (18-15) in testing conditions in Rome, while their dogged showing in a narrow loss to Ireland in Dublin (20-13) right after that earned the Gli Azzurri even more praise.

However, it was their historic and first-ever victory over England (23-18) in Round 4 that carried the most weight and represented a major milestone for Italian rugby.

At the heart of their rise are Tommaso Menoncello and Ignacio Brex, who’ve now established themselves as one of the best centre combos in the game, while Paolo Garbisi has become one of the sport’s most efficient kickers.

Now more than capable of bloodying the nose of any opponent, Italy could have a big say on the destination of the Six Nations title in 2027.

Wales – Improvement the name of the game for Tandy

Welsh coach Steven Tandy spoke about “green shoots” and “getting better quicker” over the summer and his optimism is rooted in real on-the-pitch progress.

Wales limped out of the blocks at the last Six Nations and suffered a humiliating 48-7 loss to cross-border neighbours England at Twickenham to kick things off. Then came a lesson from France in Cardiff (54-12) in front of a record-low crowd at the Principality.

However, Wales rallied and almost beat Scotland (26-23) after that, before slipping to a cruel defeat. They showed more spirit and skill in a loss to Ireland (27-17) in Dublin, before they finally snapped their 15-game winless slump at Italy’s expense (31-17) in their final assignment to sign off in style.

That, along with the individual sharpness of Alex Mann, Aaron Wainwright, Dewi Lake and Rhys Carre, hinted at brighter horizons for Wales, while the return of Jac Morgan will be another boost.

Wales should be ready to ruffle some more feathers in 2027, though they’ve been handed the toughest of starts in Paris. Anyone buying France vs Wales Six Nations tickets is guaranteed to witness drama at the Stade de France.