History of the Six Nations: Winners, losers and interesting statistics
The Six Nations began in 2000 when Italy joined the five already in the competition and since then plenty has happened.
Here, Sports News Blitz rugby union writer Charlie Elliott gives a rundown of the history of the tournament in its modern incarnation.
What was the tournament pre-2000?
It was first played in 1883 between the four home nations - England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales.
Not long after, in 1910, France were added, and it was then known as the Five Nations.
Apart from a brief exclusion of France between 1932 and 1939, it stayed this way until the millennium.
In the Five Nations era, England were the overall winners with 17 outright successes, alongside six joint wins.
They are joined by Wales who technically have the same number of total wins (23), but only 15 of theirs in this era were outright.
To go through all the winners and history of this period would be like starting an entire history class, so here is a rundown of the past 25 years.
2000-2008: The beginning of the Six Nations
England started off as the best team out of the six, winning three out of the first four competitions, culminating in a 2003 Grand Slam.
Early success provided the groundwork for a World Cup triumph in 2003, which then ended up starting a barren spell with not a huge amount of success.
France also got themselves a Grand Slam in 2002, but England remained the local champions with a Triple Crown to their name.
As mentioned, 2003 was the beginning of the end for Sir Clive Woodward’s team and France took control, becoming champions for three of the next four tournaments, starting off with another Grand Slam in 2004.
The other two years in the opening nine were won by Wales, with success in 2005 and 2008 under the stewardship of Mike Ruddock and Warren Gatland.
READ MORE: Six Nations news: Best moments in each national stadium
2009-2016: Home nations show class
The next block was dominated by the home nations, with a solitary France Grand Slam in 2010 being the only time the trophy left the British Isles in this period.
Ireland got three during this time, including back-to-back wins in 2014 and 2015, which followed a Wales double in the two years prior.
It was an iconic time for Wales, who also won the Grand Slam in 2012 in what was one of their finest-ever teams in recent history.
England broke an eight-year duck to win the 2011 edition and returned to the top in 2016 after the two doubles.
With the Wooden Spoon usually being decided by a couple of nations, this period saw a few different teams winning the unwanted trophy.
Scotland, France and Italy all finished last between 2012 and 2014.
This time, as a whole, had three teams battling it out for the championship and three battling it out to avoid finishing last.
It was an interesting dynamic to have with every game meaning a lot to everyone.
2017- Present: First-ever three-peat?
Ireland have the chance to make history as the first-ever side to win three in a row should they succeed this year.
Positively, they are off to a good start after beating England in a professional manner in the 2025 opener.
A Grand Slam from France came before the Irish dominance, being led by superstar Antoine Dupont.
It was a good period for Wales who followed up a Grand Slam in 2019 with a 2021 win, but Warren Gatland’s side have since fallen off a cliff and are now fighting for the Wooden Spoon.
England last won in October 2020, in the longest tournament in history following the pandemic, which came a few years after Eddie Jones inspired in 2017.
Between these two England wins came Grand Slams from two of the home nations, Wales and Ireland, who dominated and got their just rewards.
Looking ahead, it is still all to play for in the 2025 edition, with Ireland still the favourites, but France a very close second.
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE: F1 news: Zhou Guanyu returns to Ferrari as reserve driver for the 2025 season
Six Nations statistics
Most Wins
Written after the first game of the 2025 campaign, Ireland holds a slender lead for most wins.
Altogether, Ireland has taken home 86 wins within 125 matches at the Six Nations.
This narrowly beats France with 82 and England, who have 79.
Top scorer
The player to have scored the most points at the Six Nations is former Ireland fly-half Johnny Sexton who amassed 566 points overall.
Compatriot Ronan O’Gara is in second place with 557 and England icon Johnny Wilkinson is in third with a total of 546 points.
Most Grand Slams
Winning all your games constitutes a Grand Slam, with England achieving this feat a record 13 times, followed closely by Wales who have 12 and France with 10.
Most losses
It won’t be surprising to hear that Italy have got the unwanted record for most losses at the tournament, losing 109 of their 126 matches after 25 years of playing.
They are a country who are on the up and will be hoping to not add too many more to this list over the course of 2025.
A huge clash against Wales awaits them in Rome and at the very least it could mean that they do not end as Wooden Spoon holders this year.
READ NEXT: Six Nations news: How the tournament is shaping up
