Six Nations news: Five unwanted Championship records
Over the years, the Six Nations has established itself as a showcase of the best talent that the Northern Hemisphere has to offer.
And with no shortage of drama and good rugby guaranteed, there are plenty of memories of great teams from years gone by.
For every winner, though, there must be a loser.
Sports News Blitz rugby writer Charlie Elliott takes a look at five unwanted Championship records.
Disclaimer: The majority of the following records are held by Italy but no disrespect is intended!
Biggest home defeat – Italy 10-63 Ireland (2017)
Hat-tricks from CJ Stander and Craig Gilroy propelled Joe Schmidt’s Ireland side to a huge victory over Italy in Rome, which was the perfect response to a defeat to Scotland in the previous round.
Schmidt’s team were clearly hungry for redemption and unsurprisingly dominated the entire game.
With Ireland powerful in the scrum and outstanding creatively, it was men against boys.
Stander’s hat-trick was the first his country had scored since Brian O’Driscoll’s treble against Scotland in 2002, before Gilroy then got in on the action with three scores in 11 minutes.
A tally of nine tries from Ireland tells the story of just how good they were on the day.
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Biggest away defeat – England 80-23 Italy (2001)
In what is still the biggest defeat of any kind in Six Nations history, Italy got a rude awakening at Twickenham in 2001 when they succumbed to a 57-point loss.
Jonny Wilkison outscored Gli Azzurri on his own, with 35 points to his name, and the game also broke the Championship record for most cumulative points in a match.
Given that it was only the second year in which Italy had played in the competition, it was unsurprising that they suffered such a humiliating defeat.
There was no shame in losing to such a good England team, to be fair, but the nature of the blowout was concerning at the time, with people questioning whether it was too early to bring Italy into the competition.
Despite those tough times and the fact that they still look a long way off the top nations, the Six Nations has been a success story for the Italians, who are now a much stronger side than they were 25 years ago.
Indeed, as evidenced by their recent win over Wales, they are no longer certainties to win the Wooden Spoon.
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Longest winless run – Italy, 36 games (2017-2022)
In 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021, Italy lost every Six Nations match.
While they also lost every game in the 2016 edition, Italy did manage to beat the Springboks in November, so that year’s run of defeats is not included in this winless record.
It was nearly another Wooden Spoon in 2022, but their final game was a 22-21 defeat of Wales in Cardiff, a famous game that will be remembered for its brilliant last-minute winner.
No longer the worst team in the tournament, Italy have a much better squad than they used to and it would be a big surprise if they were to go on another similar winless run.
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Most red cards – France
By virtue of having the most red cards awarded in their name, France is the worst disciplined team in the Six Nations.
Romain Ntamack took the red tally up to seven against Wales earlier this year, with there only having been 20 in the entire history of the competition.
It took 14 years for France to get their first red in the era of six teams, Rabah Slimani’s memorable reaction to Italy prop Michele Rizzo’s headbutt resulting in both being given their marching orders.
Paul Willemse and Mohamed Haouas have two each, the latter beating the former to becoming the first to be sent off twice in tournament history.
Jonathan Danty joined Willemse on the naughty list in 2024, making France the second team to get two red cards in the same year, after Scotland in 2021.
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Most points by a losing team – France, 35 points (2001, 2015)
France hold a joint-record with themselves when it comes to the most points by a losing team, with 35 accrued in defeats to Wales in 2001 and England in 2015.
Although not as unwanted as other records, it still means that Les Bleus have experienced two of the unluckiest games in the history of the competition.
In 2001, in typical French fashion, they showed brilliant ability on the ball but lacked the cutting edge defensively to see the game out, which Wales managed to do.
The final score was 43-35, so it was a tight game all things considered.
That cannot be said about the 2015 defeat at Twickenham, unfortunately, where England dominated on their way to winning 55-35.
Interestingly, England needed to win by 26 points in that game to win the title, but France’s attack foiled local dreams and Ireland went on to lift the trophy.
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