ATR's 5 W's. Who, What, Where, When and Why?

With the 2026 Six Nations kicking off this weekend, here is the roundup of the weekend’s action, addressing all the key areas and questions we all have and want to know.

Who- was the best player over Round 1 of the Six Nations? You had many contenders, with George Ford at his classy best leading England to victory over Wales, Menocello ever a threat for Italy, and then the emergence of another French giant in the pack in Mickaël Guillard.  For me, it was another Frenchman, Matthieu Jalibert, who was the standout. After so many doubted his ability to play with Dupont and fulfil his potential in a French shirt. On Thursday night, he did that in what was his best display for the Les Blues.  He did all the basics brilliantly but he has the ability to always keep the ball alive and get an offload away even when he does choose to go himself which just keeps the tempo of the French attack so high. He also defended brilliantly making 11 tackles and then also scored a try created for himself by his fast footwork. It is a seriously scary prospect for the rest of the competition going up against a firing Dupont and Jalibert half-back pairing.

What- the best rugby moment of this weekend is actually quite easy, the brilliance of Bielle-Barrey’s second try in Paris was an absolute thing of beauty. A short chip from Dupont off the base of a ruck inside his own half for Thomas Ramos to run onto who then, whether he meant it or not produced a sensational volley, that acted as a through ball for the Bordeaux winger, who, with his electric pace, gathered the ball and scored with ease.

Where- was the best place to be a rugby fan this weekend, well it was definitely on the continent in either Rome or Paris as I thought the atmospheres in both stadiums was great even with the horrendous conditions in Rome. I will conclude, and this could be a recurring theme throughout the tournament that the Stade de France seems an incredible place to watch rugby. The whole event, pre-game, with the lights and then the magnificent rugby on display from the French as they blew away Ireland. It could have been a lot closer this week if it wasn’t for the conditions in Rome, as it did hugely affect the quality of that second half, but those Italians in the stand will have loved seeing their side win on home soil once again.

When- Tomaso Menocello dived over to score was the moment this weekend where fans realised an Italy win over Scotland was on the cards once again. After all their struggles through the 2010’s, it is great to see Italy winning games and so many fans still see them as underdogs so when Menoncello dived over to score and put his side two scores ahead, you got that excitement that you have in sport when an upset is on the cards. Italy for the rest. Italy are not to be taken lightly these days though, as the win on Saturday means they not have the same amount of wins post the 2023 world cup as Scotland.

Why- It was nice to see that there weren’t too many controversial decisions this weekend that left fans looking at their tv quizzically, but one question many fans who don’t watch domestic rugby week in week out may have. Why is there such a focus on contestable kicks? Then also, commentators and pundits’ obsession with talking about the importance of the aerial battle? High kicking is not a new sight for Six Nations fans but this year it does seem more than ever in that the stronger and weaker sides all have the goal of putting up kicks to contest, compared to previously may have only been certain teams. Well, due to the current laws around competing for the ball in the air, it is a direct one-on-one competition. As you can no longer run blocking lines to protect a teammate. This competition in the air means the ball if often not caught cleanly, and the ball bounces around, and if, as an attacking team, you can win that ball back in good areas, it creates unstructured play an attack can thrive on. Or if you then win the contest in the air you are in behind the opposition and on the front foot straight away, a perfect example of this is how Lynagh beats Dobie in the air, then a phase later Italy score in the corner. England really put Wales under extreme stress with Ford’s spiral bombs as an example of how to dominate in the air. France as well domated Ireland in the air, but also mainly by nullifying Ireland’s attempts at putting up attacking contestable kicks. So in short, teams kick to try and create a less structured defence for them to attack.