After France turned the narrative of this year’s Men’s Six Nations on its head, we analyse an action-packed weekend with the best Six Nations stats from Round 4.
Heading into Round 4, Ireland were on course for a third consecutive Six Nations title and a second Grand Slam in three years. While many believed France had the potential to win in Dublin, few would have predicted the manner in which they dismantled the hosts.
After weathering a barrage of early Irish pressure – making 73 tackles to Ireland’s four in the opening 15 minutes – Les Bleus eventually cut loose, tearing apart both the Irish defence and their title hopes.
France’s 15-point victory represented Ireland’s heaviest defeat on home soil in 12 years (32-15 v Australia in 2013) and it could have been worse had Ireland not grabbed a couple of late tries to make the scoreline slightly more respectable.
The result leaves France firmly on course for a second Six Nations title in four years, after going 12 years without one before that.
Should France slip up against Scotland on Super Saturday though, England are now the team best poised to capitalise. Their comprehensive win over Italy has moved them into second place in the table, just one point behind France.
The Twickenham crowd were treated to a more comfortable outing than they’ve grown used to – England’s previous four home wins had each come by margins of fewer than three points. Italy offered resistance in the first half and were very much in the contest at the break, but Steve Borthwick’s side were much two strong in the second half.
The weekend’s middle fixture saw Scotland return to winning ways with victory over Wales at Murrayfield. The visitors did rally late, scoring an 84th-minute try that not only secured a losing bonus point but also a try bonus point.
It leaves Wales with a chance of avoiding the Wooden Spoon next weekend. They would love to do so by beating England in the process, but incredibly they could still avoid the unwanted accolade even without a victory.
Should they pick up a bonus point against England and end the day with a more favourable points difference than an Italian side who would need to lose to Ireland without any bonus points, then Wales could sneak above the Azzurri.
If they secure a bonus point at Twickenham and finish with a better points difference than Italy – assuming the Azzurri lose to Ireland without picking up any bonus points – Wales could leapfrog them in the final standings.
It might seem like a stretch, but it’s not as unthinkable as Scotland winning the title. Mathematically, Gregor Townend’s side can still win the Championship but it would take record scorelines and an unlikely pair of results in the other two games.
Let’s take a closer look at the key stats from Round 4. Don’t forget, you can compare all the players in this year’s Men’s Six Nations using our Six Nations Stats Hub.
Ireland 27-42 France
Ireland lost a Six Nations match in Dublin for the first time since 2021 (15-13 v France), ending what was their longest ever winning run on home soil in any iteration of the Championship (10 games). Their 15-point margin of defeat was their second heaviest at home since Italy joined the competition in 2000 (42-6 v England in March 2003). France scored five tries, the joint-most by an away side against Ireland in the Championship, alongside England in 2003. It now means France have scored 26 tries this year, their most in an edition of the tournament and just three behind the all-time record (England, 29 in 2001). France’s Louis Bielle-Biarrey scored two tries to take his total to seven in this year’s Six Nations, the joint most by any player in an edition of the Championship, alongside Jacob Stockdale who scored seven in 2018. Bielle-Biarrey has been directly involved in 11 tries overall in the 2025 Six Nations (7 tries, 4 assists), becoming the first player to reach double figures for try involvements in a single edition of the Championship. Damian Penaud scored his 38th try for France, moving him level with Serge Blanco as Les Bleus’ all-time top try scorer in men’s Test rugby, reaching that tally in 38 caps fewer (55) than Blanco did (93). Dan Sheehan scored his 10th try in the Men’s Six Nations, the most by a forward in the tournament’s history, surpassing Imanol Harinordoquy, Jamie Heaslip and Charles Ollivon (9 each).Scotland 35-29 Wales
Scotland have won each of their last three Six Nations matches against Wales, as many as in their preceding 19 Championship meetings (L16). It’s their longest run against Wales since another three-game streak between 1989 and 1991 in the Five Nations. Wales have lost each of their last 16 Test matches, their longest ever such run and the joint-longest run by any Tier 1 nation in the professional era (also Italy from 2019-2021). Scotland scored four tries in the first half of a Six Nations match for just the second time, having also done so against Italy in 2021 – it’s the second time Wales have conceded 4+ first-half tries in this year’s Championship (also v France), having previously only done so once (vs Ireland in 2004). Wales retained possession from all 15 of their lineouts against Scotland; only twice before have they had as many lineouts in a single Six Nations game without losing one (15 vs Italy in 2015 and 19 v Italy in 2024). Wales’ Dafydd Jenkins completed 28 tackles against Scotland, only three players have made more in a Men’s Six Nations game – fellow countrymen Luke Charteris (31 vs Ireland in 2015) and Justin Tipuric (29 vs Ireland in 2021) and France’s Guilhem Guirado (31 vs Ireland in 2018). Blair Kinghorn’s brace of tries took his total Six Nations tally to 10, becoming just the fourth Scotland player to reach double digits since Italy joined the Championship in 2000, after Duhan van der Merwe, Huw Jones and Stuart Hogg (16 each).England 47-24 Italy
England have won all 26 of their Men’s Six Nations matches against Italy. They are the only side to hold a 100% win rate against another team in the Championship. England have won their last five home games in the Men’s Six Nations, their best run since winning 15 in a row between 2012 and 2018; however, this was the first time they’d won by more than two points in a home game since they last hosted Italy (31-14 in 2023). Italy scored 24 points against England, the same number they scored when the sides met in last year’s tournament, they had never reached that tally in any of their 30 Test meetings before 2024. England beat 36 defenders in this match, their fourth most in a Men’s Six Nations game and most since beating 45 against Scotland in 2019 (also 41 vs Scotland in 2001 and 37 vs Ireland in 2002). England’s Maro Itoje made eight tackles to move past the 500 mark in the Men’s Six Nations (506). He’s just the fifth player to reach 500 after Alun Wyn Jones (752), Jonny Gray (579), Taulupe Faletau (577) and Sergio Parisse (540). Tommy Freeman has scored in each of his last five Six Nations games, including all four rounds this year. He is just the fourth player, and the first Englishman, to score in the opening four rounds of a Men’s Six Nations campaign after Philippe Bernat-Salles (2001), Wesley Fofana (2012) and Louis Bielle-Biarrey (2025). Jamie George won his 100th cap for England in this match, becoming the seventh player to reach this milestone for the England men’s team after Ben Youngs (127), Dan Cole (118), Jason Leonard (114), Owen Farrell (112), Courtney Lawes (105) and Danny Care (101).Top Five Players from 2025 Six Nations Round 4
While Jac Morgan has grabbed the headlines from a Welsh point of view in this year’s Six Nations, one man who has rekindled some of the form that made him one of the best number eights in the world is Taulupe Faletau.
The three-time British and Irish Lions player’s immense work rate was on display against Scotland. He hit double figures for carries (15), tackles (19), attacking rucks (17) and defensive rucks (10). To borrow some basketball terminology, he was the only player to record a ‘quadruple-double’ in Round 4.
Check out our other Rugby Union content on Opta Analyst. You can also follow our social accounts over on X, Instagram, TikTok and Facebook
The Best Six Nations Stats From Round 4 Opta Analyst.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( The Best Six Nations Stats From Round 4 )
Also on site :