New stars emerged across the board as Ireland successfully defended their Six Nations title. More talent will be itching to follow Joe McCarthy, Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, Tommaso Meno

Take a look at the teams participating in the Six Nations tournament, their schedule, recent performances and more!

Will a returning Antoine Dupont lead France to victory? And is there any end to Wales’ woe? A thrilling campaign

Hope springs eternal as the Six Nations sides renew hostilities in rugby’s grandest old championship. Another competitive edition of the tournament looks likely in 2025 with questions for each and every one of the competing sextet,

Dupont links up with Toulouse colleague Romain Ntamack as his half-back partner, and there is a start for Pau wing Theo Attissogbe.

Prospects: Although they are 125/1 to win the title, and Wales are as short as 45/1, contrastingly Warren Gatland’s side are 4/5 favourites for a second successive wooden spoon whereas Italy are 6/5 to finish last. This is probably because Italy have beaten Wales on their last two visits to Cardiff and host them in Rome in round two.

France captain Antoine Dupont said Toulouse's thrashing of Leicester in the Champions Cup was the perfect warm-up for the Six Nations.

For all the talent in the national set-up, there remains a sense that Scotland have underachieved. They have failed to finish in the top two in the Six Nations, never mind win the title, and have also been eliminated at the group stage of the last two Rugby World Cups.

Dupont is one of 13 Toulouse players included in Fabien Galthie’s 42-man France squad for the Six Nations, which begin on Jan 31. Read more at straitstimes.com.

The Home Nations Championship was played in all ... France — Antoine Dupont Despite only making his Six Nations debut in 2017, Toulouse scrum-half Antoine Dupont is well on his way to ...

France face their trickier biennial Six Nations itinerary in oddly numbered years, with England in Twickenham and Ireland in the Aviva Stadium. Of their six titles since the expansion to the Six Nations, France have won only one championship in odd years.

January is almost over and the Six Nations is about to lift the gloom. As the tournament reaches its quarter-century, 25 years since Italy arrived and beat Scotland on their debut, here are 25 reasons to be cheerful,