The Dramatic Final Day of the Six Nations. How Does 2020 Compare to Previous Years?
The Six Nations Championship has been running in its current form since the year 2000 and is set to crown its latest champions after the final round of fixtures in the 2020 tournament. There are still three potential winners of this year’s competition, which will make for a fascinating final day. The Six Nations has a history of providing frantic final days, so how is the 2020 finale shaping up in comparison to previous years?
The permutations of the 2020 Six Nations final day mean that it has the potential to be one of the most exciting final days in the competition’s history. Depending on how the story unfolds, the final day drama could reach the exhilarating heights of the 2007 and 2015 Six Nations.
The Upcoming 2020 Final Day
Heading into the last round of fixtures, England, Ireland, and France are all hoping to take the crown. According to the latest odds on six nations, England are the favourites to win the competition, with outright odds of 3/10 as of the 27th October 2020. England will likely be crowned champions if they beat Italy with a bonus point and if France win against Ireland. Despite the odds, Ireland are the only team who have their fate in their own hands. Ireland play France and can guarantee themselves the title by earning a bonus point win over the French. France can also still win the six nations, but they must beat Ireland and ensure their result is better than England’s.
Super Saturday.
31.10.20
It’s going to be an incredible Finale.#GuinnessSixNations pic.twitter.com/AT1Wy8R3CZ
— Guinness Six Nations (@SixNationsRugby) October 26, 2020
2007 Final Day
Coincidentally, the same three teams were in with a chance of winning the Six Nations on the final day back in 2007. It was a tense situation as England, Ireland, and France were all tied on points going into the last round of fixtures. Ireland were the first team to play, and they went top of the table after beating Italy 51-24. It was then up to France to beat Scotland by a score of 24 points, which they managed to do after scoring a dramatic last-minute try to win them the game 46-19. England then had the task of needing to beat Wales with a giant score. However, they ended up losing to the Welsh 27-18 which meant the 2007 title went to France.
2015 Final Day
The 2015 six nations final day proved to be one of the highest-scoring in history, with a total of 227 points scored across the three final fixtures. This made for a dramatic finale with Wales, England, and Ireland battling it out for the title. Wales were first to play and went top after heavily beating Italy 61-20. Ireland then needed to beat Scotland by 24 points to claim the top spot; they went on to win by a final score of 50-10. It was then England’s turn, who needed to beat France by 26 points to win the competition. England pushed hard and won the game 55-35, but it wasn’t quite enough to claim the title, and Ireland were crowned champions.
Source: Unsplash
The final day of the Six Nations always provides drama, and it will be interesting to see if England, the bookies’ favourite, will go on to claim the 2020 title or if Ireland or France can pull off a surprise.
