So what did we learn from a dramatic final day of explosive Six Nations action, with one eye on the 2027 Rugby World Cup in Australia which is starting to shimmer on the horizon?
Well France will be celebrating their first title in three years with maybe a degree of frustration that they didn’t complete the Grand Slam after losing 26-25 as England staged a late rally at Twickenham in February.
Les Bleus also had a few jittery moments against Scotland before drawing away to clinch the title despite having superstar Antoine Dupont, the best player in the world by a distance, sidelined with a knee injury.
And they set records galore on their way to victory, scoring 30 tries in the five games which breaks England’s previous best of 29 set in 2001 while Louis Bielle-Biarrey set a record of eight single-season tries and Thomas Ramos set a French record points record.
There was also a record sixth Six Nations title for assistant coach Shaun Edwards, who has reached the significant figure with success with Wales and France, to sweep away the bitter disappointment of failing to win the last World Cup as hosts.
England will be thrilled with their campaign after a frustrating time in the autumn internationals and their victory against Wales in Cardiff was sensational as they set records of their own.
Their 68-14 romp was breathtaking as they really clicked in a hostile environment to produce a complete performance for Steve Borthwick with Tommy Freeman also scoring a try in every game and actually adding to a streak which started in the last Six Nations match last March.
Scotland can take positives from their tournament as they should have beaten England and put in a good shift against France but Ireland were demolished on home soil by the champions and are in a rebuilding mode, while Italy are anything but the soft option they once were. That unfortunate tag has been passed to Wales, who collected the wooden spoon for a second straight series.
There will be numerous twists and turns to come before the next World Cup with New Zealand currently the 11/4 favourites with BoyleSports. The same firm have France at a mountainous price at 6/1 while the way England are going through the gears they definitely won’t be bigger than the 10/1 currently offered by Paddy Power and Betfair when the tournament commences.
• A new Major League Baseball starts on Tuesday morning with World Series defending champions the Los Angeles Dodgers playing the Chicago Cubs in Tokyo. Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Roki Sasaki are guaranteed enormous receptions as they return to Japan to play in Dodgers blue and LA’s loaded lineup are 7/10 to win with Betfair and 4/1 with Ladbrokes and Coral to win by over 2.5 runs. The Cubs made a big winter splash by trading with the Houston Astros for slugger Kyle Tucker but may falter this year and are 21/10 with BetMGM to register under 87.5 regular season wins.
• Wycombe Wanderers have only taken five points from their last 15 available in League One and face another potential banana skin at Rotherham on Tuesday against the Millers, who have taken seven points from the last four games. A home win is 2/1 with Ladbrokes, Coral and William Hill.
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