The 2025 Rugby Six Nations tournament starts with Ireland facing major attention because they aim to win their third title in a row. Since their consecutive title wins, the team has proven itself as the tournament’s most reliable team because they can manage pressure well and play together as one unit while playing their vital matches at home in Dublin. Will Ireland maintain their grip on European rugby, or is an upset brewing in the Six Nations 2025?
Format of the Rugby Six Nations Tournament
It is a league type with teams playing each other once and home and away in alternate years, and the name comes from the Six member countries of the tournament. This tournament is fast and very intense from early February to mid-March. All rugby games arranged for the tournament are propositions available to bookies, like GGBet.
Since 2017, a bonus system has been introduced that suggests appropriate points for attack play and close losses in the tournament with a deduction for default situations and for withdrawing from the tournament.
- Win – 4 points
- Draw – 2 points
- Loss – 0 points
- Bonus Point – If you score 4 or more tries or if you lose by 7 points or less
- Grand Slam Bonus – 3 points added for winning each of the five matches
However, a team that has won a Grand Slam (all its matches) can never be overtaken by a team that lost one game but has earned bonus points.
Ireland: Six Nations 2025 Prediction
Based on the predictions from the Opta Analyst that reflect the thoughts of the majority of bookmakers, Ireland stands as a strong front-runner to secure victory at this contest with a projected 68.1% win chance. Due to their recent tournament dominance, Ireland holds the position as leaders among Six Nations contenders for their third consecutive championship.
Key factors favoring Ireland:
- Lineout Strength. The defensive lineout of Ireland leads the competition with 21% of opponent steals among other teams.
- Strong Starts. 72% win rate in Round 1.
- Key Players. The fight will revolve around two essential factors: James Lowe who has established dominance versus England while Dan Sheehan leads the attempts for scoring tries in 2024.
The final score prediction shows Ireland obtaining a 27-19 victory while England narrowly fails to secure a losing bonus point.
What can Threat the Victory of Ireland in Six Nations 2025?
Multiple influences might disrupt the chance for a third straight victory to occur. All participants involved in betting activities should pay attention to these fundamental points:
- Set-Piece Vulnerabilities. The lineout success rate of Ireland has fallen to 83% during the 2023 World Cup Rugby tournament while remaining the least efficient of all Tier 1 nations compared to the 86% rate in the last Six Nations Championship;
- Injury Challenges.
- Key members Tadhg Furlong Mack Hansen and Joe McCarthy encountered injuries that might diminish both team solidarity and athletic results;
- Handling Errors. During the Autumn Nations Series Ireland struggled with ball control and discipline, recording 28 handling mistakes, conceding possession 20 times, missing 18 tackles, and failing to secure four lineouts.
- Depth Concerns. The deep position strength poses an issue for the front row because key players like Andrew Porter need to carry the team.
Bottom line
The team to beat in 2025 Six Nations is Ireland, hunting a historic third straight title. Everything will become apparent after the 15th of March after the final play between England and Italy. But they are no sure thing and given off form, France and England are capable of disrupting their run if they can continue to exploit weaknesses in the handling and defensive structure. Currently, Ireland is in the lead, but there is always a surprise at a tournament where often you don’t know until the end who is going to be standing at the end.
