France host Wales on Friday night in the opening game of the 2025 Six Nations seeking a first title in the tournament since rampaging past all contenders for the 2022 crown.
Scrum-half Antoine Dupont was at the heart of the team that beat Wales, England, Ireland, Scotland and Italy to hoist the crown and achieve the Grand Slam – victories over all five sides.
Ireland repeated that feat in 2023 and retained the title last year.
For the 2025 campaign, they will be vying to become the first country to win three championships on the trot since the inception of the Six Nations in 2000 when Italy joined the Five Nations party.
"The goal is to win a championship and everyone wants to win a Grand Slam, that's the ultimate goal," said Ireland forward Tadhg Beirne in the prelude to Saturday evening's opening game against England in Dublin.
"But there's a big hurdle in front of us each week. This week it is England and as each week goes by it becomes clear whether we have the possibility of winning a Grand Slam or not."
Ireland, the world's second best team after South Africa, are expected to see off England, Scotland and Wales before the crunch against France, who lie fourth in the rankings, on 8 March at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin.
Return
For Friday night's match, France coach Fabien Galthié will send out Dupont and his Toulouse teammate Romain Ntamack at fly-half for the first time in nearly two years.
Injuries forced Ntamack to miss the 2023 World Cup and last year's Six Nations tournament while Dupont skipped the 2024 Six Nations championships to prepare for the 2024 Olympics with the sevens team with whom he won a gold medal.
"They play together regularly for their club and they played together regularly for France before Romain's injuries," said Galthié. "So in a way it's a new old partnership."
But wryness aside and the feel-good factor of reuniting Dupont and Ntamack, Galthié entered far more controversial waters with the inclusion of the 21-year-olds Oscar Jégou and Hugo Auradou.
The pair were accused of raping a 39-year-old woman in their hotel room in Mendoza, western Argentina, following a drunken night out during the tour of South America last summer.
The men said the sexual relations were consensual and Argentine judges cleared them in December. However, the defendant has lodged an appeal against the court's decision which will be heard on 10 February.
Cleared
Galthié has stressed that once the pair were exonerated, he felt that they should be available for selection for the national team. However, powerful voices in the French media have queried such swiftness.
"Fabien Galthié could have waited another two weeks for the appeal verdict," said an editorial in the French newspaper Le Figaro on 15 January. "That would have been more respectful of Argentine justice."
The editorial added: "The French rugby federation and Galthié had the opportunity to make their mark, to put ethics back at the heart of the game. And, more cynically, to avoid the headlines and other debates that will inevitably accompany the return to favour of Jégou and Auradou. The coach could have avoided hiding behind the law. Legally, that's fair. Morally, it remains to be seen."
On the field, France, though missing star performers such as Gael Fickou and Damian Penaud, should be too powerful for a Wales side that lost all five of their games in 2024 Six Nations to finish bottom of the table and collect the infamous wooden spoon – their first in 21 years.
And they have continued to be abysmal. The Welsh went down to South Africa and twice to Australia last summer. There were also defeats to Fiji, Australia and South Africa in November.
A 13th consecutive loss on Friday night would continue their worst spell in their 144-year history.
Pressure
“Ironically, there is probably more pressure and expectation on France," said Wales boss Warren Gatland on the eve of the game at the Stade de France.
"Their fans will be expecting their team to throw the ball around and score tries. From experience, teams can try a bit too much early on and throw the ball around and that can give you opportunities."
Wales' dirty dozen suggests they will be unable to exploit the chances but Gatland said he and the squad remained upbeat.
“The players are well aware of the task ahead of them and that they’re up against it. We want to do some things that France won’t be expecting us to do.
"We know how good they are as a side but if we can go out there and be accurate and disciplined, then we’ve got a good chance to be in the game."
Around 80,000 fans are due to watch the opening game of Les Bleus – the nickname for the national team. A similar crowd is expected at the arena to the north of Paris for the final game of the campaign against Scotland on 15 March.
Four games over the next six weeks will determine whether that clash will be a joyous coronation or a lament for what could have been.
