A look at Ireland's recent dominance in the Six Nations

The 2025 renewal of the Six Nations is readying to get underway, with the opening round of fixtures on the weekend commencing 31 January, leaving rugby union fans on the edge of their seats.

France and Wales will kick things off under the floodlights of the Stade de France on Friday night—Scotland will then host Italy before Ireland and England lock horns at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin.

History potentially beckons for the boys in green going into this year’s edition of the Six Nations, as Simon Easterby’s men are on the cusp of a historic three-peat.

Never in the tournament’s lengthy history, which has expanded from the Home Nations to the Six Nations in its 142-year legacy, has a team won the trophy outright three times in a row. Ireland, who are second in the Rugby World Rankings, have dominated proceedings in the last two editions—and are the favourites to complete the landmark feat in the 6 Nations odds 2025. With that said, let’s take a look at how Farrell inherited this Ireland side from Joe Schmidt in 2019 and developed them into the best team in the Northern Hemisphere.

2023

Having narrowly missed out to France in 2022, as a generational squad of talent secured Les Bleus their first title in 12 years with a commanding Grand Slam success, Ireland bounced back a year later

Completing an unbeaten campaign of their own, Ireland started proceedings with a 34-10 bonus-point victory over Wales at the Millenium Stadium.

In the second round, the Irish hosted defending champions France. They avenged their 30-24 defeat from 12 months earlier with a 32-19 win, picking up another bonus point.

Two victories on the road against Italy and Scotland, winning 34-20 and 22-7 on their travels, set up a mouth-watering clash with England in Dublin.

Having already lost to France and Scotland, England were already out of the running on the final weekend—and Ireland stormed to a 29-16 win to complete the Grand Slam and Triple Crown.

2024

Ireland secured outright back-to-back championships for just the third time in their history last year, but a second successive Grand Slam and third-straight Triple Crown eluded them.

A 38-17 bonus point win over France at the Orange Velodrome in Marseille was the ideal start for Farrell’s squad, and they followed that up with a convincing 36-0 win over Italy at the Aviva. The Irish looked well on course for the Grand Slam when coasting beyond Wales with a 31-7 win, but their dreams came crashing down with a 23-22 defeat to England.

Marcus Smith’s 81st-minute dropkick sent Twickenham into delirium and ended Ireland’s hopes of becoming the first team to win successive Grand Slams in the Six Nations era.

England’s win meant the tournament was hanging in the balance going into the final week. However, despite a cagey affair against Scotland, Ireland edged out a 17-13 win to secure the silverware before England even faced France—which they lost anyway.

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Central to Ireland’s success has been the emergence of a golden generation and tactical brilliance under Farrell.

However, the physical toll of modern rugby and the continual evolution of their rival teams means that the Irish are by no means without their challenges in the rugby betting odds.