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Hope springs eternal as the Six Nations sides renew hostilities in rugby’s grandest old championship.
Another competitive edition of the tournament looks likely in 2025 with questions for each and every one of the competing sextet, and with the fixtures given an extra edge in a British and Irish Lions year.
A fresh crop of new faces just taking their first steps on the international stage will be out to make their mark over the next few weeks, with places on the plane to Australia perhaps up for grabs for those eligible.
There will be plenty of excitement around France and Italy, too, as the pair continue to unearth new talent.
The Independent has picked out one new(ish) face from each nation who could be set for a breakthrough tournament:
Pierre-Louis Barassi, France
Having won a solitary France cap in each of the years from 2019 to 2021, he isn’t a complete international rugby novice, but the 2025 version of Pierre-Louis Barassi is a different proposition to the man who received a taste of what it was like to represent Les Bleus a half-decade ago. The 26-year-old centre has always been a tackle-breaker and explosive attacker since his Lyon days but a 2022 move to Toulouse has eventually helped him move up a gear.
Injuries and physical issues slightly blighted his early days in the Pink City but he has been sensational for the European champions this season. His decision-making has improved dramatically and he now provides another playmaking option outside Antoine Dupont and Romain Ntamack when playing at 12 or 13 for his club. France’s midfield injuries have Barassi set for a run at 13 this Six Nations and having excelled for a Toulouse side that are basically a Test team, there’s no reason his success shouldn’t translate to the international stage, especially given the Dupont-Ntamack continuity inside him.
Luke Baker
Cormac Izuchukwu, Ireland
Cormac Izuchukwu’s potential was first marked out at the slightly strange, yet entertaining, Rugby X event at the O2 in 2019, where his sheer 6ft 7in (2.01m), near 19st size drew gawks from the assembled public sitting for their supper at the chain eateries in the bowels of the Millennium Dome. He was the star of the competition on the carpet, too, though few would have foreseen something of a late bloomer becoming an international-class lock/six hybrid.
Very much cut in the modern mould that the Irish staff prefer, Izuchukwu has churned out consistent performances over the last two seasons at Ulster, with his long limbs now allied with the necessary grunt work that a back five forward gets through. Simon Easterby, in interim charge of Ireland with Andy Farrell on Lions sabbatical, is blessed with options of Izuchukwu’s ilk, with Tadhg Beirne a certain starter and Ryan Baird a high-ceiling player. But Izuchukwu’s performances merit a bigger role after his November debut against Fiji.
Harry Latham-Coyle
Dan Edwards, Wales
The Welsh No 10 shirt is up there with the All Blacks No 7 and France No 9 as the most iconic jersey in rugby, with a lineage comprising legend after legend stretching back for decades. But since the international retirement of Dan Biggar following the 2023 World Cup, the attempts to fill it have not gone well – in fact, Wales haven’t won a single Test match.
With Sam Costelow injured and Gareth Anscombe surprisingly omitted from Warren Gatland’s squad, Dan Edwards is Wales’s only recognised fly-half entering the Six Nations. Centre Ben Thomas may continue to cosplay in the No 10 jersey initially but Ospreys youngster Edwards will almost certainly get a run as the championship progresses. A standout in the Welsh Under-20s side of a couple of years ago, the highly-rated 21-year-old is undoubtedly raw, but is a very good goalkicker, has shown flashes of playmaking ability in the URC this year and is consistently praised as a good communicator on the pitch. The learning curve will be steep but he has the tools to impress.
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Matt Gallagher, Italy
Son of a London-born World Cup-winning All Black, Matt Gallagher was ushered into the Italian set-up quickly after agreeing a switch to Benetton from Bath last season. A pillar of solidity during Bath’s run to the Premiership final, Gallagher qualifies for Italy through his mother and complements their existing back-three options rather nicely. With Louis Lynagh and Paolo Odogwu both sidelined, it may be that Ange Capuozzo’s will-o’-the-wisp stylings are best utilised on the wing, leaving Gallagher to fill the full-back berth.
While not necessarily an overwhelming athlete, the 28-year-old is Saracens-schooled and by now very experienced across stints in England and Ireland. The pureness of his left boot is perhaps less valuable in a team with another leftie at fly-half, but as Italy seek to sustain their development, he’s the sort of unflashy figure they may need.
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Asher Opoku-Fordjour, England
The excitement around Asher Opoku-Fordjour in English rugby circles has pretty much reached fever pitch. It’s fair to say that’s unusual for a prop, traditionally the most unglamorous of positions, but then Opoku-Fordjour is pretty unusual himself. He burst on to the senior scene almost fully developed as a scrumagger, a skill that is normally gained through years of gritty experience in the unforgiving environment of professional rugby front rows, causing grizzled veterans such as Joe Marler and Dan Cole to sit up and take notice.
Only now is the 20-year-old starting to tap into the powerful carrying ability that his athletic frame should be perfectly designed for and he has become a key cog in a Sale Sharks team with genuine ambitions of winning the English Premiership title. Having been a major figure throughout England’s title-winning U20 Six Nations campaign last year, he made his senior international debut against Japan in the autumn and should get more game time in the coming weeks. In the past seen by the RFU as a loosehead, Opoku-Fordjour himself prefers tighthead, although his versatility will be a huge asset.
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Tom Jordan, Scotland
News of Sione Tuipulotu’s injury was a bitter blow for Scotland, a familiar twist of fate just as all seemed to be lining up for a title challenge. The captain’s absence due to a chest injury disrupts a settled and superb backline that had built beautifully together, but Gregor Townsend’s squad is deeper than previous iterations. Stafford McDowall is developing well in Tuipulotu and Huw Jones’s slipstream at Glasgow, while Rory Hutchinson remains a classy operator at Northampton.
But the versatile Jordan is a figure of real intrigue. His assured, animated performances at full-back during the autumn showed that he can be an international option away from No 10, and the 26-year-old has the physicality to fill a midfield hole if required, as he’s shown at Glasgow. He is perhaps unfortunate to have emerged at a time when Finn Russell and Blair Kinghorn occupy the two starting spots a playmaker might more realistically covet. With Gregor Townsend surely considering a six/two bench split, Jordan feels an ideal fit in the 23 jersey and should further accentuate Scotland’s attacking potential.
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