Six Nations 2024 awards: our writers on their highlights of the tournament

From Marcus Smith’s drop goal to Wales’s doomed heroics, here are our picks for best moment, match and more

Player of the tournament

Tempted to say Antoine Dupont, whose stock rose even higher in his absence. Or Tommy Reffell, a rare shaft of light for Wales. But Ireland won the title again and James Lowe is among the green machine’s most vital cogs. He contributed four tries, two of them in defeat to England, and his roving instincts and long kicking game add even more value. Robert Kitson

Michele Lamaro. There were showier players, speedier players, stronger players, and more skilful players, but Italy’s captain was absolutely indomitable. He played every minute of every match, made 103 tackles (24 more than anyone else in the tournament) and led them to their best ever record. Andy Bull

Tommaso Menoncello. Bundee Aki is probably the correct answer, while François Cros has a strong claim too, but Menoncello enjoyed a fantastic tournament with Italy, never more so than when filling in on the wing against France. Gerard Meagher

Italy’s captain joked that he is getting old after Saturday’s victory in Cardiff, but it does feel as if Michele Lamaro has waited an age for a team to match his example. He has endured difficult times and richly deserves their success. Luke McLaughlin

Take your pick. Outstanding performers everywhere. Never has a Six Nations seen so many. But if you are a hooker who finds yourself scoring more points than another team’s goal-kicker you must be doing something right. Dan Sheehan has it all. Michael Aylwin

Match of the tournament

France v England in Lyon had almost everything. A flawed classic, perhaps, but the atmosphere was outstanding and both France and England frequently attacked with purpose and class. The similarly electric England v Ireland game a week earlier was a close second. RK

There were plenty of good ones, with 10 of the games settled by five points or less, but England’s win against Ireland at Twickenham was a cut above any of the others. It was their best performance since 2019, and they still only won it by a point with a drop goal in the final minute. AB

England 23-22 Ireland. Twickenham hadn’t rocked like that in years and it edges out Saturday’s finale because there was much still at stake, whereas Ireland’s win over Scotland let off the shackles in Lyon. The first three rounds had been low on quality but the tournament sprang to life in round four and that was the highlight. GM

The French win in Lyon was memorable but, considering what was at stake for Ireland and England, their wild round‑four Twickenham classic ranks top. Marcus Smith derailed an Irish grand slam and steadied Steve Borthwick’s ship after the Murrayfield debacle. LM

Take your pick. Outstanding matches everywhere. Never has a Six Nations seen so many. England’s matches in rounds three, four and five were extraordinary, likewise Italy’s, Ireland’s opening win and Wales’s unfinished comeback against Scotland. England v Ireland clinches it for drama and jeopardy. MA

Favourite moment

Landing back on terra firma after a storm-tossed flight to Dublin (we ended up being diverted to Belfast) for the Six Nations launch. And, look, I’m no Grace Dent, but if you ever find yourself in Lyon the food really is different gravy. RK

Nolann Le Garrec’s breakaway try against England after François Cros poached a lineout off George Martin was as good as any I’ve seen live in a while. The English defence barely managed a touch on any of the French attackers between them. AB

Stevie Mulrooney belting out Ireland’s Call, raising what is already a high bar for national anthems in this tournament. Honourable mentions for Le Garrec’s outrageous pass and the tunnel row between Andy Farrell and Steve Borthwick which might have won if it had gotten a little more heated. GM

Paolo Garbisi’s smile springs to mind. When the ball slipped off the tee in Rome before his opening penalty against Scotland, he accepted the repeat of his Lille calamity with good humour. But Smith’s drop goal was a championship-shaping intervention. LM

Take your pick. Outstanding moments everywhere. Never has a Six Nations seen so many. But Le Garrec’s 25-metre reverse pass against Wales gets it. Too often such skills come off as showboating, but this one was demanded by the moment. France nearly scored a beauty off it. MA

Biggest surprise

It would have been Italy beating France in Lille, had the ball not toppled from the tee as Garbisi was set to kick the winning points. Everyone knew Italy were improving but their rejuvenated confidence since the World Cup has been wonderful to behold. RK

England’s win against Ireland aside, the way Italy fought back after losing their first two games and then going seven points down to France in Lille showed a resilience no one outside the team can really have known they had in them. AB

I expected there to be a World Cup hangover, but I didn’t think it would be for France and I did not see them being beaten at home by Ireland so emphatically. It is to Italy’s great credit that the manner of their victory over Wales wasn’t particularly surprising at all. GM

Monty Ioane said “not much has changed” for Italy, which shows a mindset shift and a few tactical tweaks can go a long way. The surprise is not that they’re winning, but that they suddenly look so comfortable. LM

The way a ball toppled off a tee in a breathless stadium with the roof closed. How? France were saved humiliation by this subversion of the laws of physics in round three. Then again, it happened once more to Garbisi in round four. Needs to work on that. MA

In 2025, I would like to see …

Fewer examples of television match officials and touchline assistants influencing the outcome of huge games. The crucial disallowed try at the end of the Scotland v France game should clearly have been awarded and a host of other similar offences were ignored before Ben Earl’s fateful no-arms tackle in Lyon. Water carriers sledging referees also needs addressing. RK

A Welsh revival under Warren Gatland, which, given the way everyone else is playing, would mean that for the first time since Italy joined the championship all six teams would fancy their chances of beating each of the other five. AB

A change to the scoring system. There is no doubting Ireland’s superiority but they had one hand on the trophy after the first round, which was far from ideal. Bonus points are well-intentioned but not really necessary in a tournament such as this. GM

Less emphasis on drinking alcohol among fans. Why not focus on the match and leave the beer until afterwards? Plus, Wales moving in the right direction under Gatland, England continuing to evolve under Steve Borthwick and, most important, Antoine Dupont. LM

Bonus points scrapped. They add very little to individual matches, other than occasionally motivating a side to push for one at the very end. No team ever changes the way they play because of them. And the effect on so short a home-and-away tournament can be ruinous. MA

Robert Kitson’s team of the tournament

A fluctuating season has thrown up some unexpected stars of the show. Italy’s centres fully deserve recognition and, although Nolann Le Garrec did not start every game, his talent is self-evident. Thomas Ramos was by no means a perfect 10 but his goal-kicking was magnifique; elsewhere the hard-working Caelan Doris wears number six to accommodate the turbo-charged Ben Earl.

Memory lane

Italy made history this year by avoiding defeat in three of their five matches for the first time. In 2000, at the start of the Six Nations era, the Azzurri made their tournament debut in memorable fashion by beating the defending champions Scotland 34-20 at the Stadio Olimpico. They scored just one try, through the replacement Giampiero de Carli, with the Argentinian-born fly-half Diego Domínguez kicking the rest of their points: six penalties, three drop goals and a conversion. They waited three years for another victory, against Wales in Romeat home to Wales in 2003.

Still want more?

It was not a vintage Six Nations in absolutely all respects but the old tournament is enjoying a refreshing renaissance, argues Robert Kitson.

Having sealed a second straight Six Nations title, Ireland’s head coach Andy Farrell is relishing their summer trip to South Africa, writes Michael Aylwin.

George Ford is flourishing amid England’s fresh commitment to attack and believes “the penny has dropped” among the players regarding “how dangerous we can be”. Gerard Meagher reports.

And England are on the rise under Steve Borthwick for the first time in a long time, reckons Andy Bull.

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