The Women's Six Nations Is Faster And Smarter - But Is It Better?

The first 40 minutes of nan Women's Six Nations was, astatine best, a half for nan purists.

Estelle Sartini, a PE coach from Caen, kicked nan only points arsenic France, 1 of nan favourites for nan inaugural title, headed for nan dressing rooms pinch a 3-0 lead complete Spain, who contested nan first 5 editions earlier being replaced by Italy successful 2007.

This twelvemonth will beryllium nan 25th staging of nan competition. And nan crippled has changed. But has it been for nan better?

Does accrued athleticism and tactical nous consequence losing nan unique characteristic of nan women's game?

Simon Middleton, who was England's caput coach for 8 years earlier opinionated down aft nan 2023 Six Nations, saw nan alteration firsthand.

"The women's crippled doesn't want to beryllium nan men's crippled - and that's really it should be," he said.

But, first, what do nan numbers say?

The 2025 Women's Six Nations was nan highest scoring ever, pinch an mean of 55.9 points per game. It is portion of trend, alternatively than an anomaly.

The 5 highest-scoring tournaments person each taken spot since 2019.

After 2 rounds of this season's tournament, nan mean stands astatine 58 points a crippled - connected way for different record.

Is it simply nan truth that England, world champions and seven-time defending champions, are moving amok and pushing up nan average?

The Red Roses person surely been dominant. They racked up winning margins of 55 and 52 points against Wales and Scotland respectively past year.

So acold successful this year's tourney they person seen disconnected Ireland by 21 points and Scotland by a whopping 77-point margin.

But moreover if you region England's results from nan calculations, teams are scoring more.

Take nan Red Roses' fixtures retired of information and location was still a grounds mean of 51.2 points per lucifer successful 2025, matching nan precocious group for nan aforesaid metric successful 2021.

The maturation successful points has outstripped nan emergence successful nan winning separator arsenic well.

The mean number of points per lucifer successful 2007, erstwhile Italy first joined nan tournament, was conscionable awkward of 30, astir half of what it was successful 2025.

The mean winning separator meantime has risen, but only slightly, from 19.5 points to 25.4 complete nan aforesaid period.

In this year's tourney nan mean winning separator is presently higher than accustomed astatine 34 points, but an incomplete fixture database make it an imperfect comparison.

That grounds precocious successful points being scored has travel contempt teams keeping nan shot successful manus less.

Over nan past 5 years, nan shot has been kicked much than ever successful nan Women's Six Nations, pinch a dependable and accordant emergence from an mean of 26.1 kicks per crippled successful 2021 to 44.7 successful 2025.

The number of footwear metres has doubled.

"I surely was blessed pinch England erstwhile I came in, because I had truthful galore really technically bully players, who could footwear nan shot really good - Emily Scarratt, Katy Daley-Mclean and a number of different players - and that fresh perfectly pinch really we wanted to play," Middleton told BBC Sport.

"Other teams didn't person that for a agelong time.

"The full staffing group level has risen importantly crossed each nan nations, pinch an summation successful coaching standards and a tactical consciousness of playing a territory-based game, alternatively than a possession-based game.

"Over nan past 4 aliases 5 years certainly, a batch of teams person astir apt shaped their cardinal players to fresh that.

"You look astatine Dannah O'Brien - she's sewage a awesome kicking crippled and Ireland built each their crippled astir her, kick-chasing from wrong their ain half.

"Wales pinch Lleucu George and Keira Bevan - they play a very kick-dominated game.

"During my clip pinch England, France became a squad that kicked much than we did.

"Two things person changed - nan crippled knowing and nan method expertise of players to beryllium capable to play that way."

Teams are utilizing nan footwear more, putting nan shot successful down defences sooner, alternatively than playing though aggregate passages successful hunt of an opening.

The stock of possessions pinch 5 aliases much phases has dropped year-on-year successful nan Women's Six Nations since 2020.

There has been a parallel alteration however.

Those passages of play are coming quicker and quicker, pinch 62.8% of rucks completed successful nether 3 seconds successful past year's competition, up 10% connected nan 2020 competition.

That rapid-fire ruck velocity was a characteristic of nan Women's Rugby World Cup past twelvemonth arsenic well, pinch Canada and England some getting done 45% of their rucks successful little than 2 seconds successful their semi-finals, quicker than nan mean men's Test side.

In nan 2021 tournament, England's balanced fig was only 21%.

"High ruck velocity delivers momentum, speedy shot is bully attacking ball, cutting down nan defence's clip to organise," says Middleton.

"These are each things we know, but I deliberation location are a mates of things astatine nan guidelines of nan crippled getting faster.

"Firstly location is nan method improvement successful players - assemblage position successful nan clear retired and nan for illustration - but also, and astir apt conscionable arsenic important if not much so, location is nan beingness capacity of players now to spell again and again and again. There are immoderate tremendous athletes retired there."

Perhaps nan astir predictable alteration to person coincided pinch nan women's crippled becoming much master has been astatine nan set-piece.

Line-outs and scrums are becoming much reliable sources of shot for each teams pinch occurrence rates of 89% and 95% respectively successful past year's tournament.

Goal-kicking, a likewise repeatable accomplishment which benefits from training time, is besides up pinch a 70.1% occurrence complaint representing a post-pandemic high.

Kickers are landing much from retired wide too. Their occurrence complaint from wrong 10m of nan touchline was 41% successful 2025, different emergence connected nan erstwhile 5 years.

More reliable goal-kickers and a greater accent connected kicking retired of manus has made nan women's crippled person to nan men's successful immoderate respects.

Middleton warns that it needs to support immoderate of its catch-pass productivity and chopped difference.

"It is simply a different type of marque and it's played for a different type of assemblage and I don't deliberation a crippled excessively heavy based connected kicking will suit it," he said.

"That's good coming from maine and nan measurement we played!

"But if everybody goes down nan way of being really tactical and playing territory alternatively than possession, being really prescriptive, alternatively than pinch heads up and eyes open, you could spot a batch of shot being kicked distant and nan shot pinging backmost and distant and cipher really wants to spot that."