Nothing about the men’s Six Nations is obviously cool or trendy. The respective kits don’t change much from one season to the next, the weather can be deeply average and there is no sign of Taylor Swift. The games are not always end-to-end thrillers and rugby union is notoriously a sport which struggles to appeal to all demographics in the way certain others do.
And yet, year after year, if you were to compile a list of the most gripping and emotional sporting contests the world’s oldest tournament is usually right up there. As was once again the case at the weekend. “Super Saturday” is the marketing tag for the fifth and final round of fixtures but for passion, excitement, gladiatorial combat and sheer “let’s be having you” delirium its immediate predecessor will be mighty hard to beat.
