6 Talking Points: The 2025 Six Nations captains set their sights on glory

It was a star-studded ensemble in the Italian capital of Rome, as six of the competition's biggest names met up for a press conference in the 'Eternal City'. The guest list read as a 'who's who' of European rugby, as Antoine Dupont, Maro Itoje, Michele Lamaro, Caelan Doris, Jac Morgan and Rory Darge all had their say for the upcoming competition. In this article, we'll revisit the immense media session and showcase the biggest talking points, as all six of the captains set out their plans for Six Nations glory.

We'll begin with the defending Men's Six Nations champions, as Ireland set out to make history in this year's competition. Never before has a side won three consecutive titles, since the tournament expanded to include Italy in 2000. Ireland have the chance to achieve just that this year, and captain Caelan Doris laid out the plan of action for what could be an unforgettable campaign for the men in green.

However, Ireland had a mixed bag of an Autumn Nations Series, with a home defeat to the All Blacks, and unconvincing wins over Argentina and Australia denting their previously revered aura. Add into the mix the absence of Andy Farrell, as the regular head coach now takes up his role with the British & Irish Lions, and it could well prove to be a trickier campaign for Simon Easterby's side, if they want to complete a famous hat-trick of title triumphs.

CAELAN DORIS: "It's about our evolution and improving the awareness that all these teams around us are right up there. It's so competitive, that is the great thing about this competition, each game, you can't take anything for granted. For us, England, at home, first off, so it's hard to look beyond that for now. But, in terms of our preparation and our mindset generally, it's one of needing to evolve, needing to improve individually, collectively. So it's an exciting prospect."

"Simon's (Easterby) been unbelievable for us over the last number of years, he's taken on both the line-out initially, and then moved into a defensive role, and he's got a tonne of respect amongst the players in how he leads our defense and in how he is as a person. The one on one time he puts in the players too,. so a lot of what you look for in a head coach has been there in Simon over the last number of years.

"I think we've lost in Faz, (Andy Farrell) he's obviously been a massive figure for us, but we've had the likes of Jonny (Sexton) we've lost in the past as well. Instead of any one person trying to fill the void, it's a shared responsibility. So it should be equal, and we'll take a little bit of that on too."

Leading the chasing pack to take the Six Nations title away from Irish hands, France enter this year's tournament looking like the team to beat. Hot off the back of an incredible Autumn Nations Series, as they ended November as the only unbeaten Northern Hemisphere side, Fabien Galthie's men are on a real surge of momentum in search of their first title since 2022.

The famous Autumn win over the All Blacks has set the tone for Les Bleus, with expectations high in France that a returning Dupont can spearhead a silverware winning campaign. However, key injuries to Charles Ollivon, Gael Fickou and Damien Penaud throw spanners into the works for Galthie's Galacticos, as despite having Dupont back in the fold, France are certainly not a 'one man team'. Dupont missed the 2024 Six Nations as he was preparing for the Olympic Sevens, and shared his excitement to be back in the mix.

ANTOINE DUPONT: "Yeah, I waited a lot, it was not easy to watch the games from in front of the TV last year. But now I am very excited to come back in to this beautiful tournament, and I hope I'm ready for the first game. I think we've got a lot of pressure from the start, and from the other team's here. I think that we have the potential to win it, but we are five games away, and it will be a big challenge for us, and it will be very important to get it right."

"Yes, as we said, we always want more time to train now, but certainly we're pretty comfortable to have two weeks before the first game, especially with one weekend off. It's more for us, and it gives us some more time to be the best as we can for the first game."

"As I said, it was not easy to watch the games, the result last year was not what we wanted. But as I said again, although the team was supportive of my sevens project, I think even if we were not on our best level, the result was pretty good. We finished second in the tournament (2024 Six Nations) we had a good tournament. And we had a good series in November to keep momentum from this series, to try to keep aligned for the Six Nations."

"Honestly, I just focus on my current objective. I think I have enough tests to deal with every day, to be focused, to be the best as I can every day. Try to improve my game. We have a lot of expectations at Toulouse this year and with the French team well, So I just focus on that."

It's a new era for England as head coach Steve Borthwick named Maro Itoje captain of his side, with the armband taken off Jamie George. There is plenty of expectation upon Itoje to lead England to a strong Six Nations campaign, after their recent endeavours have been underwhelming runs in the tournament. The latest Autumn Nations Series was a case of 'so close, yet so far' for England, who succumbed to gut-punching defeats to New Zealand and Australia in the final moments of the matches.

The defeat to South Africa was a more convincing victory for the world champion Springboks, before England ended their 2024 calendar year on a high as they defeated Japan. It's going to be an interesting campaign for Maro Itoje's side, with former captain Jamie George amongst an assortment of players that have already been sidelined through injury. George is joined by Northampton fullback George Furbank, Exeter wing Manny Feyi-Waboso and Harlequins back row Alex Dombrandt as some key faces to miss out in the tournament's early rounds. Itoje expressed his desire to elevate his own performance as captain.

MARO ITOJE: "I hope we having this role doesn't change my game, and I still want to be aggressive about my kind of I still want to have a high output. So obviously, this is an incredible honour, and I feel very privileged to be the position I'm in today. But in terms of my performance, if anything, I just hope to improve with the areas that I'm strong."

"It's a massive, massive privilege. Some great players have had this role in the past before me, so I hope to follow there footsteps. So, my job now is to serve the team, serve the fans, and to do the role of justice."

"Now, this Six Nations is huge for us, and not necessarily about silencing the critics or anything like that, it's about achieving what we want to achieve as a team. And to do that, you need to succeed, you need to win. So, you know, we want to grow, we want to develop, we want to progress, and to do all of those things. We want to get the right results."

"I'm sitting here with five other teams, every one of these teams are quality teams, but I think if we I believe that we have the potential to do well and win against all the teams. So really, we want to progress. We want to fulfill our potential. We want to take a step in the right direction and that ultimately will be judged on how successful we are."

The 2024 Six Nations was a definitive statement for Italy, who continue to progress on as an exciting force for any opponent. Triumphs over Wales and Scotland elevated the Azzurri's stock within the eyes of rugby's global audience, after Italy ended their seven year wait for a Six Nations win in the final round of the 2022 campaign. Gonzalo Quesada's men are done making up the numbers in Rugby's Greatest Championship and 2025 is a historic year for Italy.

The tournament marks their 25th anniversary since joining the competition, and Michele Lamaro will be eager to lead his side to more memorable victories. Italy's contention to upset the odds can be seen in their impressive array of world class talents. The French Top 14 hosts the likes of Ange Capuozzo and Paolo Garbisi, whilst Benetton in the URC is home to captain Lamaro, Seb Negri and the midfield duo of Tomasso Menoncello and Juan Ignacio Brex. This Italy side is one to certainly keep an eye on, with more underdog triumphs potentially in store for the Azzurri.

MICHELE LAMARO: "At the end of the day, it's tight, but the guys chasing sometimes might be the trouble. Because it is something different to face, because there is lots of expectation on the side and on the other side, the (other) teams are starting to look at us differently.

"But you know, at the end of the day, it's a different tournament, it's a different year, it's a different team. So I think we need to focus on ourselves, on what we can do, in order to not only improve from last year, and take that confidence in, but at the same time, staying humble and trying to move on top and trying to improve day of the day."

"For myself as well and for the team today, the game is the game. You put in a performance in that allows you to win the game, at very last second against an unbelievable team. You know, the performance doesn't change. The only thing that's changed is the result. You always have to deal with both of these two things.

"You know, the performance on the one side, is the only thing you can control. The results, sometimes you cannot really control 100% of it. We knew that small, small details make a lot of difference, and most of the times it makes a difference in the results. So in order to do better next time, we just need to focus on what we can control."

Could this be the year that Scotland win the Men's Six Nations, as the fabled tartan warriors have never lifted the silverware since Italy joined the fray 25 years ago. The last title triumph for Scotland was the final installment of the Five Nations Championship in 1999, with an agonisingly long wait endured by the faithful fans from North of the border.

Gregor Townsend has made some exciting additions to his squad, with New Zealand born (and English qualified) fly half called up from Saracens. Jack Mann also joins the fold from Glasgow Warriors, with the back row bruiser and talented halfback eager for their Scottish debuts in the upcoming tournament. However, a massive injury blow was struck to Sione Tuipulotu, as Scotland's regular skipper will miss out on the entire competition, with Rory Darge and Finn Russell taking up shared co-captaincy roles.

RORY DARGE: "I think some learnings from last season was about that sort of consistency based on momentum in the squads. Early on Monday morning, sometimes even on the Sunday, but all the meetings that we had, everyone's at the same page already. Discussions and breaking out into groups, that's the kind of thing that we're going on about, is hopefully push the consistency when it comes time to deliver. You know, we can refer back to the whole week's prep, and we've been consistent in every training session."

"I think it (belief) has always been there. We come in every camp and work hard to really push the dial of developing every day, putting so much work in as a squad, as individuals. But you have to have that belief. Because sometimes it seems like you're getting marginal sort of games for the benefit that you could then, like Michele (Lamaro) was saying earlier, you can control something, but the result is not 100% in your control.

"You can deliver what you can. And there's many controls to come into it, you know, the referee's decisions, injury, whatever, can come into it. But, you can only control what you can control, and having that belief sort of helps you come in when your sore after the weekend and still graft."

The pressure is on for Wales, after a miserable 2024 year failed to bring a single win back to the 'Old Land of My Fathers'. Ospreys back row Jac Morgan has been named to captain the side throughout the 2025 Six Nations, and the 25-year-old will benefit from the returning experienced players that are coming back into the fold. The likes of Liam Williams, Taulupe Faletau and former captain Dafydd Jenkins are back in the Welsh camp, with their sights set on tomorrow's opening round clash with Wales.

There has been some high profile names left out of the ranks, with Gloucester fly half Garenth Anscombe a surprise omission from Warren Galtand's squad. Add in the speculation of a rumoured Wales return for Louis Rees-Zammit, as the former wing is having a difficult time securing a contract over in the NFL, and we could well be set for some surprises from the Welsh squad, who will be desperate to get off the mark and avoid the dreaded wooden spoon. Morgan addressed the desire to turn Wales' form around.

JAC MORGAN: "Yes, it's something that we've worked on off the field, it's something that's been worked on in the weeks. The practice and putting it in on the training pitch to try and keep on improving and keep on developing every day, and keep on building as a squad and just gain that experience. Hopefully then from the training pitch we'll be able to work hard and push forward, and we can spin it (results) around."

"Yeah, it's good to have them back (experienced players). You know, just having that experience, it's been brilliant. You know, they're obviously leaders within the team, and they've had experience of being in campaigns before. So they can bring that on to the younger boys who are also in the squad. And so you got boys like Liam Williams and Josh Harding as well, back in the backs, and you know that just that experience can help, and it can help, you know, improve a squad and everything."