Borthwick’s men can aspire to the sky when Six Nations kicks off — in Ojomoh and Pollock, they finally have players to drag us off our seats

One year from Sunday we will be gnawing at the fresh bones of rugby’s newest event, the Nations Championship. The final will just have taken place at Twickenham and we will know whether it has justified one recent prediction: that it will prove a tectonic shift in the game. And for non-volcanologists, tectonic shifts “cause … earthquakes and volcanic eruptions”. Phew!

At first glance, next autumn looks the same as this autumn, which has passed in a welter of fine rugby, mediocre rugby, controversy and frustrating pauses for the television match official. England, joyously, did what they had to do by winning all four games and the old stadium showed warming signs of returning to the cause. Max Ojomoh and others at last produced something to drag us off our seats, or in the case of Henry Pollock to drag people to TikTok.

Next autumn is the climax to the new tournament. England will play Australia, Japan and New Zealand. Very much a normal-sounding programme. It is concluded by finals weekend, in which each of the Six Nations teams will play the side finishing in the same position among the six southern hemisphere teams — top v top in the final, second v second, and so on.

Max Ojomoh celebrates scoring his try for England.

Ojomoh was one of the standout players in a perfect autumn for England

MARK PAIN/ALAMY

In other words, the RFU is going to steal in yet again with a fourth autumn game, which in its case will either be the grand final or simply a game against the southern opponent of equal standing. Player welfare? Another day.

England will already have played away against South Africa, Fiji and Argentina in the southern leg of their programme, which takes place in July. We wait with bated breath to find out if the traditional major-nations carve-up has been applied, or will they allow Fiji and Argentina to play exactly where they should be for their home games — in Fiji and Argentina?

That, to me, holds the key to the credibility of the whole event. Is it really for the global good of the game, or another ruse for the big unions to coin it in? Again. And while teething problems are inevitable, it really does dull the soul when you learn that Fiji will almost certainly have to come to play their home game at Twickenham.

That is a continuation of the abuse of the next ranks of rugby nations committed for ever by the old guard. Please don’t bother telling me that Fiji’s stadiums are not very big. The key is that Fijian followers absolutely deserve the right to watch their team close up, to touch their hem, just for a change.

There is talk that Fiji is not equipped quite well enough with medical equipment. In that case the major unions should pay to have all the latest technology installed in those glorious islands. If this event truly is to be the usual old-guard carve-up, then it will flush itself down the lavatory.

Tommy Freeman of England breaks with the ball during the Quilter Nations Series 2025 rugby international match against Fiji.

Fiji are likely to be back at Twickenham in 12 months’ time

And just to make it different next year, you feel strongly that the final should have been fixed for Wembley. The Twickenham experience is fine but can be a little samey. At least at Wembley there is a chance of emerging from the car park before the following Tuesday. The whole environment there — admittedly in a newer venue — is way better for spectator comforts.

But it is only when the second of the Nations Championships takes place, in three years’ time, that it begins to fork lightning and change its appearance. Lusail Stadium, Doha, is in line to host the final. We are then faced with two questions in reverse order of importance for visiting rugby fans. First, how easy is it to get there (fairly easy, a galaxy of flights)? Second, is alcohol available? The answer is that it is, although it can be a little restricted. Again, phew.

But rugby has had to follow the scent of Middle East money like tracker dogs. If the event is successful in Qatar and the Qataris get what they want out of it, the whole thing may just take away some of the financial pressure under which rugby is operating, and at last remove some of the pressure from the players. However the organisers try to portray it, the new event adds more travel, it adds an extra game and continues the process by which rugby has to pay for itself by repeating itself. Saudi Arabia has the round ball, Qatar the oval one.

But at least the new tournament has a less ragged look about it. And at least the 12 teams playing in the Nations Championship have 12 equivalents in the new World Rugby Nations Cup, in which 12 of the next rank of nations, at long last, have their own event. Now that really is joyous, even if it is belated. Spain, Georgia, the USA and others can take flight.

Vano Karkadze of Georgia celebrates scoring his team's second try during a Rugby World Cup match.

Georgia should be one of the main beneficiaries of the new system

PAUL HARDING/GETTY IMAGES

But just fixing the games for the next 12 in Division Two is not enough. World Rugby and sponsors and television and even the old-guard unions must boost it like crazy, market it as if it were bonkers, give it the kitchen sink. And then, when it is all running properly, we can come at last to the Holy Grail, and the only way that rugby will ever make itself fair — promotion and relegation among the two competitions.

And, yes, for the bottom Six Nations team too. Had such a system been in operation this season, Wales would be facing relegation. Rugby has been dishonest and jealous and smug for too long. The old guard must join a much bigger party. The international game has been horribly unfair for decades.

And who would be among the early favourites for the new event? None other than dear old England. To see Ojomoh underline the depth of talent coming through in English rugby against Argentina last weekend was simply wonderful. I have to say that watching our Max carving up the opposition brought back memories of the prince of centres himself, Jeremy Guscott.

England won all four games. That was the minimum requirement and they achieved the maximum with their performances. Now they must crash on. Just like England in the years of Geoff Cooke, Jack Rowell and Sir Clive Woodward, they must regard anything bar a grand slam in the 2026 Six Nations as failure. Once they absorb that reality, they are off and running again.

But with Elliot Daly back to join Freddie Steward in the full-back ranks; with Charlie Atkinson emerging strongly to back up George Ford and Fin Smith at fly half; with the pool of front-row forwards improved — if not, yet, devastating — and with the work that Steve Borthwick and Richard Wigglesworth and Lee Blackett are doing bearing fruit, then they should be aspiring to the sky.

And in terms of the edge-of-the-seat attitudes and the new noise at Twickenham, you would love to know how the attention span affected bar takings. You would love to think that they were well down because no one wanted to leave their seats.

Sam Prendergast of Ireland looks dejected following the Quilter Nations Series 2025 match between Ireland and South Africa.

Ireland stood up to a superior South Africa but ultimately fell short at the Aviva Stadium

South Africa were fantastic and it was an incredible performance by Ireland’s defence — and testimony to their morale — that they did not lose by the monster margin that the Springboks’ superiority dictated. With respect, we have always believed that the fine tight-head prop Andrew Porter was not a world-class force on the loose-head and he was duly taken to the cleaners and back again last weekend.

Indeed, I was totally dismayed to hear Owen Doyle, the fine Irish former referee for whom I have great respect, almost hinting that the referee should penalise teams equally. South Africa had by far the better scrum, and that had a seismic effect on the rest of the game. It is up to the rest of the world not to continue to chop away the authority of a powerhouse scrum, but rather to develop props to counter it.

Matthew Carley’s performance as referee was world-class, and he proved that refereeing can still be consistent in the miasma of replays and controversies and cards of many colours. There were so many talking points this autumn, but next season there will be about a thousand more. Rugby is still chasing itself to earn more. If Qatar can take away the pressure in the future, then we will love it for ever. Or at least, we can give that a try.

And the final word on the recent autumn? It will be the same after the next autumn. Rugby is crackers. Stark, staring, sometimes endearingly so, but always crackers.

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Now England must crash on — anything bar grand slam would be a failure