ITV's studio panel called time on the 2026 Six Nations with the kind of sign-off rugby has not earned from broadcasters in recent years, landing on a verdict that would once have been laughed off the screen: the tournament just ended was, without hyperbole, the best the Six Nations has ever produced.
The conversation on ITV's Six Nations wrap-up — featuring former France hooker Benjamin Kayser alongside the channel's studio team — hopped from Thomas Ramos's championship-winning penalty, to Italy's first-ever win over England, to Scotland's 50-point romp against France, before settling on a bigger statement.
"Benjamin, I think we could say it's been the best Six Nations of all time without being accused of hyperbole," the host put to Kayser to close the segment.
"Oh, all I can tell you is that I've had the absolute blast, and please more," Kayser replied. "When international rugby is good, it's just absolutely sensational. Sometimes we try to over-complicate things, change rules, question where's the future? Well, the future is exactly here. When 80,000 people start bouncing before a game and belt out the anthems, and then the players are able to produce under pressure like Ramos — unbelievable pieces of skill — you know, leadership side with Antoine Dupont. That's what we want to see. The next generation wants to be shook, wants to be full of emotions."
Ramos's Nerves of Steel
The panel's first pick — and the obvious topic on the night France lifted a back-to-back Six Nations trophy at Twickenham — was Ramos's late penalty from distance that sealed the title and condemned England to a record fourth championship defeat.
"I was absolutely blown away with Reece Carr's try in Dublin last week. The best try I've ever seen by a loose forward," the first pundit said. "But I have to say I have to change and I have to say that Thomas Ramos's penalty tonight was absolute nerves of steel. Delivered when it mattered. That just about tops three carries and a try in Dublin."
Kayser also picked Ramos — but for a different moment altogether. He highlighted the nine-metre slice kick Ramos manufactured for Louis Bielle-Biarrey in the opening round against Ireland, framing it as proof the France 10 is operating at a level above pure goal-kicking.
"I'll go back to Thomas Ramos," Kayser said. "That little slice kick, obviously, was repeated at training for Louis against Ireland in the opening round. Obviously, I'm joking. Total creativity, intuitive piece of skill. And Tom Ramos on a side note came to see us while Topsy and Maggie were talking, and I said, 'You know, those two legends said that you were the best kicker in the world.' He said, 'Look, I'm only dreaming of getting to their level.' See, so he even has a growth mindset about him."
Italy's Breakthrough in Rome
The standout moment that was not a piece of skill was a scoreboard — Italy beating England for the first time in 30 matches of Six Nations history. One panelist, who had been in the Stadio Olimpico for the fixture, described it as the release of a decades-long psychological weight.
"Being in this stadium tonight has been huge," the pundit said. "Watching these games, the tournament as a whole just been such a melange of surprises and just awesomeness. But also, I was in that Italian stadium to watch them take on England and they crossed a psychological barrier there. And they've earned it for years. They've had a tough time and they've stuck at it. They've taken it. Just to be in that stadium to feel whatever that was was a privilege."
Jonathan Davies, covering the tournament as a voice of experience in the Welsh seat, endorsed the Italy pick and gestured out from Twickenham at the tournament as a whole.
"I would agree with you, Johnny," Davies said. "And whatever that was and whatever it could be for Italy and France — Scotland scoring 50 points against France, we didn't see that [Reece Carr] try, Wales winning today. I mean all of it. You add it all up. It's been memorable."
'The Future Is Exactly Here'
The wider point the panel wanted to land — beyond the highlight reel — was that the 2026 championship had delivered the sort of unpredictability and crowd atmosphere that rugby has been told for years it was losing.
"Right, we're almost out of time, but rugby wants the eyeballs and the attention," the host opened the segment with. "If it carries on with spectacles like this that we've seen the last five or six weeks, it's going to get it."
Kayser pushed that further, arguing the sport has been playing catch-up to its own product for too long.
"When rugby — when international rugby is good, it's just absolutely sensational," he said. "Sometimes we try to over-complicate things, change rules, question 'where's the future?' Well, the future is exactly here."
France now take the back-to-back Six Nations trophy into what promises to be the most nervy build-up of the Antoine Dupont era — the 2027 Rugby World Cup in Australia. On this evidence, Fabien Galthie's side arrives with a title, an 80,000-seat stadium on its feet, and a studio panel across the Channel signing off with a compliment they have not handed out in years.
