Wales have now finished bottom of both the men's and women's Six Nations in three consecutive years. Across those six campaigns, the Welsh have won two games. Both against Italy, both in the final round in Cardiff. Round five 2026 was not one of them — Italy 43, Wales 24 in the Welsh capital, the visitors completing a two-from-five tournament that Squidge Rugby on Sunday flagged as the biggest positive of the entire competition.
"Wales have picked up a double triple wooden spoon," the Squidge Rugby team noted. "Three years in a row, Wales have now finished bottom of both the men's and women's Six Nations. Um, between those six tournaments they've won two games, all of them against Italy in the final round in Cardiff. This was not one of them."
The pressure on Wales boss Shaun Lynn — one win in a year in charge — is the natural sporting reflex. Squidge's read is that this is the wrong fix.
"I don't think that is the case because if you break down what the role of the head coach is — it is player and squad management — and by all accounts Shaun Lynn is one of the best out there at that," Squidge said. "And if you look at this team they are playing unbelievably hard for him and for each other. That's part of the culture he's built."
The Squidge analysis frames Wales not as underperforming but as ceiling-bound. Without an Ellie Kildunne or an Alex Callender figure available, with Jasmine Joyce essentially a Sevens player converted to fifteens, with two centres in Courtney Keight and Carys Cox who are both running threats more than passers, the talent pool is what it is.
"I think Wales have played tactics. They've got the most out of this team," Squidge said. "I think the ceiling of this current Welsh team with where the women's game is right now is what they're doing now, but they're more clinical. There's a world in which they won that Italy game, but it would have taken Italy [collapsing]."
Italy's win in Cardiff was anchored by fly-half Veronica Madia, named player of the match and described by Squidge as one of the campaign's true standouts.
"Veronica Madia was exceptional," they said. "Attack, defence, kicking game, everything. I think she's been outstanding all Six Nations. I thought this was the best performance she's put in. One of her best performances in a blue shirt. She's been brilliant all tournament and for, you know, four or five years now. She's one of the best 10s in the world at identifying that moment."
The podcast singled out Italy's contact-skills coach, Fabio Roselli — instantly recognisable on the sideline thanks to a teddy bear he carries — as a turning point hire.
"Italy went 14 turnovers," Squidge said. "That second half was basically just watching Welsh players get turned over for 40 minutes. I feel like not enough attention is going to their new breakdown skills coach."
For Wales, the message from Squidge is patience with the rebuild. Coach Shaun Lynn has begun pushing 19- and 20-year-olds like Georgia Evans, Sarah Singleton and Sarah Lockwood into international rugby. The argument is that bulk-introducing the next generation, the way Welsh men did after the last World Cup, only injures their long-term development.
"I genuinely sense it's the same for every single player," the Squidge team said. "You see them come off the pitch and it's just kind. Bethan Lewis's post interview where you could sense she was either about to burst into tears or punch someone in the face — good on her for managing to hold it together. It can't be easy. But I don't know, it breaks my heart to see Wales losing games like this all the time. I genuinely feel like we've got the best person in terms of someone who is incredibly well qualified, knows his players, is also Welsh and passionate about this team. We've got the right person in the job to change that."
The verdict, from one of rugby's most listened-to analytical voices, is straight: sack Shaun Lynn and you fix nothing. Stay the course, lean on Georgia Evans's generation, and reassess in three years. Until then, the wooden spoons get easier to bear only because there are now so many of them.
