The Albany Gazette - Epic Six Nations raises defensive questions before Rugby World Cup

The competition featured a record 211 tries with a series of swashbuckling displays, shock results and wildly swinging fortunes.

But with all the excitement and drama, it could not be ignored the six teams conceded a record 211 tries too.

France may have won for the second year in a row -- and equalled their record try-tally of 30 achieved last year -- but with 19 tries conceded, that too was a new marker for a championship-winning team.

France full-back Thomas Ramos, who kicked the title-winning penalty with the final play of Saturday's thrill-a-minute 48-46 victory over England, told France Televisions the team was going to have "some frank conversations" about their defence.

Along with their 50-40 defeat to Scotland the week before, France conceded 96 points and 14 tries in just two games.

"At this level, we cannot concede 50, then more than 40, if we want to exist in major competitions," he said.

"If we concede so many tries, those will be won without us."

Head coach Fabien Galthie questioned whether his team had prepared "in the best way" for each match.

"There will be many things to look at from a tactical point of view, technically, but also in the approach to the match, the performance," Galthie said.

But, strangely, defence coach Shaun Edwards -- a former England rugby league player who also previously held that role with Wales -- insisted there was not much to worry about with his side's leaky defence.

"Another crazy game, a great one for the fans, rugby at the moment is phenomenal," he told ITV.

He was the Wales defence coach when the team conceded only two tries on their way to the Grand Slam in 2008.

"If it was just your team conceding lots of points you would be worried -- it's frustrating, but that's the way the game is going," he said.

- Attacking 'blueprint' -

One team that mostly bucked the trend was second-placed Ireland, who finished with the fewest points (108) and fewest tries (14) conceded.

Coach Andy Farrell was delighted with how well his side battled back from their harrowing opening 36-14 defeat to France to come within a kick of winning the title.

"It's something that we're trying to make sure that we're continuing to do: put pressure on ourselves and deliver when it matters to us," he said after their 43-21 victory over Scotland landed a fourth Triple Crown in five years.

"That was why we were able to put that type of performance in."

England endured a torrid tournament, losing four Six Nations matches in a season for the first time as they finished fifth -- they're joint lowest in the six-team era.

But their spirits were pretty high after outscoring France by seven tries to six in Paris, even though they paid for missing three conversions.

"The way we attacked is our blueprint. That's what we have to take forward," said replacement scrum-half Jack van Poortvliet.

Even after four straight defeats, vice-captain Jamie George insisted that England "will be right up there with the favourites to win the World Cup in 2027".

- 'Be ambitious' -

In the end, most teams seemed happy attacks had dominated defences and it was a largely positive tournament for almost everyone.

Wales earned their first Six Nations win in three years, beating Italy 31-17 in their final match, and significantly improved as the tournament progressed, which coach Steve Tandy put down to gaining "a bit of confidence and cohesion".

They have also found a new icon in try-scoring, dummy-throwing prop Rhys Carre.

Italy matched their best ever finish of fourth and finally beat England at the 33rd attempt.

But head coach Gonzalo Quesada wants more.

"We need to improve, be ambitious, make ourselves respected and keep our feet on the ground," he said.

Scotland came as close as ever to genuinely playing for the Six Nations title on the final day of the competition, despite losing to Italy on the opening day.

"I'm super proud of the group and the way we bounced back after Italy," said captain Sione Tuipulotu.

"It's not an easy thing to do. we've definitely made progress."

(O.Robinson--TAG)