How many more defeats before Wales start troubling the record books?
Wales welcome France to the Principality Stadium on Sunday with the odds stacked firmly against a home victory.
Languishing at 11th in the world rankings and with back-to-back Wooden Spoons behind them, you now have to go back to 2023 for the last time the Welsh tasted victory in the Men’s Six Nations championship.
That’s 12 consecutive losses – a figure that seems almost certain to increase to 13 when Antoine Dupont and co run out in Cardiff. Who knows, the biggest ever Six Nations margin of defeat may even be on the cards…
But are the Welsh staring down the barrel of an unwanted record? Or do they have a few more games to rediscover winning ways before they find themselves in the history books for all the wrong reasons? We check out the stats below…
What is the longest losing streak in Six Nations history?
Good news is in short supply in Welsh rugby at the moment, but we can offer one tiny glimmer of home – Wales literally have years to pick up a win before they even come close to breaking the record for the longest losing streak in Six Nations history.
The worst ever run of defeats is the 36 matches Italy endured without a win from 2015-2022. Ironically, the sequence ended against Wales, when a last-minute Edoardo Padovani try gave the Azzurri a famous win at the Principality Stadium.
Related: What is the record defeat in Six Nations history?
Wales need five more years – or 15 more matches – to surpass that Italian run of defeats, which means they can’t possibly break the record until the start of the 2031 championship. This may be enough time for even the beleaguered Welsh Rugby Union to get its house in order.
It’s not all good news for Wales, however. Should Wales lose to France, Scotland and Ireland in their next three games – an extremely realistic possibility – the resulting 15-match losing streak will be undisputedly the second longest since the Six Nations began in 2000. And that’s a silver medal nobody wants.
The five longest losing streaks in Six Nations history
- Italy (36 matches, 2015-2022)
- Italy (14 matches, 2000-2002)
- Wales (12* matches, 2023- )
- Italy (10 matches, 2004-2006)
- Scotland (9 matches, 2014-2016)
*Ongoing
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Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: rugbyworld.com
