For Scotland, 2025 produced much of the same frustrations. Great hope extinguished by inconsistent displays and costly missed chances.
Bath finished top of Pool 2 in the Champions Cup with a ruthless 63-10 victory over Edinburgh.
Edinburgh staged a second-half comeback to pick up a hard-fought 26-24 win over Gloucester in the Champions Cup and consigned the visitors to a fifth straight defeat.
Edinburgh were brought back down to earth in the Investec Champions Cup after a comfortable win last week was disrupted by a 33-0 defeat at Castres on Sunday.
Stafford McDowall has been named to start at centre for Scotland in place of the injured Sione Tuipulotu, while wing Duhan van der Merwe is fit to start.
In 2024, Scotland headed into the Six Nations as title challengers but customary inconsistency saw them mix the good with the bad. Can 2025 prove different?
A round-up of Friday's action, as Bath suffered a setback in their Champions Cup opener and Gloucester came through a tough European Challenge Cup test against Edinburgh
In 2023, Scotland won their opening two Six Nations games but ultimately dropped out of contention. Will 2024 be the year they maintain a title run?
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