The latest Netflix sports documentary has dropped - and, for rugby fans, Six Nations: Full Contact is an intriguing prospect, offering behind-the-scenes access to all six teams in last year's tournament.
Six Nations: Full Contact follows Break Point (tennis), Full Swing (golf) and, most notably, Drive to Survive (F1) in Netflix's catalogue of sporting docuseries, and no doubt those behind the scenes at Six Nations HQ will have been hoping that this series would have the same impact on rugby's popularity as DTS has had on Formula 1 in recent years.
Despite the boom in popularity for Formula 1 - partly as a result of Drive to Survive - the Netflix series has not been without its critics.
Diehard F1 fans could easily spot moments where storylines were somewhat fabricated, or the truth was stretched to within an inch of its life in order to create the most compelling narratives.
Though excitement may have been high among rugby fans for Six Nations: Full Contact, there will understandably have been fear among diehard supporters that similar issues may crop up in the series - fears which have unfortunately been realised in spectacular fashion.
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Netflix's Six Nations: Full Contact has bizarre Scotland v England inaccuracy
The first episode of Six Nations: Full Contact mainly follows the Scotland team behind the scenes in the buildup to their opening game of the 2023 championship at Twickenham against bitter rivals England.
Behind-the-scenes in the Scotland dressing room in Six Nations: Full Contact (Photo: Netflix)
It's an intriguing episode at times, with the dissection of the relationship between coach Gregor Townsend and maverick fly-half Finn Russell the central focus.
The climax comes with the rekindling of an age-old rivalry at Twickenham. England v Scotland is among the most fierce clashes in world rugby, and the producers behind Six Nations: Full Contact ham it up big time.
Except there is one glaring, enormous issue behind the narrative painted by the show.
Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend is quoted ahead of their opening game game saying:
Success would be winning the Six Nations. We've never done that before. In our first game, we go up against England away from home.
Going to Twickenham has been the hardest and most difficult challenge for a Scotland team in the last century.
A montage then plays which compiles the litany of defeats Scotland have suffered at Twickenham in recent years - well, actually decades.
In fact, the episode suggests that going into the 2023 clash the Scots had not won a Six Nations game in London in "over a century."
That stat is quite far from being true.
Not only did Scotland's long wait for a Six Nations victory in London only date back to 1983 - but it appears as though the producers have forgotten (or chosen to omit) the famous victory claimed by Scotland on the opening weekend of the 2021 championship at Twickenham, the very last time the two sides met in the English capital.
SCOTLAND HAVE DONE IT! 🏴
They've beaten England at Twickenham!
What a result on the opening day of the 2021 Guinness Six Nations!#ENGvSCO #GuinnessSixNations #VMTVRugby pic.twitter.com/T8voviRVVW— Virgin Media Sport (@VMSportIE) February 6, 2021
In fact, by the time Scotland next visit Twickenham in 2025, it will have been eight years since they lost a Six Nations clash in the capital - the two sides drew in the final game of the 2019 championship. Neither the 2019 or 2021 game is acknowledged or referenced in the episode.
It is disappointing that the old tropes of misleading viewers that were present in Drive to Survive are yet again popping up in Six Nations: Full Contact.
The most egregious of Drive to Survive's inaccuracies was perhaps the portrayal of Lando Norris and Carlos Sainz as sworn enemies when they are well known to be close friends. Outright erasing a famous Scottish victory from the history books in Six Nations: Full Contact may be even more egregious.
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