SPORT: Six Nations preview

The last Six Nations before the World Cup is just around the corner. It is the last competitive opportunity for coaches to experiment with their squads before flying out to New Zealand this summer. The tension in the build up has been palpable, with none of the teams anywhere near ready to take on the might of the southern hemisphere’s ‘big three’. The desire to gain momentum ahead of the World Cup cannot be far from the coaches’s minds, so don’t expect anything too outlandish ahead of this weekend’s opening fixtures.

BY SEAN ASHFORD

The first game pits the injury-ravaged Welsh against a resurgent England team who, despite entering the competition as favourites, are still yet to achieve any level of consistency. With the loss of Laws and Croft from the forwards, the pack lacks the dynamism to get over the gain line at speed as well as reducing their mobility across the pitch. The result may be to revert back to the up-the-jumper approach taken by England sides over the last decade, which would be a shame because with exciting runners like Chris Ashton and Ben Foden out wide this England team has some serious pace. As for Wales, so dominant over the last 2 years, has recently become a significantly less potent weapon. Also due to injuries and loss of form in the back line, the Welsh backs appear not to have the ability to cut through opposition defences like they were able to during the last grand-slam year. Nevertheless, Wales are always dangerous from broken play, and with some exciting youngsters coming through such as Sam Warburton and Jonathan Davies they can never be discounted.

The second game of the weekend sees Ireland travel to Rome to face Italy. Like Wales, Ireland have serious injury concerns ahead of the tournament especially in the back row and back three. With Mike Ross starting in the front row however Ireland may finally have found a prop able to give a solid foundation in the scrum. Ross has benefited from the performances of Leinster in the Heineken Cup, and with the majority of the squad drawn from Leinster they should enter the competition with high hopes. In particular the performances of Sean O’Brian at number 8 have been quite simply awe inspiring. O’Brian has been the form player in Irish rugby this season and if he can carry this type of performance on to the international stage then, when Stephen Ferris returns from injury, Ireland will boast one of the most impressive back rows in the world.

The loss of form of the Munster contingent is a worry as is coach Kidney’s desire to stick with them. Nowhere is this more evident than in the second row where he has chosen Paul O’Connell and Donncha O’Callaghan ahead of Leo Cullen. O’Callaghan has been in poor form all season and O’Connell has achieved little since returning from injury than getting sent off only minutes into his comeback. The lack of Ulster players is also something of a surprise, with the exclusion of the in-form Ian Humphries and Dan Tuhoy in particular being unfortunate. However with most of the injuries scheduled to return before the end of the tournament, Ireland could conceivably peak just at the right time to gain momentum ahead of the World Cup. The outlook isn’t quite so rosy for the Italians however. Still lacking a genuine fly half, and with a very inexperienced (yet talented) scrum half, they could struggle to control matches. On the other hand, with the addition of the two Italian teams to the Magners League they have been exposed to more top class rugby this year and it will be interesting to see what effect this may have.

Finally the game between France and Scotland rounds off the opening weekend. France have shown their Jekyll and Hyde characteristics over the last year, with excellent performances in last year’s Six Nations tempered by a devastating loss against Australia which shook French rugby to its core. They have the players to win the competition, with a perfect mix of pace and power across the team as well as a level of strength in depth that the Celtic nations could only dream of – just look at the players who can’t even make the squad in both the front row and the back line. However, as is always the problem with the French their unpredictability will ultimately prove to be their downfall. At home they are almost invincible, but will struggle once they leave Paris and with Marc Lievremont in charge it is highly unlikely to change any time soon. As for Scotland, 7 tries in 13 games under Andy Robinson tells its own story. Scotland lack any sort of try scoring ability, relying heavily on the boot of Dan Parks. They have momentum going into the tournament and they will cause problems for any team, however their inability to score will prevent them from winning far too many games for them to be a threat.

Overall then it would seem that England are entering the tournament in the best shape, with France and Ireland close behind. Scotland will certainly be competitive, leaving Wales and Italy to fight it out for the wooden spoon. This year promises to be one of the tightest tournaments for many years, with every team capable of beating the other. If Wales can defeat England on the opening night then expect fireworks right down to the last kick of the tournament.