SIX NATIONS PREVIEW: Is this the most open 6 Nations we have seen in recent times?
No? I hear you question. Ireland are dead certs you say. Well let me explain over the last 8 years the tournament has predominantly been a 2/3 dog race max, with Ireland, England and Wales sharing the spoils. But if you take a closer look it appears that a couple of fine details have slipped under the radar.
Take for example the French squad’s youth, watching their U20s at last year’s competition the other nations may as well not have submitted teams they were so dominant apart from their performance against England and not to mention the fact that they are currently world champions. In total they scored 211 points overall in the U20s 6 nations 60 more than the runners up and in 2019 Jacques Brunel has looked to take advantage of such performances. He has drafted in the U20s world cup winning star Romain Ntamack to name one key player sure to impress and make a few substantial appearances. If we have learned anything from Ireland over the last 2 years we know youth can play a major role in boosting a team’s performance, meaning it would be naïve to count France out of a title chase this year. Not to mention they are currently sitting like a dormant volcano waiting to erupt after the last minute loss against Ireland last year.
It’s fair to say that after another successful year for Irish Rugby and coming off the back of beating New Zealand that Ireland are a shoe in for the championship. But that age old problem arises, can they handle the pressure of being the unofficial best team in the world? You’d like to think with the squad depth and outstanding leadership of Rory best and his 2 Vice Captains Leinster’s Johnny Sexton and Munster’s Peter O’Mahony, Ireland could possibly put on one of their most dominant performances in 6 Nations history. I think for Joe Schmidt, his men and even the fans that opening day heart stopper in France still lingers in the memories from last year, you wouldn’t be wrong though to assume that the professionalism displayed by the team and everyone who surrounds will help to bury those anxieties deep away where they can’t affect this year’s tournament.
England’s head coach Eddie Jones has somewhat divided opinions with his comments about his squad selection for this year, bizarrely saying that his squad choice was not based on the whole tournament but just on one simple mission that being beating Ireland. Some critics of Jones have laughed at this idea and have written England off for another year but is it really that crazy? I mean if you think about it building a team around beating the favourites of the competition in theory should work. If Ireland are knocked off their perch on the opening weekend in Dublin we could be in for one of the most dramatic 6 Nations yet.
Warren Gatland aims to finish his illustrious career with Wales with a bang yet with the retirement of Warburton and the risk of the squad running stale like the performances of the Welsh club sides in the Pro 14 you’d have to wonder if maybe Gatland’s retirement is exactly what Wales needs. With an opening day clash in Paris it will not be an easy start with the French chomping at the bit for a better start then last season. But with the likes of Leigh Halfpenny, Rob Evans and Alun Wyn Jones included in the side you’d think that the “auld reliable” rule might come into effect.
Unfortunately for the Scottish and the Italians it will more than likely be a case of déjà vu. Even though Scottish Rugby is definitely on the up with 2 Scottish teams even qualifying for the champions cup quarter finals they still have a lot of work to do if they are ever to compete with the likes of Ireland. For Conor O’Shea’s side they are in the unfortunate position of just not having enough good players to push on and with the likes of Sergio Parisse not getting any younger it doesn’t look like we will see any sort of miraculous turn around any time soon.
This is what the market looks like as of 25/01/2019 13:00 (live market below).
If I was to go out on a limb and pick one I’d stay true to the boys in green just because of their sheer dominance at both provincial and international level and not to mention the incredible squad depth all over the field. And for Italy to collect the wooden spoon once again. It wouldn’t be a terrible choice if you were to lay England as in my opinion they seem just a bit too unstable for me to consider them plausible winners.
Josh Graves, BETDAQ
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