Privacy Policy<\/a><\/p>\nOnce the selection debates are put to one side though, the spotlight will invariably fall on one man. After almost a year out of international rugby, Antoine Dupont will hope to play out his first full Six Nations campaign since 2023. France expects its captain, now fully recovered from injury, to steady the ship after the team\u2019s mixed bag of autumn performances.<\/p>\n
With Romain Ntamack out of action, the Olympic champion will play alongside Matthieu Jalibert, in a rare but enticing charni\u00e8re (hinge) pairing. Despite his rocky relationship with Galthi\u00e9, the Bordeaux fly-half\u2019s electric form will have been difficult for the head coach to ignore.<\/p>\n
France\u2019s favourable schedule and a cohort of new talent are enough to position the holders as favourites. Avenging last year\u2019s defeat at Twickenham by sealing a Grand Slam against England would also provide Galthi\u00e9 with a definitive answer to his critics. A note of caution: Les Bleus have rarely fully delivered when entering a tournament as favourites.<\/p>\n
Ireland<\/p>\n
By Michael Sadlier
There is more than just an air of unease about Ireland. The memory of being beaten up by South Africa last November lingers and there are growing doubts about whether Andy Farrell possesses the alchemy to pull something from a squad which though experienced does need refreshing.<\/p>\n
But there are other problems. The concerns are deeply worrying over loosehead prop, with Andrew Porter missing and back-ups Paddy McCarthy and Jack Boyle facing long-term absences. It doesn\u2019t end there, with Hugo Keenan\u2019s hoped-for comeback having stalled and Mack Hansen not around when it comes to full-back.<\/p>\n
Then there is who to go with at 10, sticking with Sam Prendergast or going for the currently steadier-looking Harry Byrne with Jack Crowley somewhere in the mix.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, centre Bundee Aki is banned for the first three games.<\/p>\n
There is yet more to trouble Farrell. Ireland have struggled to shake off their longer-standing issues at lineouts. Then there is the decline in discipline and the continuing concern at the lack of back-up for Josh van der Flier.<\/p>\n
Farrell\u2019s squad have arguably been stagnating for some time, with gradual signs of inconsistency showing themselves more often.<\/p>\n
It hasn\u2019t been helped by the fact that bulk suppliers Leinster don\u2019t seem to be quite what they were, and the knock-on effect looks bound to be felt by Farrell, who is facing a horrible-looking opener in Paris and then England away in round three.<\/p>\n
The background noise that this squad peaked some time ago doesn\u2019t mean that Ireland are without hope, it\u2019s just that it feels that they have vacated their seat at the top table now occupied by only France and England.<\/p>\n
Italy<\/p>\n
By Marcello Cossali-Francis<\/p>\n
Italian rugby is at its peak. On the back of a strong autumn campaign in which they beat Australia (again) and pushed back-to-back world champions South Africa to their limits, Gonazalo Quesada\u2019s men will be targeting yet more scalps in this year\u2019s Six Nations.<\/p>\n
The Argentinian has a young but hungry squad at his disposal, fuelled by stars plying their trade in the French Top 14 and England\u2019s Prem. The recent big-money moves for Tommaso Menoncello and Nacho Brex are further evidence of the growing reputation of Italian names across Europe, while the likes of Stephen Varney and potential debutant Edoardo Todardo have enjoyed brilliant seasons for Exeter Chiefs and Northampton Saints respectively.<\/p>\n
However, it is a squad that has already been hampered by injury. First team shoe-ins Ange Capuozzo, Seb Negri and Ross Vintcent have all been left out of the 33-man squad, with Tommaso Allan, Gianmaco Lucchesi and, more recently, Marco Riccioni also ruled out.<\/p>\n
Despite the injuries, morale is high in the camp. Italy begin their campaign at home to Scotland in a game that will most likely shape their tournament.<\/p>\n
Win here, who knows where they could finish. Tougher trips follow but the days of zero belief when playing France and Ireland are over.<\/p>\n
There is now an expectation that Italy, at the very least, are competitive. Italy were unplayable at points in the 2025 championship; running rings around the English defence in the first half at Twickenham and against Ireland in the final quarter in Rome. Yet this is often followed by spells of ill-discipline where points are leaked.<\/p>\n
This Italian side have no ceiling, but consistency remains the challenge. A third-placed finish is not out of the question and quietly, that will be the goal.<\/p>\n
Scotland<\/p>\n
If Scotland have found themselves burdened by the weight of expectation ahead of previous Six Nations championships, then it is not something they will need to worry about unduly this time.<\/p>\n
Only the most fervent of tartan-clad supporters will view Gregor Townsend\u2019s squad as possible contenders, a stance hardened by a hugely disappointing autumn international series and years of bitter experience.<\/p>\n
This is Townsend\u2019s ninth Six Nations campaign as head coach and neither he nor his players look any closer to conjuring up an elusive first title. Townsend insisted in October that Scotland were in the \u201cbest position we\u2019ve been in\u201d since he took charge in 2017, only for his players to make him look foolish a few weeks later by throwing away a 21-0 lead at home to Argentina.<\/p>\n
Such was the shock at that tame capitulation that even the usually reserved Murrayfield crowd were moved to boo the players from the field. Patience and goodwill had already been eroded by the news that Townsend had taken on a second job as an advisor for Red Bull, a development that has not gone down well with supporters.<\/p>\n
Most infuriating, though, is the fact that this is a Scotland squad that should be good enough to compete. Twenty of them have been selected from the Glasgow Warriors side cutting a swathe through the Champions Cup, bolstered by the irrepressible Finn Russell at fly-half and Toulouse\u2019s Blair Kinghorn at full-back.<\/p>\n
Unlike last year\u2019s Six Nations when injury deprived Townsend of his captain Sione Tuipulotu, his key players are available. It is hard, though, to envisage anything better than another mid-table struggle for Scotland who could well find themselves drawn into a scrap to avoid the wooden spoon.<\/p>\n
Wales<\/p>\n
The fact that Wales are favourites for a third successive Six Nations wooden spoon and 100-1 title no-hopers says everything about a country struggling on the pitch and engulfed by turmoil off it.<\/p>\n
Since securing a sixth championship crown in 2021 \u2013 only England and France have won more Six Nations titles \u2013 their tournament record is abysmal, with just two victories, and none at all for almost three years. And if new head coach Steve Tandy did not have enough on his plate trying to slow a demise of runaway rollercoaster proportions \u2013 it is 21 defeats from the last 23 Tests against all opponents \u2013 he has been hit by another full-blown Welsh rugby crisis.<\/p>\n
The Ospreys, Welsh rugby\u2019s most successful team, face a fight for survival, with the Welsh Rugby Union aiming to reduce its professional sides from four to three.<\/p>\n
History shows that Wales often perform best when backs are against the wall, but an away opener against England followed by France at home will test that theory like never before.<\/p>\n
Wales supporters will be encouraged by Louis Rees-Zammit\u2019s Six Nations return, potentially at full-back, Dan Edwards set for opportunities to continue his fly-half development and a sometimes underrated pack given added streetwise presence by experienced prop Tomas Francis.<\/p>\n
Home wins against Scotland and Italy as an overall return would at least partially lift some of the gloom, even it that represents a tall order for Tandy\u2019s squad in the current climate.<\/p>\n
Many Welsh fans are already voting with their feet. All three Cardiff clashes – France, Scotland and Italy – have varying numbers of tickets left, which is perhaps the biggest statement of all to sum up voter apathy.<\/p>\n
Photograph by\u00a0Steve Bardens\/The RFU Collection\/Getty Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"England By Ben ColesNice problems. That might be the best way to sum up any issues Steve Borthwick\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":403614,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[5903,23451,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-403613","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-rugby","tag-rugby-union","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/403613","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=403613"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/403613\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/403614"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=403613"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=403613"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=403613"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}