2020 Six Nations: Preview

by Seb Martin




The six nations 2020 is a tournament full of exciting young players and is possibly the most competitive line up in recent years. England, Ireland and Wales are all tipped by the bookies to be in the race for the championship, whilst France, Scotland and Italy all have stronger squads than previous years and could be seen as dark horses in the tournament.

England are coming off the back of their run to the final during the recent world cup, beating the mighty All Blacks along the way, and therefore you would presume that their spirits and confidence will be high. However, in the final they suffered a bad defeat at the hands of the Springboks, and therefore could be still rueing this missed chance. To get so close and just miss out can do bad things to a team. Take the 2007 England team for example, who after losing in the final of that year's world cup then went on a torrid run of form, their confidence appearing to be shattered. It will be interesting to see how England can bounce back after this kind of defeat. You would think that with their strength in depth and a seemingly never ending stream of world class talent such as Sam Underhill and Tom Curry, they will be strong contenders to win the grand slam this year. Fingers crossed.

Ireland on the other hand are in a very different position to England. Another disappointing world cup that started with so much promise could see a drop in confidence levels within that squad, but Ireland are known for their grit and determination, so I do not believe this will be an issue and I think they will bounce back with menace. They don’t play the most attractive brand of rugby but their brute force in the forwards matched with former world rugby player of the year Johnny Sexton marshalling their backs, they will be a force to be reckoned with in this year's tournament. They also have one of the most exciting young talents in the tournament in Jacob Stockdale on the wing, who has proved prolific for Ireland in the last two years: in the 2018 Six nations he scored 7 tries in 5 games, a tournament record. It will be interesting to see how he and his teammates perform, with the big clash against England being at Twickenham, causing me to think Ireland will have to settle for second place this year. Shame.

Wales are the reigning grand slam champions of the six nations and had a decent run in the world cup, reaching the semi finals and getting knocked out by a narrow margin to eventual champions South Africa. Wales have a strong squad led by one of the greatest captains in six nations history, Alyn Wyn Jones. They don’t boast many standout names but they have always been known for their togetherness in the squad and their outstanding defence, led by defensive coach Byron Hayward. However, the decisive factor for me is the new coach Wayne Pivac. He hasn’t had time to stamp his mark on the squad and with former coach Warren Gatland’s playstyle still ingrained in the players he may find it hard to break down these barriers and get what he needs out of the players.  If Wales are to mount a serious challenge at the six nations this year then the squad will need to gel together quickly with a little sprinkling of luck along the way.

France, Italy and Scotland make up the rest of the bunch. France has the best chance of mounting any form of challenge to the ‘big three’, however anyone can beat anyone in the six nations. France have a lot of Fijian-born talent in their squad, which could make them a dangerous outfit this year, as players like Vakatawa have been tearing it up in the Top 14 of French rugby. They have a history of being a bit of an erratic team, they can either be ‘magnifique’, or lazy and useless, throwing tantrums when things go wrong. Hopefully France will turn up with the right attitude, and if they do, they could have a good tournament.

Scotland on the other hand are in a bit of a dire state. Their best player Finn Russell has been involved in a drinking controversy and has fallen out with head coach Gregor Townsend, which could lead to some friction in the squad between players and coaching team. They also have a few key players out injured which could take a big toll on their already shallow squad. Overall I would say that Scotland shouldn’t hold and hopes of making a dent this six nations but could maybe look for one big scalp to give their fans something to cheer about. And Italy….. well they’re Italy!  They are essentially an easy win for every other team but this year, given Scotland’s troubles, they could be potentially eying up that fixture.

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