London, Jan. 29 (BUS): England ranks as the number one rugby team in Europe and the most resourced. Ireland has a winning round in eight Tests, including defeating the All Blacks.
France also had a recent victory over New Zealand and is improving faster than any test country ahead of hosting the Rugby World Cup next year.
Wales has won the 2021 championship out of nowhere and has four titles in the past 10 years, and good luck in picking the winner for the next Six Nations, according to the Associated Press.
The rarely-failed Northern Hemisphere rugby tournament is kicking off again – this time with fans and less certain than ever about where the trophy will head.
Of course, there are some iron guarantees around the Six Nations: a powerful national anthem, the press conference fests from Eddie Jones, and the post-match chaos at railway stations outside Twickenham and Millennium Stadium. Oh, and it’s fairly likely that Italy will limp to the end of the last week already sure about the wooden spoon.
But just about everything else seems up in the air, especially considering what happened during the internationals’ fall, which ended with European rugby proudly lifted from his chest.
For the first time since 2002, New Zealand, South Africa and Australia were defeated in the same weekend – to France, England and Wales respectively. Ireland also devoured Argentina in that weekend statement for the Northern Hemisphere, which provided an ideal environment for the six nations.
The French are the favorites this year. They have the world’s best scrumhalf player Antoine Dupont, a solid package, a sense of teamwork, a coach who has a plan in Fabian Galthe.
A second-place finisher in a row, Tricolores lost last year after losing in the final at home to Scotland when a 21-point win was necessary to fix Wales.
With Italy, now under New Zealander Kieran Crowley, almost a lock for last place these days – after all, Azure You haven’t won a Six Nations match since February 2015 – and the last question to think about is where Scotland is.
In the last few years they’ve been 3rd-5th place – and a notch higher than Italy 11 years later in 2004 where they mostly competed on the wooden spoon.
The Scots have the potential to compete with the favorites though, and don’t be surprised if they give their old foe England a bloody nose in the first round in their oldest international match of them all.
This weekend will see fans return to full capacity for Six Nations matches for the first time since the coronavirus outbreak. As it stands, only Italy – where the attendance limit is 50% – is expected to have restrictions on the number of spectators.
The tournament loses much of its luster without fans in stadiums, even if the drama has not abated during the pandemic, with the last two editions decided in the final round. Expect more of the same this year.
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