BBJ
Father Of The Forum
After the huge disappointment of the World Cup (no Northern Hemisphere teams in the semi-finals), the 6 Nations tournament gets under way this weekend.
Five of the six competitors (Italy being the exception) have been champions in the past and would all harbour hopes of being top of the pile come bedtime on 19th March.
Current champions, Ireland, are looking to make history by winning for the third season in a row.
Wales will look to the fact that after the previous two World Cups, they emerged as champions.
England hope that having Eddie Jones as the new head coach will propel them from the "nearly" men of the recent pass to celebration at the Stade de France in their final game (if not before).
France, where the back-room shenanigans often rival those at Villa Park, are praying that the departure of Philippe Saint-André will bring to an end a very barren spell and that their Gallic mojo, last seen in a pawnshop in Marseilles, might get redeemed.
Scotland, still smarting after being deprived of a place in the World Cup semi-finals by appalling officiating, must fancy their chances of causing an upset (or four).
Italy, alone, have no serious aspirations other than not ending up with the wooden spoon.
The bookies seem to fancy England with Wales and/or Ireland a close second.
Obviously I want Ireland to do something no other team has ever done by achieving a hat-trick. It is a big ask. Paul O'Connell is gone and some other key players are injured. The 43-20 hockeying by Argentina in the World Cup won't have done too much for collective confidence either. The IRFU has budgeted to come fourth.
I think that either Wales or England will win it. After that, I forecast with confidence that Italy will, alas, come bottom. Ireland, France and Scotland will come third, fourth and fifth but I'm not specifying the order.
Five of the six competitors (Italy being the exception) have been champions in the past and would all harbour hopes of being top of the pile come bedtime on 19th March.
Current champions, Ireland, are looking to make history by winning for the third season in a row.
Wales will look to the fact that after the previous two World Cups, they emerged as champions.
England hope that having Eddie Jones as the new head coach will propel them from the "nearly" men of the recent pass to celebration at the Stade de France in their final game (if not before).
France, where the back-room shenanigans often rival those at Villa Park, are praying that the departure of Philippe Saint-André will bring to an end a very barren spell and that their Gallic mojo, last seen in a pawnshop in Marseilles, might get redeemed.
Scotland, still smarting after being deprived of a place in the World Cup semi-finals by appalling officiating, must fancy their chances of causing an upset (or four).
Italy, alone, have no serious aspirations other than not ending up with the wooden spoon.
The bookies seem to fancy England with Wales and/or Ireland a close second.
Obviously I want Ireland to do something no other team has ever done by achieving a hat-trick. It is a big ask. Paul O'Connell is gone and some other key players are injured. The 43-20 hockeying by Argentina in the World Cup won't have done too much for collective confidence either. The IRFU has budgeted to come fourth.
I think that either Wales or England will win it. After that, I forecast with confidence that Italy will, alas, come bottom. Ireland, France and Scotland will come third, fourth and fifth but I'm not specifying the order.
