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6 Nations 2010

With the autumn internationals over, we can look forward expectantly to the rapid approach of the 6 nations rugby union competition - it signals the run in to the finale of the rugby year in the northern hemisphere.

The 2010 6 nations is even harder to predict than usual, with all of the sides suffering some losses to injury, and probably only the Irish having what might even come close to their first choice lineup. England are still nowhere near settled, and this must surely be a competition to use as grounding to narrow down their options for next years world cup - a second or third place 6 nations finish will probably be about as high as they can aim, with our tip for the title being a split between Ireland and France. Ireland have the experienced players in key positions, and France are always a bit of an enigma, but we feel if they start well they could take the title. Wales seem to have too many key players injured, and although they have some real world class rugby footballers, don't seem to have a huge amount of depth to cover for these injuries - they will probably be in the same boat as England, with the opening match of the tournament at Twickenham being key to both sides final positions. Scotland will battle as usual, and have made some big improvements over the last 2 seasons, but again, are a side currently lacking a full 15 world class players, so will have to fight hard for every point. If they can play to their potential for the majority of their games, they'll be in the mix with England and Wales. Italy are still slowly improving year on year, but simply don't have the players or resources to last a full campaign - they'll possibly win a game at home, maybe even 2 games, as their increasing crowd attendances begins to give them a real home advantage.

Our 2010 final table prediction: (click on the teams to view the available replica shirts!)

England

England haven't progressed much in the last couple of seasons, mainly due to never being able to field a settled side, with the players brought in, while looking good in the guiness premiership, simply haven't been up to the rigours of international rugby. The forward dominance of the 2003 world cup winning side has never been replicated, and they simply don't have the creativity to unlock sides whilst on the back foot - English rugby has always been fairly low risk, built on pressure and possession - counter-attacking rugby is not really the English style. If England are to take the 6 nations, and build up to next years world cup, they need to dominate up front, and be able to ruck and maul successfully at breakdowns to keep the momentum going forward, and releasing quick ball for the backs.

Our key players for the 6 nations 2010:

Jonny Wilkinson - Needs to replicate his form of old and take control of the games if England are to win
Steve Borthwick - With a fairly new front row, Borthwick will need to use all of his experience to not only captain the side, but also to keep the pack going forward and working successfully.
Lewis Moody - his work rate is phenomenal, but as he is now one of Englands more experienced internationals, it's time to use his head a little more and not give away so many silly penalties. In tight games a low penalty count can make a huge difference to winning or losing by a couple of points.