This years Six Nations Should be England's to loose!! Or is it the most open Six Nations in some years, in this weeks Matts Report we are having a look into why this seasons Six Nations is going to be any teams to win.
England - the favourites to win the title and the grand slam? Yes i would say so, with there brilliant performances in the World Cup you would be a fool to bet against them.
However lets look back a couple of months, it took England a few games into the world cup to find there stride, it was not until the knock out rounds we saw two outstanding games against Australia and New Zealand. But they then of course got well beaten by a strong and determined South Africa in the final.
Now some people will live forever on the back of that fantastic display against the All Blacks and will forever back England to win every came based solely on that result. But lets not forget that England did loose there last International game all be it the world cup final but lets be honest, to a team they should of beaten based on how both teams had played though the tournament.
So England are going into the Six Nations off the back of a loss but its not just any loss, recovering from that defeat will not be easy.
There is also the matter of selection and who Eddie Jones will want in his new look England team. With a new coaching team in place and Eddie looking to rebuild the side off the back of the world cup there is some new names to choose from and although he will still have some experience within the side the team is going to be potentially very young and inexperienced, another challenge England will have to handle.
So although England have a strong chance of winning the Grand Slam or maybe just winning the title they will have to over come a mountain of challenges to do so.
Wales - A disappointing result at the World Cup saw another Welsh Team come up short when it mattered.
But never ever write off Wales. We have seen many a team to it and then get smashed off the field. Wales always turn up for the Six Nations, they a very strong physical team that know how to play to there strengths and put pressure on opposition.
At home Wales are almost unstoppable with a brilliant home record over the years it will be tough ask for the team going to Cardiff.
That being said they do not travel well and their away record is not brilliant, they have also had some big changes over the last few months, mainly with the coaching staff. This will add is challenges as players will have to adjust to the way the coaches work and the coaches will have to work on who they want to play and how they want to play. Although there are a lot of very talented Welsh players around the depth of the squad has always been a problem for Wales and may be the reason they have not been in a World Cup final.
One positive with the new coaching team is that they have got rid of the 60 cap rule for overseas players, freeing up some brilliant young talent to break through and make there mark. Players like Joel Tompkins and Louis Rees-Zammit, both have been tearing up the Premiership this season.
Wales will have to improve their away form to get that Grand Slam and will also need to give these young guns a real chance to be the future of Welsh rugby if they want to stay competitive, But with great Leaders in Alun Wyn Jones you can never write them off.
Ireland - Well Ireland maybe the team that the Six Nations has come round too soon.
With a very disappointing exit from the World Cup although it was to a brilliant All Blacks side, Ireland have gone into a big transition period. With Joe Schmit stepping down and Andy Farrell moving into the Head Coaching role and also some of there senior players retiring it is going to be a tough ask for them to win the title this year.
I have no doubt that Farrell will want them to play a physical fast pace game , moving the ball wide and playing a expansive game.
This may be easier said then done. Farrell will need to have one eye on the future and will have to start playing the younger players that are going to be stepping up for the future.
Basically Ireland need to move away from Sexton, they need to build a team around more than one individual. Yes Sexton is still a good player but he is not the player he was, he would not get into the England side.
Ireland need to look at building a team around multiple players and then adding depth to those positions so when injuries happen they can still play the way they want to.
I am not writing Ireland off but based on the current challenges they are going to find it very difficult to challenge for the Grand Slam this season.
France - Well want can you say about France? they actually played pretty well at the World Cup and if it wasn't for some stupid actions they may have gone further.
But what they did show was a game plan and the ability to execute that game plan.
Yes for the first time in years i didn't hear about French flair, you know that thing commentators and pundits say about how the French play. I said it for years French flair is not a game plan and now finally i can say that at the world cup they showed up with a game plan. Well Done.
Having said that i still think that away from home they are not as strong and when playing them at home if the game is not going their way the supporters to tend to turn on the side and it makes it more difficult for the players.
To win this Six Nations they are going to have constant strong performances both at home and away, and keep to there game plan and not loose control when things are not going their way.
Scotland - So can Scotland final show up and get a consistent performance at this years Six Nations. Well we can only wait and see, with some world class players and a new captain in Stuart Hogg they could well prove a lot of doubters wrong. Will they win the title? No if i am honest they do not have the squad quality to keep winning consistently but they do have the ability to put in a couple of strong performances and to push teams close, what they will have to do is to work on the closing out of games and controlling the game when teams start to come back at them.
Scotland will be tough to beat at home and if they can get a good performance in away from home early it will give them confidence to push on and try to keep winning.
Italy - Well it is hard to see that they will get off the bottom of the table, Italy need to put a lot more into the national side to get them to perform at the top table.
With Key players retired after the world cup and another change in the coach Italy will have to look at some inexperienced players to try and turn the tide of their game.
For them to have any success they will need to develop their game and be able to score more tries. They will need more than just good set peace to challenge the top teams for 80 minutes.
It will be likely that although Italy will play well in parts and could win if all things go there way, they will end up with the wooden spoon.
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