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The last two teams to have beaten France away on the opening weekend of the Six Nations have gone on to win a Grand Slam and I think England will do the same if they can emerge victorious in Paris.
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England’s biggest hurdles are in the first two rounds of the tournament as they travel to France and then Scotland, both games they lost a couple of years ago. If they can negotiate those, most would back them to beat Wales and Ireland at home and Italy in Rome.
This is the big one and, while this French side does look exciting and has been talked up this week, the opening round is the perfect time to play them as they’re still getting up and running and used to playing with one another, as well as under a new coaching team.
They are also very, very inexperienced. Fabien Galthie has come in as head honcho and been allowed to start planning already for a home World Cup in 2023. Eddie Jones only has a contract for another two years, so the present is far more important for him.
Bernard Le Roux is the only player over the age of 30 in Galthie’s 42-man squad, which contained no fewer than 19 uncapped players, and experience could play a big role at the Stade de France, especially in the pack.
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WATCH: In the latest episode of Don’t Mess With Jim, Jim Hamilton chooses his all time Six Nations XV that he played against.
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France’s starting forwards have just 85 caps between them, that’s the second most inexperienced pack named by any side in the Six Nations era. England’s eight have 305, not far off four times as many, and seven of them played in a World Cup final three months ago.
It’s a similar story in the backs as well with England having around three times as many caps as their opponents and they are rightly favourites not just for this game but for the tournament.
The World Cup final heartache should drive them on and, as well as being one of only two teams without a new head coach in this Six Nations, there has been far less upheaval in their squad than the others.
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George Furbank is the one completely fresh face in England’s starting XV and he’s been a shining light for Northampton this season so deserves his shot in the absence of Anthony Watson.
He and Elliot Daly, in particular, might just get peppered with a fair few high balls so it’ll be interesting to see how they deal with that and it’ll also be interesting to see how George Ford reacts after Eddie Jones’ revelation in his book that he should’ve left him out for the World Cup final against South Africa.
I like the selection of Ollie Devoto on the bench and also Will Stuart because Dan Cole has been a fantastic servant to England over the years but there needs to be a long term replacement for him and Stuart has been in good for Bath since joining from Wasps.
Eddie’s comments during the week about the French youngsters’ ability to deal with the “brutal physicality” his side will bring have caused a stir in some quarters but I don’t have an issue with them at all. What he’s talking about is a given in international rugby nowadays.
This French backline does look like a ridiculously exciting prospect on paper but Virimi Vakatawa’s performance for Racing against Saracens a couple of weeks ago was the perfect example of its unpredictability. He was almost unplayable in the first half but anonymous in the second.
If it all clicks, England will be in for a hell of a test in defence but they will have prepared in great detail tactically for what they’re going to come up against and much of that will have been focused on keeping the ball away from France’s outside backs.
It’s another open Six Nations in prospect but not only did England reach a World Cup final a few months ago, they also produced one of the greatest performances in their history against the All Blacks a week earlier.
They are definitely favourites for the tournament. Tomorrow in Paris looks like their toughest test on paper but I think they’ll win by eight points. Beyond that, who knows, the Grand Slam could be on.
Comments on RugbyPass
I bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
19 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
7 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
19 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
9 Go to commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
9 Go to commentsAI is only as good as the information put in, the nuances of the sport, what you see out the corner of the eye, how you sum up in a split second the situation, yes the AI is a tool but will not help win games, more likely contribute to a loss, Rugby Players are not robots, all AI can do if offer a solution not the solution. AI will effect many sports, help train better golfers etc.
45 Go to commentsIt couldn’t have been Ryan Crotty. He wasn’t selected in either World Cup side - they chose Money Bill instead. And Money Bill only cared about himself, and that manager he had, not the team.
28 Go to commentsYawn 🥱 nobody would give a hoot about this new trophy. End of the day we just have to beat Ireland and NZ this year then they can finally shut up 🤐
19 Go to commentsTalking bout Ryan Crotty? Heard Crotty say in a interview once that SBW doesen't care about the team . He went on to say that whenever they lost a big game, SBW would be happy as if nothing happened, according to him someone who cares would look down.. Personally I think Crotty is in the wrong, not for feeling gutted but for expecting others 2 be like him… I have been a bad loser forever as it matters so much to me but good on you SBW for being able to see the bigger picture….
28 Go to commentsThis sounds like a WWE idea so Americans can also get excited about rugby, RUGBY NEEDS A INTERNATIONAL CALENDER .. The rugby Championship and Six Nations can be held at same time, top 3 of six nations and top 3 of Rugby championship (6 nations should include Georgia AND another qualifying country while Fiji, Japan and Samoa/Tonga qualifier should make out 6 Southern teams).. Scrap June internationals and year end tours. Have a Elite top six Cup and the Bottom 6 in a secondary comp….
19 Go to commentsThe rugby championship would be even stronger with Fiji in it… I know it doesen’t fit the long term plans of NZ or Aus but you are robbing a whole nation of being able to see their best players play for Fiji…. Every second player in NZ and AUS teams has Fijian surnames… shame on you!!! World rugby won’t step in either as France and England has now also joined in…. I guess where money is involved it will always be the poor countries missing out….
90 Go to commentsNo surprise there. How hard can it be to pick a ball off the ground and chuck it to a mate? 😂
4 Go to commentsSometimes people just like a moan mate!
9 Go to commentsexcellent idea ! rugby needs this 💪
19 Go to comments