The Breakdown: A statistical look at the first round of Six Nations matches
England will attempt to claim a rare victory in Dublin when they face all-conquering champions Ireland, while in-form Wales can expect a brutal battle with France when the Six Nations starts on Friday.
Ireland beat England to secure a third Grand slam last year and are favourites to retain their title as they prepare to take on Eddie Jones’ men at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday.
Wales make the trip to Paris with nine consecutive wins under their belt, but must address their poor away form in the competition.
Scotland should get their campaign under way with a comfortable win Italy at Murrayfield, where the Azzurri claimed their last Six Nations win three years ago.
With the help of Opta, we take a statistical look at the opening round of matches.
2019 – The 2019 #GuinnessSixNations kicks off tomorrow night, with @IrishRugby aiming to become the first side since @FFRugby in 1997-98 to complete a Five/Six Nations Grand Slam in consecutive years, can they do it? Championship. ??? pic.twitter.com/iQ7J39NZVH
— OptaJonny (@OptaJonny) January 31, 2019
France v Wales
Wales will be looking to rack up a 50th win against Les Bleus and have won six of the last seven meetings between the two nations.
France have came out on top in four of their last five games at home, though, not conceding more than 18 points in any of those matches.
Wales have struggled on their travels in the Six Nations, losing four in a row away from home and Warren Gatland will be expecting that run to come to a halt in his final year as head coach.
Morgan Parra is 27 points shy of becoming just the second France player to score 200 points in the competition, matching a feat only Dimitri Yachvili (217) has achieved.
Watch: Warren Gatland previews his teams Six Nations clash against France
Scotland v Italy
Italy have lost 17 consecutive Six Nations contests since stunning Scotland 22-19 at Murrayfield in 2015.
Scotland have shown they are capable of turning on the style in recent years and they are just three tries shy of 500 at Murrayfield.
Italy legend Sergio Parisse is set to make a record 66th appearance in the Six Nations, surpassing Ireland great Brian O’Driscoll’s tally.
Captain Greig Laidlaw needs 16 points to overtake Gavin Hastings (667) as Scotland’s second-highest top points scorer behind Chris Paterson (809).
Watch: Gregor Townsend announces Scotland squad to face Italy
Ireland v England
The holders have won their last 12 home games in all competitions, their longest ever such run. They have also put together seven consecutive home victories in the Six Nations.
England were dethroned with a whimper last year, losing three matches in a row, and they have won just twice in their last nine visits to Dublin.
Ireland will be looking to become the first team in since Italy joined the tournament to win back-to-back Grand Slams.
Jacob Stockdale scored a record seven tries in the Six Nations last year and will be aiming to become the ninth player to score in five consecutive matches in the competition.
Watch: Ireland captain Rory Best expects England to try bully Irish pack
Comments on RugbyPass
It’ll be very interesting to see how Razor’s AB’s handle the new England rush D. It’s basically the Bok recipe they copied, so if England goes well then we know most likely the Boks will go well too. If England cops a hiding then we’ll have to study and adapt.
4 Go to commentsTypical trait of an australian is to moan. Goes well with there lack of humbleness as evident by the Reds bench on the weekend.
2 Go to commentsSBW’s bro’town commentary and lazy default to hyperbole should be ignored, a technical analyst he is not. Sotutu is a good player when games get goosey loosey, high skill set that fans of Zinzan recall with starry eyes. But you need power and mongrel at no8 in the Test arena and Sotutu gets found wanting there, much like Akira Ioane. No8’s like Zinzan and Ardie have bucketloads of mongrel and power and tenacity which allow the skill sets to flourish.
11 Go to commentsAn inside pass to attacker on the angle can make a drift defence look lead footed. Relies on fleet footed forward/s to get across from the breakdown. An argument for the smaller faster 7 perhaps?
4 Go to commentsSensational tackle. The reds one was late and rightly penalised. The other two were simultaneous with the pass. If nitpicking TMOs can’t find fault there clearly isn’t any.
2 Go to commentsBrumbies fully deserved their win on the back of their physicality and desire to control the ball. Xavier Numia, Asafo Aumua and Tyrel Lomax should be the ABs starting front row when we start our test schedule. They have “come of age” and have bested all they have faced as well as been dominant with ball in hand in making the gainline. With De Groot, Tamaiti Williams and Fletcher Newell backed up by Taukei'aho and Cody Taylor there's not an international front row that can trouble us. Can't wait to face the Boks over there, won't be no one point game this time.
5 Go to commentsKinda strange that he wasn’t with a premiership team or a higher level of rugby? Start playing late or something? With that kind of size and athleticism you’d think someone would have picked him up?
2 Go to commentsShows how much attitude matters. Last week the Brumbies got done, this week they dominated the tournament leaders, who were likely thinking they could cruise to victory.
5 Go to commentsA Turtle has more pace and leg drive than Owen Franks, so it’s a good thing he only had to run 90 metres for that try.
2 Go to commentsOh Tamati Tua was in the vastly over-rated Leon MacDonalds Blues system? Well, no wonder he was wasted, much like Emoni Narawa and Jacob Ratumaitavuki-Kneepkens under MacDonald. now look at them. Good thing Tua isn’t eligible, the Aussies latch on to any player who isn’t tied down.
5 Go to commentsMark Telea is a lot of things, but a defensive juggernaut has never been one of them. There will be far bigger tests in that regard for the youngster.
11 Go to commentsLove and respect to Fiji but not a chance outside of 7s
4 Go to commentsGood summation Ned. Agree the Canes were out-muscled for once (except at the scrum!) by a focused Brumbies outfit. Tua deserves consideration for higher honors after the way he humbled Jordie and the Canes defense. Thankfully, his lack of eligibility for Oz keeps him from Joe’s plans. While I also agree the injuries affected the Canes performance, some players seemed to lack focus and intensity for this match. Perhaps after the Blues demolished the Brumbies, they thought it was going to be easy? A good reminder that any slip up in preparation can have a big affect on the result. Brumbies deserved that win.
5 Go to commentsKarl Dixon should never have been appointed this fixture, absolute disgrace, He’s not much of a referee anyway, didn't have the balls to send his mate care off
5 Go to commentsBrilliant article! Harry of 8/9
4 Go to comments‘UK athletes' have been in the NFL from the start.
2 Go to commentsIt’s going to be Scott Barrett. He’s the coaches mate and captain of a previously elite team. Ardie a great option but scooter has worked with the coach and Ardie still as big a leader as needed.
23 Go to commentsI commend Colin Scotts bio All Balls. He was the first Aussie to make it to NFL. But he was poached and did a full apprenticeship at the University of Hawaii. He was 130kgs surfed played 1st grade cricket etc. big guy by normal but not NFL standards and a top athlete. Even then the nfl were picking up Tongans and Samoans for their natural size and explosive power. They want explosive power not cardio from the big boys so a guy like Taniela Tupou would have been good if picked up young enough. He has fast twitch and they’d bulk the little lad up and give him something to do. soccer teams set up academies and look for Over Sara’s talent eg Messi was at Barcelona since a teenager and harry kewell went to Leeds as a teenager like 16 or something.
11 Go to commentsThe article alludes to the fact that this isn’t about picking a captain. But picking a great captain. So who would make for a great All Black captain - not just an obvious or safe shoo-in? I’m not sure Ardie’s the guy and Barret doesn’t stand out either.
23 Go to commentsI guess we may all agree on the fact, that the ABs and Boks are the two in contest for No 1 in rugby history (the triple-A sort of) …. the Wallabies, England and France are the next tier, with Ireland being the new kid in town (AA) …. in my view it makes little sense creating imaginary competitions (unless you have too much time to waste)
45 Go to comments