Pure Rugby Blog

Six Nations 2010 – Guide and Preview

The 2010 Six Nations Championship is almost upon us and things are shaping up nicely for what promises to be an intriguing tournament. It seems there are serious question about each Nations pedigree except Ireland in the build up to 6 Nations 2010, which is surely a wonderful recipe for unpredictable, exciting matches. One team does tend to dominate the Six Nations, amazingly 6 out of the last 8 Six Nations Championships have seen the winning nation claiming the Grandslam (France 2002, 2004 – England 2003 – Wales 2005, 2008 – Ireland 2009). Will we see another Grandslam in the 108th edition of the tournament this year? It’s extremely difficult to predict what is going to happen but this article will attempt to pin down some of the crucial factors that will affect the individual teams and the tournament.

Wales 6 Nations 2010 Preview

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Wales will be looking to get back to their best after an indifferent 2009 Six Nations and a patchy autumn series. Wales will be delighted to have their all-Lions front row of  ‘hair-bear’ Adam Jones, Matthew Rees and the outstanding Gethin Jenkins,  available for selection. Phil Vickery has hailed the Wales front row as “the best scrummaging unit in World Rugby” and they will surely be a massive boost to Warren Gatland, galvanising the Welsh lineout and scums, and providing a solid base for the Welsh backs to express themselves.

Captain Ryan Jones has recovered from a dip in form that resulted him being left out of Sir Ian McGeechan’s Lions side that toured South Africa, a significant dent to the ego that has re-energised the rampaging Ospreys back-row man. He will again be looked to for solid ball carrying, breaking the game line and making those hard yards that are so important in getting the opposing defence on the back foot.

Flying winger Shane Williams will be pivotal to Welsh success and the expectation on him is huge as per usual, he has the ability to do things that change the game in a flash and the whole of Wales will be hoping he is at his brilliant best. It’s sad for Welsh fans, and rugby as a whole, that Shane is now reaching the twilight of his career and his blistering pace and agility simply can’t last too much longer. But, he’s not finished yet and The IRB world player of the year 2008 will be hoping to build on his 2 brilliant tries against Argentina in the Autumn and extend his Wales try scoring record.

Elsewhere, Wales will need great performances from the solid Stephen Jones, the mischievous Martyn Williams, James Hook, winger Leigh Half-Penny, the stampeding Jason Roberts, specialist full-back Lee Byrne (who misses the match against England because of the 16-man incident in the Ospreys victory over Leicester in the Heineken Cup) and, crucially, Martin Roberts at Scrum-Half as Mike Phillips’ ankle injury looks set to rule him out of the entire tournament. Martin Roberts in just one of a selection of exciting Welsh youngsters coming through and challenging the senior players with Dan Biggar, Jonathan Davies, Sam Warburton and Tom Evans all sniffing around a starting spot.

Wales will struggle to challenge Ireland and France this championship and much will hinge on how they start at Twickenham. If they overcome England and then beat France at the Millennium Stadium then the match against Ireland at Croke Park will be a cracker.

• Six Nations 2009 Postion – 4th
  
• Pure-Rugby.com Six Nations 2010 Prediction – 3rd

Wales’ Six Nations 2010 Fixtures

Saturday 6 February | v England, Twickenham Stadium, London

Saturday 13 February | v Scotland, Millennium Stadium, Cardiff

Friday 26 February | v France, Millennium Stadium, Cardiff

Saturday 13 March | v Ireland, Croke Park, Dublin, Ireland

Saturday 20 March | v Italy, Millennium Stadium, Cardiff

Ireland 6 Nations 2010 Preview

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The Irish eyes are smiling ahead of the 2010 RBS Six Nations Championship. The current 6 Nations champions ended 2009 unbeaten having conquered all in becoming Grandslam champions in the 2009 championship and then matching, and beating, the Southern Hemisphere sides during the Autumn Internationals. The Irish side are solid throughout and, like Wales, have real strength coming through the ranks. The only danger would seem that the only way is down for Ireland at the moment.

Talismanic Captain Brian O’Driscoll will be key to Ireland’s defence of their Six Nations crown. He brings balance, structure creativity and a cutting edge to the Ireland attack that is really missed when he is not there. He has that uncanny knack of being in the right place at the right time which he again displayed in the Autumn Internationals, popping up in the final minutes to score a try to level the game against Australia and almost knocking himself out cold in the process of making a huge tackle that thwarted South Africa’s final attack in a superb Irish victory at Croke Park. Simply put, an incredible player that any team would be poorer without.

Rob Kearney will play a vital role at full-back, he has emerged as one of the shining stars of the Irish setup and as good, if not better, than anybody else in the world at number 15. It will be interesting to see what Declan Kidney decides to do about his predicament at Outside-Half, Jonny Sexton’s threats to usurp Ronan O’Gara look to be realised as he put in some superb performances against the Southern Hemisphere sides in the Autumn, but Ronan O’Gara will no doubt have something to say about that – what a problem to have! O’Gara is to start the Italy game whatever happens due to an injury to Sexton.

If Ireland can maintain the high standard that they have set over the past 12 months I have no doubt that they will be champions again come the end of March. In fact, a Grandslam would again be looking likely if it were not for their tricky trip to Stade de France. Can they maintain their tremendous form and build on what they have? Only time will tell, but one thing is for sure, everyone will be gunning for them this year and they should expect some bruising encounters.

• Six Nations 2009 Postion – 1st
• Pure-Rugby.com’s Ireland Six Nations 2010 Prediction – 1st

Ireland’s Six Nations 2010 Fixtures

Saturday 6 February | v Italy, Croke Park, Dublin

Saturday 13 February | v France, Stade de France, Paris

Saturday 27 February | v England, Twickenham, London

Saturday 13 March | v Wales, Croke Park, Dublin

Saturday 20 March | v Scotland, Croke Park, Dublin

England 6 Nations 2010 Preview

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It’s difficult to know what to say about the England Rugby Team. An indifferent 2009 Six Nations (I’m still not sure how they managed to finish second) followed by performances bordering on the mundane (the Argentina match at Twickenham was an awful spectacle) during the Autumn Internationals have blighted any expectation from many English supporters. However, the English side were not playing well at all before the 2007 Rugby World Cup and they only succumbed to South Africa in the final! England have to get better, and eventually they will. They need something to spark a revival because they cannot continue to drift like they have been for the past couple of years.

Jonny Wilkinson, the leading International points scorer, will be England’s most important player. His tremendous points total is particularly impressive given the succession of injuries he has suffered – he didn’t play for over 3 years after kicking England to World Cup victory in 2003. It seems as though there isn’t much of the England number 10’s body that he hasn’t had reconstructed over the years and England will be praying that he remains fit and healthy for the duration of the Championship.

There are vultures looming over the head of Captain Steve Borthwick at the moment and it is unlikely he’ll survive another bad tournament. Coach Martin Johnson has faith in his captain though, Johnson sees the same ‘lion-heart’ spirit in Borthwick that he personified as a player and considers him a good leader of men – the results really need to change to uphold Johnson’s faith though.

If England finish with 3 wins from the tournament they should consider this tournament a success.

• Six Nations 2009 Postion – 2nd
• Pure-Rugby.com’s England Six Nations 2010 Prediction – 4th

England’s Six Nations 2010 Fixtures

Saturday 6 February | v Wales, Twickenham Stadium, London

Sunday 14 February | v Italy, Stadio Flaminio, Rome

Saturday 27 February | v Ireland, Twickenham Stadium, London

Saturday 13 March | v Scotland, Murrayfield, Edinburgh

Saturday 20 March | v France, Stade de France, Paris

Scotland 6 Nations 2010 Preview

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Despite the elation of beating Australia in the Autumn Internationals, there needs to be sense of realism when setting expectations for Scotland in the 2010 Six Nations. The win against Scotland was a colossal effort and an incredible defensive achievement. However, if every courageous, last-gasp defensive tackle hadn’t had been so successful,  Australia could well have run in 30 or 40 points. Very average performances against both Argentina and Fiji should be noted as a reminder that Scotland have a lot of ground to catch up to trouble the top Nations.

Scrum-Half Chris Cuister looks set to continue as Captain this championship in the absence of Mike Blair who is still recovering from injury. Scotland have an injury crisis in the back-row too with Jason White suffering a double fracture to his left leg at the beginning of January. White is renowned for his huge tackles and will be sorely missed. If Chris Patterson is in the starting XV he will offer rock solid kicking but Phil Godman or Dan Parks are excellent kickers as well.

Scotland’s defence is certainly better than it was this time last year, but they still lack a cutting edge in the backs and tries will be hard to come by. 2 Scottish wins is a realistic return for this campaign.

• Six Nations 2009 Postion – 5th
• Pure-Rugby.com’s England Six Nations 2010 Prediction – 5th

Scotland’s Six Nations 2010 Fixtures

Sunday 7 February | v France, Murrayfield

Saturday 13 February | v Wales, Millennium Stadium

Saturday 27 February | v Italy, Stadio Flaminio

Saturday 13 March | v England, Murrayfield

Saturday 20 March | v Ireland, Croke Park

France 6 Nations 2010 Preview

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France will be looking to get their final match of the Autumn Internationals out of their system as soon as possible after an otherwise impressive Series. Les Bleus dominated the World Champion Springboks in Paris before being thoroughly outclassed and embarrassed by a rampant All Blacks side. As ever, inconsistency could be their Achilles Heel. On their day the French are a powerful force, impressive up front and tremendous with the ball in hand. But they can also fall flat and can sometime appear disinterested if things aren’t going their way. England and Ireland will hope to have good starts when they travel to France because the notoriously fickle Parisians will turn on their side quickly.

Imanol Harinordoquy will be a key player for the French, he commands the lineouts and is a one-man wrecking ball. When he is on form, the Biarritz man is almost unstoppable. Besides his excellent prowess on the field, Harinordoquy should provide some funny moments as commentators and presenters wrestle with the syllables in his name. Not an easy one to pronounce.

Despite their apparent struggles with inconsistency, France will go close to winning the Six Nations 2010. The match against Ireland in Paris is a must-win game if they are to succeed.

• Six Nations 2009 Postion – 3rd
• Pure-Rugby.com’s France Six Nations 2010 Prediction – 2nd

France’s Six Nations 2010 Fixtures

Sunday 7 February | v Scotland, Murrayfield, Edinburgh

Saturday 13 February | v Ireland, Stade de France, Paris

Friday 26 February | v Wales, Millennium Stadium, Cardiff

Sunday 14 March | v Italy, Stade de France, Paris

Satureday 20 March | v England, Stade de France, Paris

Italy 6 Nations 2010 Preview

You can always depend on the Azzuri for passionate, gritty performances… and a pack that is as hard as nails. Italy’s task in the Six Nations always looks a bleak one, they are always just lacking that consistent cutting edge to threaten well organised defences. The pack will compete with any in the world but they don’t travel well as a unit and and the loss of their influential, world-class captain Sergio Parisse to injury is a hammer blow. They have three matches away from Rome this championship and will probably find the going as tough as ever.

Italy rely on a punishing front row creating the pressure that will force penalties and a steady boot to kick the points. Martin Castrogiovanni will prove a hugely important player at tighthead, he has a reputation for being as tremendously strong and destructive, and will be crucial to the Italian forward presence.

Italy are not far away from regularly challenging the Six Nation status quo, they just need a couple more creative gems in the back line with the guile and the skill to open up defences. Italy have probably the hardest Six Nations schedule of any team, they will visit the Millennium Stadium, Croke Park and Stade de France so the Azzuri will be targeting scalps against England and Scotland in Rome, any other points would be a tremendous acheivement.

• Six Nations 2009 Postion – 6th
• Pure-Rugby.com’s Italy Six Nations 2010 Prediction – 6th

Italy’s Six Nations 2010 Fixtures

Saturday 6 February | v Ireland, Croke Park

Sunday 14 February | v England, Stadio Flaminio

Saturday 27 February | v Scotland, Stadio Flaminio

Sunday 14 March | v France, Stade de France

Saturday 20 March | v Wales, Millennium Stadium