The Six Nations returns

Joseph Terry looks ahead to the upcoming Six Nations tournament

THE 2023 Six Nations, beginning on February 4th, will be a tournament of preparation for the World Cup in France this September. France come into the tournament as defending champions and as strong favourites to be crowned champions, previously claiming a Grand Slam, their first (and Six Nations title) for 12 years.

Les Bleus come into the Six Nations on a 13-game winning streak, having last lost in June 2021 — defeating world champions South Af- rica and Australia in the Autumn Internationals. Fabien Galthié named eight uncapped players in his squad — with injuries forcing Galthié to make changes and promote younger players into the squad. However, Galthié retains the experienced spine of the backs within the squad, such as Damian Penaud, Gael Fickou and captain Antoine Dupont. France face difficult challenges with trips to Dublin and London — the Six Nations for France will define whether or not they are genuine contenders for the World

Cup and whether this summer could be a summer of rugby in France. Second favourites for the championship, Ireland, will look to improve upon a second place finish last year — Andy Farrell naming an expected squad with the exception of Joey Carbery’s exclusion. Johnny Sexton and Tadhg Furlong are included in the squad despite recent injury, the Ireland squad showing the strength in depth of Irish regional rugby within the URC. The Irish will look to continue building on a successful autumn which included wins over South Africa and Australia. A fifth round tie against England in Dublin poses a threat, as does an away trip to Murrayfield — but Ireland will have home advantage against France in Round 2.

The sacking of Eddie Jones as England head coach and the subsequent hiring of Premiership-winning Steve Borthwick and his coaching team at Leicester Tigers, places an emphasis on the Six Nations as the moment for the England squad to be shaped by Borth- wick in the run-up to September, made more difficult by injuries. With Elliot Daly, Courtney Lawes, Jamie George, Luke Cowan Dickie all either doubts or ruled out, Borthwick’s first squad reflected an injury crisis. Furthermore, Borthwick still faces inevitable selection debates such as the never-ending question of Marcus Smith and Owen Farrell playing at either 10 or 12. The tournament may be secondary to the World Cup as Borthwick aims to create team cohesion, but English fans want a strong response after a run of poor form.

Scotland enter possibly their last Six Nations with Gregor Townsend as head coach — and benefit from a draw that gives them three home games against Wales, Ireland and Italy. Exeter Chiefs' Stuart Hogg and Jonny Gray are named in the squad alongside a strong contingent of Glasgow Warriors and Edinburgh players that have started the URC season in the top eight.

Wales are another side facing upheaval as Warren Gatland returns as head coach. He succeeds Wayne Pivac, whose tenure was marked by discontent as a poor 2022 Six Nations, including a loss to Italy, was followed by an embarrassing loss to Georgia. Amidst an environment of poor performance across the regional rugby system, Gatland will look restore stability — Gatland the architect of the

2019 Grand Slam, having won four Six Nations through his first tenure. Picking up one win in the 2022 Six Nations, Wales will be buoyed by optimism within the Welsh fanbase — Gatland calling back to his old faithful with a squad including Alun Wyn Jones, Justin Tipuric, Dan Biggar and new captain Ken Owens. However, Gatland has kept one eye on succession plans within an aging squad, adding Rhys Davies and Teddy Williams. Wales host England in Round 3, and travel to Italy in Round 4 hoping to avoid another loss to gli Azzurri.

Italy, despite finishing last in the Six Nations last year, come into the tournament with the opportunity to compete. An impassioned one-point victory against Australia in the autumn building upon the one-point victory against Wales that broke a 36-game drought of Six Nations victories, prove that Italy have the quality within their side to challenge, led by the talent of Ange Capuozzo and Paulo Garbisi as innovative backs. Supported by a successful under-20 setup that defeated England last year, Kieran Crowley’s team are in a good position to perform better than ever before.

A Six Nations in a World Cup year acts as an indicator of form, and with many teams chasing new opportunities, this Six Nations will be the most heavily scrutinised for the last few years.