GUINNESSSIXNATIONS(BUILDUP)

In the Guinness Six Nations six countries play Rugby and battle it out to win. The Six Nations began in 2000 although before that Five Nations battled it out between 1944 to 1999. The teams in the Six Nations are England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, France and Italy. Four of the six teams have won it, this includes England 7 times, Wales 6 times, France 6 times and Ireland 4 times. Since 2000 Italy have played a total of 105 games but only won 12 and drawn 1 this means Italy have lost 92 games. This year it all kicked off on Saturday 4th February at 14:15 at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff. England’s new head coach Steve Borthwick was recently appointed after Eddie Jones was sacked. Steve Borthwick debut was in 1998 playing for Bath and went on to play for Preston Grasshoppers, he is 43 years old.

When discussing this topic Mr. North (who is a massive rugby fan) said: “The team that will struggle the most is Italy because they don’t have a good record, but as well in Italy there is not as many youth clubs as in the other countries. A player who could be a rising star for England is Ben Earl, he was born in 1998 and came through the Saracens academy He played for England under-16, under-18 and was part of the team who came runners up in the under-20 world cup. A possible contender for player of the tournament is England captain Owen Farrell. A contender to win the Six Nations is France.”

England’s home ground is the massive Twickenham in London, it can hold 82,000 people. Now let’s find out about the other teams.

Wales

Ground: Principality Stadium which can hold 74,500 people

Coach: Warren Gatland

Captain: Ken Owens

Star Player: Ken Owens (Hooker)

Wales’s last game was against Australia at home and the score was 20 - 13 to Wales at half time. Although at full time it was 34 – 39 to Australia.

Wales Six Nations campaign starts off against Ireland at the Principality Stadium.

Scotland

Scotland's head coach is: Gregor Townsend, he has been head coach since 2017!

Ground: Murryfield Stadium which can hold 67,144 people

Captain: Jamie Ritchie

Star player: Finn Russell (Fly-half)

Scotland's first game is away at Twickenham, the home of England Rugby on Saturday 4th February.

Written by Ted Year 5