In what has been a turbulent year for sport, rugby fans will be pleased about the return of the Six Nations as there is still lots on the line. Although experiencing the fierce rivalries between the home nations, France and Italy live at the stadium is no longer possible, there will be a great deal of relief and anticipation, as everyone hopes that there isn't a 6 month break in between this year's games.
Since the beginning of the Six Nations, with the joining of Italy, in the year 2000, England have been most successful with 7 wins. This showed in the most recent of these contests with England being crowned 2020 champions, unfortunately with the absence of a crowd. In this time period, France and Wales are drawing with five a piece, and Ireland just behind them with four. That said, Wales lead the table in the way of all time Grand slams as four of their five wins have come without defeat or drawing.
Looking into this year's contest, while Italy have the capacity to cause an upset, it is still widely assumed that their Championship drought will continue, with the force of the other five nations proving superior in all of the tournaments so far. Although England might appear the obvious choice, France have frequently been labelled favourites in the build up to this year's competition, due to their excellent new wave of young talent entering the team. Equally, in what would break an increasingly long stretch of tradition, Scotland are deemed to be in with a chance this year, especially in the opening game. Their miraculous comeback to a 38-38 draw at Twickenham in 2019 has certainly provided them with the confidence they need to provide an early upset.
Either way, the return of rugby will be an exciting event for all fans. Finn Gould said,”The Six Nations brings the best teams from the Northern Hemisphere together for a brutal tournament where pride at the stake.” With so many individual trophies to be fought over within the separate fixtures, the Six Nations is undoubtedly one of the most hardly fought competitions on the planet.
