With the Six Nations set for kick-off, Planet Rugby takes a look at each team's chances. Next up, England!
England are the bookies favourites this season due to a decent end to 2012 and also their three home games on the schedule. But will they kick on or be left to contemplate another false dawn?
Last Year: Second place for an England side under the tutelage of interim coach Stuart Lancaster was a decent finish after what was a forgetful World Cup in New Zealand. Publicly noticeable stains had unfortunately left the white jersey far from respected by even some of their own players, let alone those outside the nation. Step forward a back to basics approach from Lancaster which put England's players on the straight and narrow and left some of their old guard out in the cold. England did take time to find their feet and were fortunate to beat Scotland before a narrow victory in Italy saw them go two from two. However, the next game against Wales at Twickenham ended in defeat when a Scott Williams try saw England fall 12-19. That led to the Welsh motoring to the Grand Slam - but such an achievement might well have been England's as impressive wins over France and Ireland followed soon after.
This year: Twelve months ago Stuart Lancaster was in the process of putting England back together again. He's done a pretty good job so far, with a strong Six Nations backed up by a memorable victory over New Zealand. Now the task is to kick on and prove that the All Blacks success was no fluke. Expectation is high - with France coach Philippe Saint-Andre saying the Red Rose are favourites for 2013's title - so England desperately need to avoid any slip-ups against a Scotland squad that is far from stable at present before pushing on for possible silverware. Lancaster's coaching team has had a year together and seem like a group striving toward the same goals, with restoring sound attitudes and pride in the jersey reaping rewards so far. Progress is the key thing however and it would be a massive disappointment if England finished this Six Nations with anything other than a top two spot.
Players to watch: It has been a monumental rise for lock Joe Launchbury as awards and recognition have been laid at his door since making his debut for London Wasps. Club form led to international appearances and he is now a real contender to make the British & Irish Lions tour - should that strong form continue in February and March. Of course, the form and decision making of flanker Chris Robshaw is also going to be under the microscope while it will be interesting to see if Chris Ashton can carry his late-Pool Heineken Cup form into the Six Nations. If so, England have a potent finisher which will significantly help their push to reclaim the title they relinquished to Wales last year. Also watch out for Billy Twelvetrees.
Prospects: With three home games on their schedule, many are predicting good things for England. However, tough trips to Dublin and Cardiff are going to test their resolve as both Ireland and Wales are also in with a shout of the title. Playing France on home soil is always a positive sign pre-tournament so if they can get off on the right foot against Scotland - with a better performance than the narrow win last season - they will travel to Ireland confident and face a side possibly nursing a few wounds from what should be a scrap with Wales. 2nd.
Fixtures:
2 February: v Scotland - Home
10 February: v Ireland - Away
23 February: v France - Home
10 March: v Italy - Home
16 March: v Wales - Away
Comments
kybone says...
cymruambyth- I don't know whats more embarrassing- making a fool of yourself in the first place or trying to mask your idiocy by claiming that your origional comments were a deliberate attempt at a wind up!
Posted 16:57 31st January 2013
APV1 says...
England to win, with a Grand Slam. All other teams to come equal last, with not a point scored between them. That's right folks - Nil : Nil in every other match and England running rampant and scoring over 1000000 points in every game.
You may laugh, but jst wait and see...
@ missionary - not if they get beaten by the Belgians...
@ JamieTheProp - I used to live in St Kilda, many moons ago. I'll be back in Melbourne at the end of the month, so if you find anywhere showing 6N (especially England) matches, please let me know.
Posted 10:57 31st January 2013
LondonWasp says...
@missionary
yes Georgia should join!!!!
Posted 09:20 31st January 2013
ramm83 says...
@cymruambyth - let's be honest, Wales will be out of the running for the Grand Slam by the end of this weekend... ;)
Posted 08:50 31st January 2013
JamieTheProp says...
I love the Calcutta Cup! Just need to find somewhere showing it in St. Kilda, Melbourne!
I think France will win it with England second and like most I think Ireland will edge is in Dublin (but a great learning curve for our young team).
We shall see! Swing Low....
Posted 06:13 31st January 2013
Waz4before says...
tough one, tough one, I can see england losing both away games - Dublin will be really tough and irrespective of whether wales are going for the title (possible) or the wooden spoon (also possible but unlikely) they will be up for beating England and with England fielding such a young/inexperienced team who will by then be disrupted by injuries they'll find Cardiff tough, too tough I think.
I can't call France - I think they were over-rated based on their performances in the Autumn tests and clearly didn't play the same Australian side England/Wales did so we'll know more after 2 or 3 rounds of this tournament; but theyre more than capable of felling england as well but hopefully Twickers will swing the day England's way
England could win it but so could 3 other teams; and the more I look at this years tournament the harder it is to see any side pulling off a Grand Slam but I am wishing/hoping/praying for England to do it - its been 10 years now!!!!
@cymruambyth: ignore all the people critical of your posts - they clearly don't understand the role of a village idiot!
Posted 23:35 30th January 2013
missionary says...
Italy to win it this year. Scotland to come second. Then Wales. Ireland to miss out on bronze. France to win just one game and England to pick up the wooden spoon.
Georgia to enter the "7 Nations" next season.
Posted 22:16 30th January 2013
cymruambyth says...
Sorry but winding you lot up is too easy... Ok, no more WUMMING from me. on a serious, note: Tuilagi is a big loss. You had better pray he returns for Dublin, as I just don't see how England will create anything without him. Pack is solid, Dan Cole is key there, however the back row lacks balance with no true "fetcher". Stefan Armitage's continued omission is starting to look a bit daft
Posted 20:09 30th January 2013
NHsaints says...
@cymruambyth ... are you stupid or just trolling? Saying we've got potential to win things isn't arrogance or overconfidence it's not bigging up your team and it's not even saying anything is for definite. It's saying we could win and we're in with a shot...what do you expect us to say? Oh well we had our best year since 2003 but we're awful and we're not going to get a grandslam we're just going to lie down and lose? Forget it. We're going to finish ahead of Wales and if we don't I'll eat my England shirt.
Posted 18:31 30th January 2013
ArmchairGeneral says...
Id be surprised if there were a grand slam this year.
Posted 18:07 30th January 2013
ArmchairGeneral says...
cymruambyth: you didn't hit a nerve, you just stepped up on stage and rung the "look at me, I'm stupid" bell. Never mind.
Posted 18:03 30th January 2013
melkdave says...
Have to say im thinking no team will do a slam this year.I expect France to be champions and hopefully England will be 2nd.But as no games have been played yet ,anything is possible atm.England seemed to improve thoughout every campaign last year,yes had some bad luck,against the Bokke,but then maybe good luck against the ABs,but every game England learned and improved on their next outing.Im hoping England will keep improving,this year aswell.As i dont expect England to become real challangers to the ABs till 2014 tbh..So i expecting both England and France to win 4 games this championship.Im warey of Ireland away,i feel that maybe thats the game England trip up on tbh alot depends on how they get on against Wales lose and will come out really pumped up.win and could lose against England..
@Cymruambyth
Looks like the only over confident poster here is you tbh,Wales securing another Grand Slam this year.Realistically they wil be lucky to finish 4th tbh,given present form and injuries Ireland wont be easy,neither will Italy,and as to Scotland they matched Wales last year when they had 15 men on the field ,only The yellow cards allowed Wales to get ahead on the scoreboard last year,and at the end they where holding on for dear life,so again no easy game there either .
Posted 17:50 30th January 2013
Propmelsey says...
1. ENGLAND Gran Slam
2. Ireland
3. France
4. Italy
5. Wales
6. Scotland
Posted 16:02 30th January 2013
cymruambyth says...
Whatever, I seem to have a hit a nerve or two... England will win 3 matches - they'll thump Italy and Scotland, will edge out Ireland in Dublin but will go down both to France at home and to Wales in Cardiff who will seal YET ANOTHER Grand Slam ;-)
Posted 15:47 30th January 2013
kybone says...
cymruambyth- Brilliant!!! Lol. Don't you love it when someone tries to be clever, and makes a fool of themselves. Can't wait to read your next post
Posted 15:43 30th January 2013
Celtictenor says...
@cymruambyth and others
In my younger days I was greatly annoyed by the arrogant stereotype Englishman (eg the HoorayHenry sort). But I am pleased to say that I think those days are long gone, and the present-day English rugbyman is as much a good supporter of the game we all love as that of most countries. There will always be the odd exception (eg Ashton, some of the HQ blazer brigade) but I for one am happy to let the past bury itself. It is certainly not arrogant to say that the Grand Slam is within reach by any of the upper four of the 6N. And it may be that Telfer's age (in his 70s) can explain his remarks about England - he is probably smarting from the perceived insults of a few generations ago.
Unfortunately his remark about Wales, given our performance in the Autumn internationals, may have been a bit too close to what appeared to be the truth, and it hurt.
However, let's put these things aside, and enjoy what promises to be an interesting, if not high quality, 6N tournament.
Posted 14:38 30th January 2013
tellitlikeitis says...
england are brutal. looking forward to someone smashing 'awesome' Owen Farrell this weekend - over rated
Posted 14:33 30th January 2013
LondonWasp says...
@cymruambyth
typical...
please re-read rugby_rockstar's comment again if you think he is over confident and arrogant (read particularly the part when he says:"They are also just as likely to trip up and land face first in a dog poo." )
and your second quote was from froggy73. I am no expert, but i would hazard a guess that with a name like 'froggy73', he/she is french... so no, he is not an 'over confident and arrogant' englishman.
methinks you just wanted to write something ani-english for the sake of it, as many do on this site....
Posted 13:44 30th January 2013
froggy73 says...
@cymruambyth: bad luck for you: I am not English (didn't my name give you a clue?). So talking on good terms about a team that is not mine can't make me arrogant can it ?
Posted 13:17 30th January 2013
TVaddict says...
@cymruambyth
Weirdo. Beating the All Blacks was a brilliant one off performance, and the grand slam isn't out of reach for any 6 nations team, so what's your point?
Posted 13:08 30th January 2013