Daily Mail

Get set for passion and power aplenty in the Six Nations... but sadly still no jeopardy

- Chris Foy

Roll UP, roll up. Here we go again. As ever, the Six Nations will illuminate the winter gloom. The tribal rivalries will stir native passion as hordes of fans bring noise and colour to great cities. You know the drill. It works. We all love it.

But… the uncomforta­ble truth is that the annual championsh­ip has become both a showcase of the sport and a barrier to its wider developmen­t. Rugby needs to expand and this popular but private event is an impenetrab­le pinnacle of the European game. The newly released Netflix series about the 2023 tournament highlighte­d the human dramas of which there are many, but part of the narrative which emerged was

Italy’s perennial struggle to compete. Harsh as it is to say this again, the Azzurri keep losing and keep playing, with no consequenc­es.

They will almost certainly lose against England in Rome on Saturday. Play on. The Azzurri have finished sixth in 18 of 24 tournament­s they have been involved in. Play on. They have been bottom of the pile in the last eight campaigns. Play on. The recent World Cup highlighte­d the possibilit­ies among the next tier of countries. Portugal became the standard-bearers, with their vast support, dazzling play and a homecoming reception at lisbon airport which went straight into oval-ball folklore. If Spain hadn’t fielded an ineligible player, it could have been them enjoying lift-off.

Georgia continue to bang on a door which remains firmly shut and locked. But wouldn’t Netflix and all of us love to see it opened, to create jeopardy? That’s what is missing — jeopardy and variety. of course, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it — and it certainly isn’t broke. But more vision is needed. Raise horizons.

Saying that the team who finish last claim a metaphoric­al ‘wooden spoon’ is so odd and outdated. What on earth is that about? last place should lead to a play-off against the winners of the second-tier Rugby Europe Championsh­ip; either home-andaway, or a one-off showdown at a neutral venue.

Italy versus Georgia. Market it as a £10million match or whatever sky-high figure it is deemed to be worth. Televise and stream it everywhere. Imagine the interest. A way to the top would ignite investment in Georgia, Spain,

Portugal — maybe Belgium, the Netherland­s, and Germany, too. Give them a target. Create a more vibrant landscape. Anyway, putting aside the wishful thinking, it is another instalment of the familiar Championsh­ip and it is fondly anticipate­d again. This time, it starts under Fridaynigh­t lights in Marseille with what is likely to be an instant title decider, between the pre-eminent teams of the era. France must be favourites, at home, against last year’s Grand Slamming Irish.

But relegation is not the only missing ingredient in this Six Nations. There is no Antoine Dupont (right) — who has been voted Player of the

Championsh­ip in three of the last four years. What a void, for his team and for the whole event. The poster-boy is irreplacea­ble. Good luck to whichever of Maxime Lucu or Nolann Le Garrec has to don that No 9 shirt and try to emulate the maestro. But there are so many other notable absentees. Ireland are starting life after Johnny Sexton. England are without Owen Farrell. Wales are without Dan Biggar — and the mighty Alun Wyn Jones. So many captains and talismen are gone. It feels like the launch of a new age. In this post-World Cup phase, motivation is high for wounded teams, especially the top two. Ireland thought the global prize was there for the taking and France believed it was their time for a host-nation triumph, but both leading northern challenger­s fell in the last ast eight and are still coming ng to terms with the sporting trauma. England fared better than both of them but they have lost Farrell, Courtney Lawes and

Ben Youngs, while key centres Manu Tuilagi and Ollie Lawrence are e injured. There is decent t potential in the Red Rose ose camp, with new talent emerging e e gi g fast, but it is hard to see them as true title contenders — especially with three games away, including

France in Lyon on the last weekend.

Never mind the four-year cycle, England have to prioritise the here anda now. In each of the last three campaigns thethey have lost three of ththeir five fixtures and tthat is an uunaccepta­ble return, aas Steve Borthwick knows only too well. England should be aiaiming to cross the ChChannel still in the mix on SSuper Saturday — which is normally a tense, iintriguin­gtigig final-fiday carnival. What of the others? Scotland have Finn Russell — the (tonguein-cheek) self-styled ‘Lionel

Messi of rugby’ — and a good team around the playmaker genius. They could and should win in Cardiff on the first weekend and then the annual title-contenders tag will be applied, at least until France come to Murrayfiel­d the next weekend and promptly rip it off again. Gregor Townsend’s men will believe they can beat Italy away and England at home, but third place is surely their ceiling. Wales are raw and stripped of Six Nations pedigree. Warren Gatland warned ‘don’t write us off’ but that is inevitable. Exeter lock Dafydd Jenkins is a phenomenal prodigy but he will need time to grow into the captaincy. Louis Rees-Zammit has defected to the NFL and Immanuel Feyi-Waboso has been lost to England so the Welsh could lack cutting edge, as well as clout and nous up front.

As for Italy — please just win a game. Any game. It could happen on the last day in Cardiff — where they upset Wales two years ago. They could trouble Scotland at home, too.

We know there is strong developmen­t at age-grade level, but it has to come to fruition, or one enlightene­d day, rather than being left holding an imaginary kitchen utensil yet again, they might face the spectre of relegation. That would prove the Six Nations has embraced change and progress at last.

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