“FRANCE will be looking to defend their Six Nations crown when the competition gets underway on Thursday – but they are facing an uphill battle. The holders are set to go head-to-head with Ireland in a thrilling tournament opener. Sign up for the Sport newsletter Thank you! The Six Nations gets underway on Thursday Credit:”, — write: www.thesun.co.uk
The holders are set to go head-to-head with Ireland in a thrilling tournament opener.
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The Six Nations gets underway on ThursdayCredit: AFP
France are the defending championsCredit: AP Scotland travel to Italy on Saturday, while England’s showdown with Wales completes the first round of fixtures.
Steve Borthwick’s side are going into the Six Nations as the favourites to get their hands on silverware – despite failing to win the tournament since 2020.
And it could all come down to their trip to the Stade de France on March 14.
SunSport’s Adam Hathaway has predicted how the table will look at the end of the Six Nations, along with each side’s star man.
England COACH: Steve Borthwick
STAR MAN: Tommy Freeman (centre/wing)
Eleven wins on the spin and if they get the Murrayfield monkey off their back, after three defeats there to Scotland, they have a real title shot in their Paris finale.
PREDICTED FINISH: 1st
Steve Borthwick is looking to steer England to gloryCredit: Getty BEST FREE BETS AND BETTING SIGN UP OFFERS
France COACH: Fabien Galthie
STAR MAN: Antoine Dupont (scrum-half)
Boss Galthie has ditched superstars like Damian Penaud and Gael Fickou but the great Dupont is back after a horror injury. Reigning champions and dangerous.
PREDICTED FINISH: 2nd
Antoine Dupont is back from injuryCredit: AFP Ireland COACH: Andy Farrell
STAR MAN: Joe McCarthy (lock)
Not the team they were in 2023 and have injuries and disciplinary problems. Need to settle on a fly-half, with Sam Prendergast given first shot.
PREDICTED FINISH: 3rd
Andy Farrell is calling the shots for IrelandCredit: Sportsfile Scotland COACH: Gregor Townsend
STAR MAN: Finn Russell (fly-half)
Inconsistent Scots can beat England one week and lose to Italy the next. Brilliant in patches in the autumn but knives will be out for Townsend if they flop.
PREDICTED FINISH: 4th
Finn Russell will need to be at his best for ScotlandCredit: SNS Italy COACH: Gonzalo Quesada
STAR MAN: Louis Lynagh (wing)
Trips to Paris and Dublin make it tough for a side missing crocked wing Ange Capuozzo. Anything but sixth spot would be progress. Will fancy beating Wales.
PREDICTED FINISH: 5th
Gonzalo Quesada is facing a tough taskCredit: Getty Wales COACH: Steve Tandy
STAR MAN: Louis Rees-Zammit (wing)
Welsh rugby is in a mess, a region is due to be chopped and Jac Morgan is injured. If Wales can beat Scotland and Italy in Cardiff, Tandy will be the new Messiah.
PREDICTED FINISH: 6th
Louis Rees-Zammit will be flying down the wingCredit: PA
But Mitchell did the same thing with Northampton team-mate Fraser Dingwall during last year’s Six Nations — which was not fully appreciated by the Newcastle United-supporting centre.
Mitchell, Dingwall and Ford will line up at nine, ten and 12 in the Red Roses’ tournament opener against Wales on Saturday, with the scrum-half insisting the understated duo are as key to boss Steve Borthwick as Spanish midfielder Rodri is to City manager Pep Guardiola.
Mitchell, 28, said: “George is similar to someone like Rodri as well. He gets the team to tick, probably doesn’t always do some of the most X-Factor things.
“But behind the scenes, the people within the squad know just how important these players are.
“Dingers was a bit annoyed I called him Rodri. He was the Ballon d’Or winner at the time!
“Players like that who are quality and the glue of the team are huge.”
Veteran Sale star Ford, 32, who wins his 106th cap at the weekend, is one of England’s decision-makers and organisers who will run the game against a woeful Wales side at Twickenham.
Mitchell added: “He’s a fantastic leader, understands the game really well and his kick strategy knowledge is through the roof.
“The way he plays has a really good balance of when you want to move the ball or go to the kicking game.
“I’m always picking his brain, see what he thinks about different scenarios, how you are playing and have you had a card.
“I’m always asking him questions and he is really good around that. He has been fantastic for however many years.”
England head into the Six Nations in blistering form and on the back of 11 straight wins, their best run since the early days of ex-boss Eddie Jones.
And after getting over their habit of losing close games, Mitchell knows a bench — which includes Henry Pollock, Tom Curry, Luke Cowan-Dickie and Marcus Smith — can now blow teams away in the final quarter.
He added: “There is the confidence that you know you’ve been there before and you’ve won these tight games.
“Previous to a lot of these victories, we lost a lot of games by very tight margins.
“We just didn’t swing them our way but after a couple of results went for us, we had the confidence behind us to say, ‘Oh, we can go and win these games, especially with our bench’.
“We’re really good in that last 20 minutes and that pushes us forward to get results.
“We know going into it we’re in decent form. We’ve got a good opportunity to win some games and try to push to the top of the Six Nations.”
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