Why phase two has six appeal

FOR all the management teams, the Six Nations has now become a three-phase operation, with the key objective to be still in contention for honours when the final round of games are staged.

In the old days of the Five Nations, every side had a fortnight between three of their contests and a month left clicking their heels between one. The inclusion of the Italians in 2000 changed all that.

The scheduling has also become key with three home fixtures every second year an added bonus for teams – and a cash boost for the respective unions. The fixtures are slightly lopsided from an Irish perspective in that every second year we have to travel to the traditional power houses – England and France – in the same season but have the added bonus of hosting both on the alternate year. The fact that France have already called and conquered is a setback, but one Ireland must quickly recover from.