Five set for fame after this Six Nations campaign 

Of the 138 players coming under starter’s orders for the opening round of the Six Nations, Peter Jackson selects one from each of the five other countries with the potential to make their own headlines in the coming weeks

ELECTRIFIED: Ange Capuozzo’s change of pace and ability to ghost through holes shows there’s no substitute for artistry. Pic: Andy Watts

DAFYDD JENKINS (Wales): The Welsh have been waiting far too long for a new second row giant to rejuvenate the engine room stoked by Alun-Wyn Jones for the last 15 years. At last they have one in the making.

At 6ft 7in and 18 stone, Jenkins certainly fits the bill physically. Having started last year by making his Champions’ Cup debut for Exeter at the age of 19, he finished it still in his teens as the youngest captain in the history of the English Premiership.

Started his Test career last autumn before turning 20. Wales believe he will be their first-choice in time for the World Cup.

ANGE CAPUOZZO (Italy): Electrified the final weekend of last year’s Six Nations with the mesmerising run from deep which did for Wales and ended Italy’s perennial losing run just as the tournament was about to give up on them. Now it needs him and more like him as never before.

A full back-cum-wing, little Ange dared to follow his unhinging of Wales with a two-try contribution to the Azzurri’s historic win over Australia in Florence before Christmas. His change of pace and ability to ghost through holes which only he can see provide an overdue reminder that in a sport long bound up in muscle there’s still no substitute for artistry.

JACK VAN POORTVLIET (England): The first shot at proving himself the best of the young generation of English scrum-halves goes to the great, great-grandson of a Dutch farmer who settled in Norfolk more than a century ago. At 21, van Poortvliet gets the nod over his veteran clubmate at Leicester Tigers, Ben Youngs.

YOUNG GUN: Leicester Tigers' Jack van Poortvliet.

Steve Borthwick is not the first England coach to recognise that the younger man’s time has come. Eddie Jones started him instead of Youngs for the last three Tests last autumn before the Australian’s long stint ended amid the thickening clouds of confusion over what England were supposed to be doing. With his slick service and astute game-management, van Poortvliet has the tools to reinvent England as a creative force.

ANTHONY JELONCH (France): Others may be more celebrated but if it hadn’t been for Jelonch the holders would probably have missed Le Grand Chelem last year. Nobody makes more tackles than the back row forward who has made exactly the same career moves as Antoine Dupont: Auch-Castres-Toulouse. His tries may be few and far between but they tend to be decisive as in Cardiff where his touchdown, the only one in a tight match, made all the difference. As well as providing a line-out option, he brings a low yellow card count to the ferocity of the breakdown.

PIERRE SCHOEMAN (Scotland): Set out from his native Nelspruit with the ultimate ambition of making it as a Springbok before changing course and heading a long way north. Since qualifying for Scotland through the residential route, his impact on Calcutta Cup history is hard to overestimate.

If his adopted country is to beat the auld enemy three times in a row for the first time in more than half a century, it’s a fair bet that Edinburgh’s barn-storming loosehead will have led the way, a low centre of gravity making him an expert in the bruising business of running through brick walls.