Six Nations: Five things to look out for as tournament kicks off
France head coach Fabien Galthié at the Stade Velodrome in Marseille. Picture: Harry Murphy/Sportsfile
Les Bleus will play home games away from Paris for the first time in the championship: against Ireland in Marseille, Italy in Lille on 25 February and England in Lyon on March 16, the final weekend. Spreading the rugby word outside capital cities is surely A Good Thing – France’s move is necessitated by construction work taking place at Stade de France to prepare the venue for the Olympic Games this summer, and the French Rugby Federation’s bottom line will take a hit, but perhaps Fabien Galthié’s team will be glad to swerve the scene of their World Cup elimination. The same may be said for Ireland, who also bowed out in Paris on that memorable quarter-final weekend.
You may not be able to see them, given their designated place in players’ mouths. But new instrumented mouthguard technology represents the latest attempt to mitigate the risk of brain injury – and it may have a noticeable effect. Mandated since the start of 2024, the idea is for the technology to be incorporated into the existing head injury assessment protocol, with the mandatory custom-fitted devices delivering in-game alerts to medical staff. The announcement in January by the Six Nations stated: “In the eventuality that a player experiences a head acceleration event the match day medical staff will receive an alert.” Will it make much difference in practice? Possibly not. Will it bring the debate, controversy and/or scandal surrounding brain injury to a satisfactory and neat conclusion? Definitely not.
Hollie Davidson will make history on the tournament’s second weekend: the 31-year-old will become the first female referee to officiate in a Six Nations match as the second assistant for England v Wales. After Wayne Barnes, among others, revealed the stresses of top-level refereeing it must be hoped it proves a positive experience for Davidson. “Being the first female official in Scotland to do so is something I’m immensely proud of,” she said. “To be involved in such an internationally renowned fixture is something I’m massively looking forward to.” Perhaps the only question that remains is why it’s taken so long.
Numerous marquee players will be absent but rugby’s true appeal lies in its emphasis on teamwork. It won’t take many pulsating one-score games decided at the death for the loss of Dupont, Farrell, Rees-Zammit et al to fade into insignificance. If the world’s richest rugby tournament goes down to the closing weekend – perhaps the final match, France v England in Lyon – the sport will emerge with its reputation freshly burnished. Marketing departments will monitor viewing figures and social media impressions for evidence of an uptick after the appearance of Full Contact on Netflix. But anyone hoping that rugby is about to crack America, like F1 after Drive to Survive, is likely to be disappointed.
Perhaps the biggest letdown of the World Cup last year was the lack of competitiveness displayed by Italy in a demanding pool featuring the host nation France and New Zealand. Rumours of a rift between the now departed coach Kieran Crowley and his captain Michele Lamaro can be consigned to the past – but Italy must prove they deserve their place in the tournament all over again. The clamour for other up-and-coming teams to get their shot, such as Portugal or Georgia, intensified when Italy rolled over against France and the All Blacks. Can Crowley’s replacement, the former Puma Gonzalo Quesada, oversee an upsurge in their fortunes? Organisers may appreciate a strong showing from the Azzurri as justification for their current closed shop.
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