The motivation for England to win only a second Six Nations title since 2003 could therefore not be clearer.
But this year's competition begins with another tough trip for Stuart Lancaster's men - in Paris against a French side still licking their wounds from an awful 2013.
France finished bottom of the Six Nations table for the first time since its inception in 2000, and won just two matches in the whole calendar year.
It would be a surprise if Les Bleus were that bad again, though. Indeed, in keeping with their mercurial reputation, they could very well win the whole thing, particularly as this tournament is in the year following a Lions tour.
France have won all of the Five or Six Nations championships in the year after a Lions tour since the start of the professional era. Wales, in 1994, was the last time a Home Nation topped the table on the back of those particularly exertions.
And, as far as the bookmakers are concerned, the Welsh are also the most likely to end this statistical quirk in a genuinely golden era for union in the Principality.
Last year's record 30-3 thumping of England resulted in a second successive championship following a glorious third Grand Slam in eight years in 2012.
Notably, the other Grand Slams, in 2005 and 2008, were not followed up with victory in the following year's competition, showing just how difficult it can be to retain the title.
No team has won three Six Nations championships in a row, and the bookmakers may well be wrong given that the Welsh have two of their tougher tests away, at Twickenham and in Dublin.
Of all the sides competing, Ireland are maybe the most fascinating under their recently-appointed Kiwi coach Josef Schmidt.
In his first matches in the autumn, Ireland produced inconsistency in performance which would have befitted even the French as they followed up a wretched display in defeat to Australia with a magnificent one against New Zealand.
Ultimately, that would still end in an agonising 22-24 reverse, as Ryan Crotty's last-minute try and Aaron Cruden's conversion ensured the All Blacks would become the first team ever in the professional era to win all their matches in a calendar year.
But Ireland can take a lot of heart from those 80 minutes and much, it seems, will depend on what sort of momentum they can take to Twickenham from their home match against Wales on the second match-day.
This leaves Scotland and Italy, the only two countries not to have won the Six Nations since it began 14 years ago.
Both of them made decent progress last time, finishing third and fourth respectively, with two wins apiece, bringing an end to five consecutive years of the pair filling the bottom two.
The aim then for the Scots and the Italians is also clear: to pull off those sort of results again. Otherwise, 2013 will be seen as no more than aberration.
And so, each of the six teams have plenty of motivation going into what always turns out to be a truly fascinating contest and a genuine highlight of the sporting calendar.
England have Wales at home - but, by then, they will have already travelled away to France and Scotland.
Wales will be aiming for a third championship in a row - but must head to Twickenham and Dublin, where the Irish players have a new coach to impress.
Meanwhile, France surely cannot do as badly as last year - or perhaps they will, given the absence to injury of captain Thierry Dusautoir.
With just over 18 months to go until the World Cup, Scotland and Italy are unlikely to find the other four teams quite as generous this time.
And so my title tip has to be with England to edge out Wales with France in third, Ireland in fourth, and Italy returning to their traditional wooden spoon position.
Of course, the nature of the competition means that this prediction could be blown out of the water by week three, particularly with England travelling away twice.
Interestingly, none of the Six Nations tournaments has ended with the teams all finishing in exactly the same position in successive years.
Just what order will they shuffle into this time?
RBS 6 NATIONS TABLE 2013
How they finished last year. (T) Tries.
| W | D | L | F | A | (T) | Pts | |
| WALES | 4 | 0 | 1 | 122 | 66 | 9 | 9 |
| ENGLAND | 4 | 0 | 1 | 94 | 78 | 5 | 9 |
| SCOTLAND | 2 | 0 | 3 | 98 | 107 | 7 | 4 |
| ITALY | 2 | 0 | 3 | 75 | 111 | 5 | 4 |
| IRELAND | 1 | 1 | 3 | 72 | 81 | 5 | 3 |
| FRANCE | 1 | 1 | 3 | 73 | 91 | 6 | 3 |
TEAM-BY-TEAM GUIDE Odds from Ladbrokes
| ENGLAND Odds 5/2 | Coach Stuart Lancaster Captain Chris Robshaw |
| Twickenham | Fixtures France (A), Scotland (A), Ireland (H), Wales (H), Italy (A) |
| IRB Rank: 4 | Six Nations titles 4 (2000, 2001, 2003, 2011) |
| FRANCE Odds 9/4 | Coach Philippe Saint-Andre Captain Pascal Papé (for Thierry Dusautoir) |
| Stade de France | Fixtures England (H), Italy (H), Wales (A), Scotland (A), Ireland (H) |
| IRB Rank: 5 | Six Nations titles 5 (2002, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2010) |
| IRELAND Odds 5/1 | Coach Joe Schmidt Captain Paul O'Connell |
| Aviva Stadium | Fixtures Scotland (H), Wales (H), England (A), Italy (H), France (A) |
| IRB Rank: 7 | Six Nations titles 1 (2009) |
| ITALY Odds 200/1 | Coach Jacques Brunel Captain Sergio Parisse |
| Stadio Olimpico | Fixtures Wales (A), France (A), Scotland (H), Ireland (A), England (H) |
| IRB Rank: 13 | Six Nations titles None |
| SCOTLAND Odds 40/1 | Coach Scott Johnson (interim) Captain Kelly Brown |
| Murrayfield | Fixtures Ireland (A), England (H), Italy (A), France (H), Wales (A) |
| IRB Rank: 9 | Six Nations titles None |
| WALES Odds 2/1fav | Coach Warren Gatland Captain Sam Warburton |
| Millennium Stadium | Fixtures Italy (H), Ireland (A), France (H), England (A), Scotland (H) |
| IRB Rank: 6 | Six Nations titles 4 (2005, 2008, 2012, 2013) |
RBS 6 NATIONS FIXTURES 2014
All matches live on the BBC. All kick-off times GMT.
| 1 Feb 14:30 | WALES 23-15 ITALY | Millennium Stadium | |
| 1 Feb 17:00 | FRANCE 26-24 ENGLAND | Stade de France | |
| 2 Feb 15:00 | IRELAND 28-6 SCOTLAND | Aviva Stadium | |
| 8 Feb 14:30 | IRELAND 26-3 WALES | Aviva Stadium | |
| 8 Feb 17:00 | SCOTLAND 0-20 ENGLAND | Murrayfield | |
| 9 Feb 15:00 | FRANCE 30-10 ITALY | Stade de France | |
| 21 Feb 20:00 | WALES 27-6 FRANCE | Millennium Stadium | |
| 22 Feb 13:30 | ITALY 20-21 SCOTLAND | Stadio Olimpico | |
| 22 Feb 16:00 | ENGLAND 13-10 IRELAND | Twickenham | |
| 8 Mar 14:30 | IRELAND 46-7 ITALY | Aviva Stadium | |
| 8 Mar 17:00 | SCOTLAND 17-19 FRANCE | Murrayfield | |
| 9 Mar 15:00 | ENGLAND 29-18 WALES | Twickenham | |
| 15 Mar 12:30 | ITALY 11-52 ENGLAND | Stadio Olimpico | |
| 15 Mar 14:45 | WALES v SCOTLAND | Millennium Stadium | |
| 15 Mar 17:00 | FRANCE v IRELAND | Stade de France |
No comments:
Post a Comment