As a spectacle the Rugby Championship is an infinitely superior rugby tournament to the Six Nations. Given that the northern hemisphere tournament enjoys history, popularity and resources that their southern counterparts could only dream of, it is about time that gap started narrowing.
The Six Nations must now look to experiment with new formats, players and tactics that may cause New Zealand, Australia, South Africa and Argentina problems on their summer tours.
Italy joining the Five Nations in 2000 was a breath of fresh air for the tournament and the Azzurri looked every bit worthy of their inclusion after beating Scotland in their very first game.
Unfortunately, progress has been short-lived and after 16 years, the Italian’s paltry return of 12 wins is more than enough evidence to suggest another rethink is in order.
In last year’s World Cup, Romania and Georgia both produced performances worthy of Europe’s top tier and it’s about time a promotion-relegation format was installed. That would hopefully inspire teams to try something new in a bid to stay in the top flight.
Further up the ladder, a midtable finish for the top sides in the Six Nations would be a small price to pay for finding a new style that could result in victory at the 2019 Rugby World Cup.
With two new coaches in place and no Six Nations side playing well enough to warrant a place in the recent World Cup semi-finals, no team has an excuse not to experiment.
With seven new players included in Eddie Jones’s initial England squad the omens were good for a revamp. However Danny Cipriani’s subsequent exclusion and the retention of just three new members in the match day squad for Scotland (all on the bench) means Eddie will be going steady to begin with.
Warren Gatland has a different task with Wales. The New Zealander favours an exciting gameplan and enjoys the luxury of a settled squad but must find a way of making his players believe that they can beat their rivals on a consistent basis.
After managing only a fourth-best finish or worse in the last four tournaments, the once mighty French must rediscover their Va Va Voom. Guy Noves must eradicate structure and let his French team play what is in front of them as that is when they are at their elusive best.
Ireland will be keen to gain redemption after a humiliating defeat to Argentina in the RWC quarter-finals but the early season form of their four provinces is not promising. Boss Joe Schmidt has a tendency to show preference to his former Leinster players but it is imperative that he selects Munster’s new cap CJ Stander to in place of Jamie Heaslip to get his team back on the front foot.
After an agonising quarter-final loss to Australia, Scotland look to have turned a corner under Vern Cotter. The Dark Blues are no longer considered a soft touch but will only score tries if playmaker Finn Russell is allowed to release his talented back division.
For the first time in a long time five teams genuinely have a chance of winning the tournament and fingers crossed, they produce a a level of rugby that makes the southern hemisphere take notice.
