Abu Dhabi: It may only be a tantalising hors d’oeuvre before the main rugby union feast of 2015 later this year, the World Cup, but the Six Nations remains ‘unique’ and ‘more relevant than any other tournament’ due to its fascinating unpredictability.
That’s the view of former England lock Simon Shaw, a member of the 2003 grand slam-winning squad, who spoke to Gulf News about the thrilling annual joust for Northern Hemisphere supremacy, which begins on Friday.
The 41-year-old tipped defending champions Ireland to retain their crown, Scotland to be dark horses and said he was unsure how the eternally capricious France would fare.
But what makes the Six Nations — that features England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales, France and Italy — such an integral part of rugby’s fabric? The tournament has a long history, having started in 1883 as the Home Nations, becoming the Five Nations in 1910 before the addition of Italy in 2000.
Shaw said age-old rivalries were central to the allure of the competition, which is being held over five rounds between this weekend and March 21.
The 6ft 8in Shaw, who was in Dubai last month to coach at the HSBC Rugby Festival at the Sevens Stadium, said: “It’s the history, the rivalry and the passion [which make it special]. I think because it’s been around for such a long time, the rivalries never seem to diminish and the results are always unpredictable. It is absolutely more relevant than any other tournament.
“The beauty is in its unpredictability — it keeps everyone guessing year in, year out. It’s a unique tournament, as anything can happen.”
Last year’s champions Ireland enter the tournament without their talisman Brian O’Driscoll, who retired last year after an illustrious career that yielded two Six Nations crowns, including one grand slam.
Yet, while Shaw described O’Driscoll as ‘an absolute legend’ who will be greatly missed, he believes Ireland’s improvement under New Zealand-born coach Joe Schmidt — they won three games out of three in the autumn, including wins over South Africa and Australia — should result in another Six Nations crown.
“They’ve just got a fantastic coach, who I haven’t heard one person say a bad word about,” said the former Bristol, Wasps and Toulon man, who won 71 England caps between 1996 and 2011. “I think the confidence you get with a guy like that can create great players of what everyone believed to be good players. I experienced that with [Wales coach] Warren Gatland in the early years at [English Premiership side] Wasps.
“He is a good coach and has a great effect on players and that’s the case with Ireland — it’s the believing in themselves and system that’s giving them a big boost. They are in a particularly good form and will definitely be the ones to watch this tournament.”
Shaw also insists that a revitalised Scotland could also surprise, thanks to the galvanising impact of another Kiwi coach, Vern Cotter.
The former Clermont Auvergne supremo led the Scots to two wins out of three in the autumn internationals last year – against Argentina and Tonga — and saw his enterprising side perform impressively in a valiant 16-24 defeat to world champions New Zealand.
“I think Scotland are a dark horse,” Shaw, who was on the bench when England clinched their last grand slam in 2003 with a thumping 42-6 win in Ireland, said. “Whether they win or not is a different matter, but they could surprise everyone. It’s a bit of a tall order, yet in Cotts’ regime, he’s a fantastic coach, he’s bringing a revival in the Scotland squad.”
Shaw is less certain about the prospects of Philippe Saint-Andre’s France, however, who can vacillate from brilliant to awful on any given day. Saint-Andre’s men’s unpredictability was encapsulated in the autumn, when they followed up an exhilarating home win over Australia (29-26) with a lacklustre defeat to Argentina (18-13) a week later.
Of the French, who have controversially selected two South Africa-born players — full-back Scott Spedding and scrum-half Rory Kockott — in their line-up to face Scotland on Saturday, he said: “I think that is the biggest question in world rugby: Which France will turn up? Your guess is as good as mine.
“My biggest frustration with France is with the arguments that they’ve got too many foreign players in the league, not enough young players and that they don’t have that competitive edge. I don’t buy into that.”
Shaw, who ended his career at French giants Toulon after a two-year stint in 2013 and who believes Italy will finish bottom of the table, added: “They have some exceptionally talented French players, they play for all the best sides and I think cumulatively something doesn’t click or something doesn’t work. The talent is out there, but they don’t seem to get the best out of one another.”
He added: “They don’t surpass themselves, you want international players to rise and get bigger when they put on the national jersey, not play the same as they play for the club or worse. The French need belief a lot more [than most] and that has to be a key ingredient for success. It all comes down to coaching and management, that’s where the problem lies.”
Of the likely players of the tournament, Shaw’s England bias emerged as he hailed the merits of three of Stuart Lancaster’s squad.
“I like the look of [centre, Luther] Burrell, I’m looking forward to seeing more from him in England colours,” he said. “[Fly-half, Danny] Cipriani might have an impact, good and bad, we will wait and see. I am hoping it’s good and that he shows the magic he’s capable of.
“[Wales winger] George North has a point to prove after being castigated by Warren Gatland and told to show more of himself, so I will be looking for him to shine. As for the forwards, I am delighted to see James Haskell take his Premiership form into the England team.”
