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Now that the excitement of the Rugby World Cup is firmly behind us, it is a great time to have a look at the contenders for this year’s six nations rugby. Will finalists France be able to build on this success? What about the free-flowing game that Wales showed? And England, with all the off-field troubles before in New Zealand and since their return? Here is what to look out for in this year’s trophy.

As always, there is a tendency to look no further than France or England for this year’s winner, but that might well be a mistake. The team that look to have the best dynamic both in terms of playing and coaching, is Wales. Off the park, they have some of most astute coaches in world rugby at their disposal. Hard-nosed Kiwi Warren Gatland knows a thing or two about creating a winning group as he showed at Wasps. With Wales he has surrounded himself with other top-notch performers. Shaun Edwards is in demand from a host of sides in both Union and League, and is a man who knows his rugby inside and out. And Rob Howley and Neil Jenkins, whilst not in the spotlight, offer real expertise to this young generation.

Captain Sam Warburton has probably been playing as well and anyone in the world over the last year. Other youngsters like George North have huge potential and are seeing a lot of the ball with the wide apporach shown by Wales. Perhaps the real key to success is avoiding injury. Wales don’t have the same quantity of players available to France or England and losing key performers (as shown in the world cup) can make life complicated.

Ireland find themselves in a contrasting position to the young Welsh side, but also have a hard edge of experience that few sides can match. They are 7th in the current IRB rankings, but as shown by their domination of a dynamic Aussie side in the world cup, they can strangle the life out of good sides. Unfortunately for them, they have struggled to do so when it matters. Although it might appear the the end of the O’Driscoll generation is going to hit them hard, a quick look at the results of the Irish provinces in the H cup shows that ther is a wealth of talent out there. Men like Sean O’Brien are clearly world class performers and could take the Irish side towards a more dynamic game.

Both Wales and Ireland could do well this year then. Even without the genius of Shane Williams, Wales are a good bet to be in some high-scoring games and make the overs markets worth checking out. In the same vein, Ireland should never go down by many points and it can be a good idea to look at the Irish games for a bet on small points difference between them and the opposition. Of course, whether either of these two can string together a few good performances to win the tournament outright is another question.

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