Borthwick remains England Captain for Six Nations

January 28th, 2010 / Lee A Jackson

Not too long now until the 2010 Six Nations Rugby Tournament starts, with the first matches being played on February 6th. England start their campaign against Wales, and after a dismal Autumn series, Johnson is confident that he has the squad to challenge for the Six Nations title. Steve Borthwick has been named as Captain again, and that in itself has courted some criticism. There have been questioned raised over whether or not Borthwick has the right leadership qualities needed to captain the national side. Not showing a great deal of confidence in his own decision, Johnson has hinted that the position of captain could even change throughout the course of the tournament.

Johnson has drafted into some youngsters, to hopefully provide a more inventive spark than what was shown during the Autumn. The match at Twickenham on the 6th will be an interesting test of not only the quality of England’s current crop of players, but a test of Johnson’s management skill, and also will continue to fuel arguments the Guinness Premiership, England’s top flight rugby station, is not as good as it has been in the past. With a core of experienced players such as Jonny Wilkison, Johnson is looking for that perfect balance.

But, there is the right to be full of optimism ahead of a new tournament, as anything can happen. England have been boosted by the return of key players like James Haskell, Toby Flood and Riki Flutey. Injuries to what would be considered to be starting players, did hurt England’s team selection a lot during the year, but an excuses of that being whey the produced so poorly, should be brushed aside because of the way that played. England looked completely flat and without any kind of penetration towards the opponents try line.

As for the tournament itself, the suspected path things will take, is for the title to come down between Ireland and France. Even on paper, and looking at the way things went in the autumn, it’s hard to disagree with that. Defending Champions Ireland look an extremely solid side, but France showed glimpses of greatness in beating South Africa. They did crash heavily against New Zealand though. Ireland had a very successful Autumn series, as they beat South Africa, destroyed Fiji and tied with Australia. All the bookies, ahead of the tournament are leaning towards the Six Nations only really being contested between those two.

Six Nations Outright Winner
France to win: 13/8 at Stan James
Ireland to win: 5/2 at Stan James
Wales to win: 9/2 at Bwin
England to win: 5/1 at Totesport
Scotland to win: 22/1 at Bwin
Italy to win: 250/1 Ladbrokes

Opening Weekend Fixtures:
Ireland to win: 1/33 at Bet365
Draw: 50/1 at Bet365
Italy to win: 12/1 at Bet365