That loutish, ignorant and needlessly long beast known as January is nearly over. While many will point to the hope, renewal, and daylight of Spring as a beacon of what is worth persevering for, sports fans know the true reason.
February means the Six Nations, and with Ireland and Scotland getting things underway next Saturday, today's newspapers are filled with competition previews. Most pundits have half at least half an eye on the Dublin showdown between Ireland and England as the tournament decider, although there is the usual shading of Scotland as dark horses, the nagging suspicion that Wales have made fools of doubters before, the interminable 'which French side will turn up' along with the curiosity of what Conor O'Shea will bring to Italy. Mixed in with this is the usual, quadrennial sub-plot of Lions' selection and some new talking points: namely the introduction of bonus points and the new tackle laws, the latter potentially leading to an increase in offloads and both perhaps giving us the most open, flowing spectacle since the famous final day shoot-out in 2015.
The Sunday Times have asked four of their columnists to predict the outcome of the tournament, with half of them plumping for Ireland to win a third Championship in four years. Peter O'Reilly has Ireland ahead of England, with Scotland in third ahead of France, Wales and Italy. The other man backing Ireland is Stephen Jones (!), whose prediction mirrors that of O'Reilly. Both agree there will be no Grand Slam winner. In contrast, Stuart Barnes and Shane Horgan are backing England to win the competition, with Barnes' assertion that the order beneath them will be Wales, France, Scotland and Italy the only other major deviation.
Former Lions Head Coach Ian McGeechan is backing England to win out, although his Daily Telegraph preview includes the usual focus on the incipient Lions tour.
The Observer's Paul Rees, while admitting that Ireland and England are the favourites, Wales should not be ignored:
Few are talking up Wales as title contenders, despite playing away to three blues - France, Scotland and Italy - and having a strong recent record, unbeaten in Rome and Edinburgh since 2007 and successful in their last two trips to Paris.
They face Ireland and England at home and if they survive their opening weekend trip to the Italian capital and Conor O'Shea's first Six Nations match as a coach, they will welcome the champions six days later in Cardiff with a degree of confidence.
Elsewhere, the Sunday Independent are on message: their rugby writer Brendan Fanning tips Ireland to win the competition, and all of the five pundits they asked to predict the winner have said it will be Ireland: patriots all are Marcus Horan, Victor Costello, Fiona Steed, Reggie Corrigan and David Wallace.
Liam Heagney of the Irish Daily Mail is backing Ireland, too, with England second and Scotland third.
Roll on next Saturday!
See Also: Warren Gatland Admits Dylan Hartley Could Yet Captain Lions
