Ahead of the 2014 Six Nations tournament which kicks off on February 14, here is the first of a country-by-country breakdown of each team, beginning with 2013 wooden-spooners France.
France
2013 Six Nations finish: Sixth
Head coach: Philippe Saint-Andre
Captain: Thierry Dusautoir
2013 has certainly been a year France would rather consign to the dustbin, notably the Six Nations.
They lost to Italy in Rome, were defeated by the Welsh and English, struggled to draw against Ireland in Dublin and had to beat Scotland in Paris to avoid the ignominy of being awarded the wooden spoon only to finish bottom anyway.
To make things worse, the summer tour of New Zealand yielded three defeats from three games. In the autumn internationals they managed to beat Tonga but narrowly lost to New Zealand and South Africa.
Moreover, in the domestic scene the French clubs have certainly been devious.
It seemed as if the French clubs in the Top 14 led by the Ligue Nationale de Rugby (LNR for short) had agreed with the English to break from the ERC who govern and administrate the Heineken Cup and form their own competition next season – the Rugby Champions Cup.
However, the president of LNR Paul Goze broke ranks with the English and agreed to compete in next season’s Heineken Cup much to the furore of the English and Welsh.
In addition, Goze’s reasons for breaking rank were certainly galling for the English to stomach.
“The Rugby Champions Cup was not an end in itself, but a means to achieve progress on issues such as meritocracy, financial distribution and governance,” he explained.
“We succeeded in the first two, but governance will take a bit longer. It was a case of being pragmatic and we think we can achieve what we want in another way.
“We want a different structure to run the game, federation style, as happens in football, and we have more than a year to sort it out.”
With the French clubs destined to stay within the ERC they can look to the national game to try and enlist the same sort of cunning Goze used.
When looking at France’s 30 man preliminary training squad you can see Philippe Saint-Andre is looking to inject young talent, as he uses the Six Nations to see what players are raising their hand to be in that World Cup squad come 2015.
Among the 30 man squad are players that came in after their disastrous Six Nations squad for the summer tour to New Zealand and their end-of-year Tests – Perpignan winger Sofiane Guitoune, Castres duo Remi Tales and Brice Dulin (Dulin is Racing Metro bound next season) along with the Stade Francais forwards Rabah Slimani and Alexandre Flanquart.
However, Saint-Andre brought in four uncapped players to his squad, with 3 of them coming from Stade Francais who are having a barnstorming season in the Top 14 since moving into their new stadium the Stade Jean-Bouin.
Those three players; fly half Jules Plisson, full-back Hugo Bonneval and flanker Antoine Burban have been part of their good season with Saint-Andre rewarding them with a place in his 30 man squad.
The fourth uncapped player is Castres full back Geoffrey Palis who has been in decent form.
The inclusion of Jules Plisson is certainly a surprise, as he was favoured over Francois Trinh-Duc and Frederic Michalak – though Michalak’s lack of playing time hurt his chances.
Though Remi Tales is likely to be France’s first choice it is possible Plisson could get some playing time in the Six Nations, especially with Camille Lopez out for the rest of the season.
Plisson has played well for Stade Francais and shows when you are the club’s first choice fly half ahead of Morne Steyn.
This year’s Six Nations is certainly a chance for players to cement their place in the squad especially as France has a lengthy injury list.
Morgan Parra’s knee injury that he suffered against the Springboks will keep him out for at least half of France’s Six Nations fixtures.
It will be a blow as he is a wonderful player who marshalled the game well and is a reliable kicker. Though Toulouse’s Jean-Marc Doussain and Racing Metro’s Maxime Machenaud are adequate back ups they cannot compare to the experienced Parra.
Vincent Clerc is coming back from a long-term injury though Maxime Medard and Yoann Huget are more than able to replace Clerc.
In the centres Florian Fritz is out for most of the competition after breaking his arm in a motorcycle accident.
Clermont’s centre Wesley Fofana is locked on to be in their starting XV so vying for the two centre spots in the matchday 23 man squad are Toulouse’s Gael Fickou and Toulon duo Maxime Mermoz and Mathieu Bastareaud.
All three are in decent form though Gael Fickou is the outstanding youth talent who has been earmarked as one for the future.
France’s Six Nations campaign starts with two home games against England and Italy in Paris. Even though they have home advantage the Stade de France can be an imposing place when the fans turn on their own team if things don’t go well.
England defeated the French last year and the previous year in France so it is an opportunity for France to exact revenge.
It is the same in regards to Italy with Saint-Andre eager to banish memories of their shock defeat against the Azzurri in Rome last year.
Their next two games are on the road with a top of the table clash Friday night clash against Wales on the 21st February. It is possible the winners of this game will determine who will finish top or even who will win the Grand Slam.
Two weeks later the French then travel to Edinburgh to tackle the Scots at Murrayfield where they have been sternly tested in previous years.
Their final game is at home against Ireland, which Saint-Andre will hope be their final step to Six Nations glory.
However, which French team will turn up? The sublime flair of France led by the hardworking Thierry Dusautoir is wonderful to watch when in full flow.
But when they are bad it is a horror show to watch – inconsistent, error-strewn, sometimes uninterested can lead to some embarrassing defeats.
Losing to Italy twice in the last three years, as well as defeated by Tonga in the 2011 Rugby World Cup are notable examples.
The Six Nations will show Saint-Andre where his team are at with just two years left until the 2015 Rugby World Cup.
Having a consistent halves pairing would help though Remi Tales being 29 years old isn’t someone to build your team around for the future while losing Morgan Parra is a blow, as he marshalled the game well.
Player To watch
Wesley Fofana. The Clermont centre is in sparkling form for his club and last season showed why he is one of the top five centres in world rugby.
His excellent try against England in the Six Nations last year a real highlight. With Fofana there are always tries.
Predicted finish
Third.
Ben.S
Roar Guru
Likewise. Totally relevant comment from you because Fabien Pelous is still playing, eh. The only consistency comes from France in the 6N that follows a Lions tour, because otherwise history clearly indicates that France can't turn up week in and week out, hence they've been wooden spooners in 1999 and last year. When was the last time England won that accolade of consistency?
Parisien
Guest
We can always count on you for a smart arsed comment that completely misses the point made :-)
Me
Guest
Parra played for Clermont in the Heineken Cup this weekend
Ben.S
Roar Guru
Yeah. France have been pretty consistent recently; they have lost 8 of their past 11 games...
Parisien
Guest
PS: In fact, France is the most successful country in the 5N/6N tournament since WW2.
Parisien
Guest
Chan Wee, France has won the tournament more often than any other nation in the last 20 years. They've won 8 times. History suggests that France can turn up week in – week out during a tournament and back-to-back matches.
Sam
Guest
yeah thirds probably a good prediction either way I expect they will improve loads from the last campaign.
Ben.S
Roar Guru
I'm going to add 'Love the way the French play.' DON'T FEED THE ANIMALS!
Tane Mahuta
Guest
Gym junkies? Who are you talking about? The key for England is to get their backline functioning. They have very good talent coming through but Im not sure it is ready. Ford, Watson, Nowell, Tuilagi, May, Burell, Yarde, Barritt, Twelvetrees, Brown, Youngs, Dickson, Care, Farrell and Foden are all good players but the backline has only shown glimpses. France will be better than last year but I think it will be difficult for them to beat Ire, Eng and Wales. Im picking them to beat 3 teams, lose to 2 and come 4th. I think Ire and Eng will win 4 and Wales 3 but finish 3rd
Colin N
Guest
Yet...those 'gym robots' beat both Australia and Argentina in the autumn and only just lost to New Zealand, whereas Wales lost to both Australia and South Africa. Interesting that.
Magic Sponge
Guest
Love the way French play. They can win it and maybe the dark horse of the tourney. I will check the odds and put some on them. Wales must be dead set favourites with England playing like gym junki robots
Worlds Biggest
Guest
In typical French Fashion they will probably come out and win it this season !
nickoldschool
Roar Guru
On a positive note PSA is very happy this year that he has 3 full weeks with his boys to prepare for the 6N. On paper its a good year as they have 3 home games and only 2 away in Scotland and Wales so a 'pass' 2014 6N is 4-1. Really hope Vahaamina gets more game time ahead of Pape, that we see Fofana-Fickou in the centres. PSA seems to like Tales at 10 (I don't) but perso I wouldn't mind a combo machenaud-doussain for at least 1 game. Cant be worse that last year anyway.
Chan Wee
Guest
It is strange that other than NZ & SA and OZ , Eng, Wal at times, no other teams turn up week in - week out during a tournament or back-to-back matches !!! Some reserve their best for MIB or Boks and play like schoolboys other times. IMO the reason Wales and Eng are at the top of 6N is not becoz they are excellent, but becoz they maintain the intensity over a 5 week period. Sadly with much better players France just can't do that. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ “” Saint-André explains fly-half choices 07th January 2014 13:29 France coach Philippe Saint-André insists that fly-halves François Trinh-Duc and Frédéric Michalak are still in contention for selection for the national squad despite missing out on the Six Nations squad. Saint-André named a 30-man squad on Monday including just two fly-halves, prefering uncapped Stade Français pivot Jules Plisson as the back up for Rémi Talès, ahead of the experienced Trinh-Duc and Michalak. Stade Français saw their surging Top 14 form rewarded when a trio of uncapped players were called up as Saint-André also included storming blindside flanker Antoine Burban and full-back Hugo Bonneval, while Castres full-back Geoffrey Palis got his first call up. 22-year-old Plisson has been at the play-making heart of Stade Français’ surge to second place in the highly competitive Top 14, even up against the skills and kicking ability of teammate Morne Steyn, the current Springbok fly-half. In the absence of the injured Camille Lopez, Plisson was preferred to Michalak, who has played only once for Toulon since the end of November, and Montpellier’s Trinh-Duc, who can count himself unlucky to miss out. Although previous coach Marc Lièvremont’s preferred starting number 10, Trinh-Duc is not a favourite with Saint-André, having only played a total of 85 minutes in 2013 in five matches in a variety of positions. “No one has been banished. There were talks over Jules Plisson and François again this morning,” admitted Saint-André. “François is making a massive effort and he’s almost there, but Jules Plisson is currently putting in some high-quality performances. We’ve picked the most in-form and confident players of the moment.” Turning to Michalak, Saint-André said: “Frederic was the starter in last year’s Six Nations and he played exceptionally in the November 2012 Tests. But he got injured and is currently lacking game time. He needs more time.” Burban’s defensive workrate and scavenging skills have seen him establish himself as arguably the leading flanker in the French league. The 26-year-old has benefited from the absence through injury of Racing-Metro rival Wenceslas Lauret for his inclusion in the 30-man squad and he and Toulouse number eight Louis Picamoles are the sole additions up front from the forwards who disputed the November internationals. Bonneval has thrived off the dominance granted the Stade backs by their rock-solid set-piece play and has proved himself steady under the high ball, thus earning a second call-up to a France squad. Racing-Metro scrum-half Maxime Machenaud, back from injury, is named alongside Toulouse’s Jean-Marc Doussain, in place of Morgan Parra and Jonathan Pélissié. Among the centres, Toulon’s Mathieu Bastareaud takes the place of Florian Fritz, unavailable through injuries sustained in a motorbike accident. Saint-André will be hoping 2014 makes for better reading than last year, when France lost eight of their 11 Tests, drawing another and winning just two. It was the national team’s worst record since 1980, but concerted efforts will now be made to get back on track in time for the 2015 Rugby World Cup in England. “‘