Rugby – Six Nations Launch:As the forthcoming Six Nations was officially launched in London today, Ireland captain Brian O'Driscoll admitted the side will not be tinkering with last year's winning formula which delivered the Grand Slam for the first time in 61 years.
Having finally reached the summit of European rugby last year, O’Driscoll is determined to stay on top of the pile.
Sweeping all but Australia aside during an unbeaten year has transformed them into the Six Nations’ prized scalp, even if France have been installed as the bookmakers’ favourites.
O’Driscoll, competing in his eighth tournament as captain, hopes last season’s title has ushered in a period of domination that he intends to enjoy.
“The fact we won hasn’t changed the dynamic. Hopefully it’s going to be our time again,” he said. “You get selfish after obtaining a goal. You get a taste for it. It doesn’t mean your ambition is less, in fact it probably heightens it.
“I enjoyed all the trappings that came with the Grand Slam — winning itself, the celebrations and the general feeling in the country. It was great and if we can go that again, why not? It’s better than not doing it again.”
Key to Ireland’s success last season was the prominent role played by their gifted young guns.
Rob Kearney, Tommy Bowe, Stephen Ferris and Jamie Heaslip — all 26 or under — established themselves as world class players and the team flourished as a result.
O’Driscoll endured a decade of agonising near-misses before he was able to savour the feeling of winning a Grand Slam and the 31-year-old expects the younger generation to benefit from succeeding so early in their careers.
“The older brigade have said that some of the less experienced guys don’t really know the 10 years of disappointment that we went through,” he said. “You shouldn’t try to burn them or tell them about that. Let them go with the flow of winning.
“If they have that mentality then let them breed that type of thinking into the guys below them. That way we’ll be heading in the right direction instead of saying it was such a hard battle for 10 years and eventually we won it.
“If those young guys can win it early in their career and progress with that mindset, then that’s where you want to be.”
Ireland stormed to only their second clean sweep last year but this year promises to be a more difficult assignment with away fixtures to both France and England.
England coach Martin Johnson today warned against writing off their title chances just because English clubs have struggled in Europe this season. Northampton are the only one from seven Premiership clubs to have qualified for the quarter-finals of the Heineken Cup.
But Johnson insisted there is no correlation between that disappointment and England’s ambitions of winning their first Six Nations since 2003.
“In an ideal world we’d have three or four teams (in the European quarter-finals) because it is good for the players, but we haven’t,” said Johnson.
“Some guys have come into camp disappointed from the weekend but they get into England mode very quickly and they are happy to be back together as a group.
“Last year the French clubs didn’t have a particularly good time of it in Europe but the Six Nations games were very close. This year they will be very close.
“Last year we lost to Ireland and Wales by a combined total of nine points. Scotland were very competitive last year and they will be a better side this year.
“It will be just as tight this year. Anyone who predicts who will win the title is a brave guy.”
Marc Lievremont has painfully recalled France’s Twickenham capitulation against England last season, labelling it “a slap in the face”.
France have won the Six Nations four times in its 10-year existence, including two Grand Slams — 2002 and 2004. But their ability to self-destruct has also surfaced, most recently when England ran riot last year in recording a 34-10 success.
And, with key players like Biarritz pair Damien Traille and Fabien Barcella sidelined certainly for the early Six Nations flurries, it is a case of most people once again not knowing what France team will turn up.
“England is always the match,” said France coach Lievremont. “And that is more so this season because of the huge slap in the face we got at Twickenham last year.
“Nothing worked for us that day — it was a disaster. Some losses you can make something out of but not that England one. The only positive to come out of that match was the spirit of the players afterwards to put things right.”
After a testing opener at Murrayfield, France then host Ireland before travelling to Wales and then finishing with two games in Paris against Italy and England.
Lievremont’s preparations, though, have not been helped by a round of French Championship fixtures this week, in contrast to uninterrupted player access enjoyed by the likes of rival Six Nations bosses like England manager Martin Johnson, Wales coach Warren Gatland and Ireland’s Declan Kidney.
“The summary of our season to date is that we win one and then we lose one — it never seems to be two or three in a row for us,” he added. “But, then again, very few teams manage more than that. We need to focus on the continuity of the French team.
“It is a rarity for me to have nine days to prepare for the first match (of the Six Nations). When we played South Africa in the autumn, the players had played two club games in close proximity before that match.
“It is crazy in modern rugby to have such constraints and this explains our results a little bit.”
Six Nations Fixtures 2010
Saturday, Feburary 6th
2:30pm: Ireland v Italy (Croke Park)
5pm: England v Wales (Twickenham)
Sunday, February 7th
3pm: Scotland v France (Murrayfield)
Saturday, February 13th
2pm: Wales v Scotland (Millennium Stadium)
4:30pm: France v Ireland (Stade de France)
Sunday, February 14th
2:30: Italy v England (Stadio Flaminio)
Friday, February 26th
8pm: Wales v France (Millennium Stadium)
Saturday, February 27th
1:30pm: Italy v Scotland (Stadio Flaminio)
4pm: England v Ireland (Twickenham)
Saturday, March 13th
2:30pm: Ireland v Wales (Croke Park)
5pm: Scotland v England (Murrayfield)
Sunday, March 14th
2:30pm: France v Italy (Stade de France)
Saturday, March 20th
2:30pm: Wales v Italy (Millennium Stadium)
5pm: Ireland v Scotland (Croke Park)
7:45pm: France v England (Stade de France)