Five players that need a big Six Nations

1. Danny Cipriani (England)

The injury to Owen Farrell means that Danny Cipriani just might get a chance at some stage in the Six Nations. Barring several complete aberrations from George Ford, it likely won’t be more than a cameo from the bench, but crucially Cipriani needs to do enough to convince Lancaster and his coaching staff that he is the right person to fill the third fly-half spot in the World Cup squad. His competition, Stephen Myler, could well get a chance too, and it will be as much a case of Cipriani mucking in and being part of the group at training as anything else. He certainly has the talent, but does he have the temperament?

2. Samson Lee (Wales)

Adam Jones’ retirement has heaped the pressure on Samson Lee’s shoulders in a World Cup year. The young tighthead was first choice anyway but it now means that Wales do not have the experienced Jones to fall back on if needed, although his omission from the initial squad would suggest that was unlikely to happen anyway. Regardless, Lee is now Wales’ great hope at tighthead and all the signs are that there really doesn’t need to be much of a fuss made. He impressed in the autumn, going the entire campaign without conceding a single penalty and causing opposing looseheads, most notably James Slipper, plenty of issues. The starting shirt is in safe hands, then, but he needs to be wrapped in cotton wool because without Jones to call on, experienced international back-up is worryingly thin on the ground.

3. Finn Russell (Scotland)

For the first time in quite a while, Scotland have a set of backs that warrant some serious attention. Matt Scott has the chance to build on the stirling impression made in his 21 caps to date, while whoever misses out from Glasgow duo Alex Dunbar and Mark Bennett can be very disappointed. Wingers Tommy Seymour, Sean Maitland and Tim Visser are all weapons. It means that young Finn Russell has an enormous weight on his shoulders – he is the man tasked with setting all this talent free. The evidence in the autumn was that he is more than capable of doing so – he is not the quickest fly-half in history, but his willingness to take the ball to the line and commit defenders means this doesn’t really matter. If he gets good enough service from his forwards (which could be the real issue for Scotland this Six Nations) then the backs will thrive with Russell at the helm.

4. Martin Moore (Ireland)

In a similar vein to Wales, Ireland have an experienced front-row forward who will not play much this championship. In their case, however, it is down to a startling lack of form rather than a retirement. Mike Ross has been the bedrock of Leinster and Ireland’s scrum for years now, but this season he has become increasingly unreliable at the set piece that he once owned, dropping down, astonishingly, to third choice at his province. Marty Moore, like Samson Lee for Wales, can be Ireland’s young saviour. He has stabilised the Leinster scrum and his reputation in the loose continues to grow. Ross gets perhaps a final chance to prove his credentials in the Wolfhounds game, but up against Matt Mullan, an exemplary scrummaging loosehead, he will likely come off second best. It is Moore’s time to shine. Along with Lee, Atonio and Brookes, there is a healthy group of young tightheads waiting to burst onto the scene.

5. Mike Brown (England)

Brown’s name has been one of the first inked onto the England team sheet for some time now, but you suspect that recently it has increasingly been written in pencil rather than actual ink. Whether defences have worked him out or he’s just trying to force matters too hard, he seems to have lost some of the ability to always beat the first man, which made him so dangerous and elevated him from a solid international player to one of the best fullbacks in world rugby. Ben Foden’s injury takes some of the heat off, as the Saints man was in a serious run of good form, but with Alex Goode in the squad and Anthony Watson impressing from fullback for Bath this season, his place is far from assured in the long run. Make no mistake, Brown needs a big Six Nations.

By Jamie Hosie
Follow Jamie on Twitter: @jhosie43

Photo by: Patrick Khachfe / Onside Images