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Six Nations starts here...

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• Rob Hodgetts - 成人论坛 Sport journalist
• 24 Jan 07, 02:29 PM

Hurlingham Club, London - "It's time to let rugby do the talking. Let the games begin."

So said Jacques Laurans, chairman of the RBS Six Nations committee, at the official launch of the competition at the plush Hurlingham Club in snowy south west London on Wednesday.

They were all there, the great and the good of the European game, with captains and coaches from each side exposed to the media for a one-hit quotes-fest.

The general consensus among the press and the pundits is that Ireland are marginal favourites in one of the most open Six Nations for years. And forget old Calcutta Cup rivalries. The opener between is going to be a positive giggle.

Of course it's not, really. But while the serious business of grilling the coaches was going on elsewhere, I opted to seek out past stars for a more rounded perspective, and it was interesting to hear England World Cup winners Matt Dawson and Jason Leonard talking about how new coach Brian Ashton will get his men playing with a smile on their faces again.

Meanwhile, over in the Scotland camp, former captain David Sole reckoned the Scottish resurgence under Frank Hadden had been because the coach empowered his players to, yes, "play with a smile on their faces". So expect 30 grinning idiots facing each at 1600 GMT at Twickenham on 3 February.

There's certainly a growing school of thought that Ashton's first team will have a fresh look to it, with rugby league convert Andy Farrell many people's tip to start in the centres.

I did overhear England skipper Phil Vickery saying he'd only met Farrell at training this week, but was already won over. "He's alright. He bought me a cup of coffee. That's all it takes with me," said Vickery.

For Scotland, there's still plenty of uncertainty over the fly-half position, but the word is that scrum-half Chris Cusiter has made a quicker-than-expected recovery from injury and could well be back in the reckoning.

Former Ireland captain Keith Wood was confident the Irish would be crowned champions, but he admits they could struggle with the favouritism tag.

"It never sits well with the Irish, we're totally uncomfortable with it," he said. "We were downtrodden for a long time, socially, as nation. That's going thankfully, and while you still want to respect the opposition, you don鈥檛 want to kowtow to them."

Ex-Wales skipper Ieuan Evans, meanwhile, was keen for Gareth Jenkins' side to establish early in the tournament what sort of game they are going to play.

"Our strength is an ability to create. We've some very talented footballers in the backline if they are allowed to play their natural game. But they need a solid platform up front," he said.

As for France, Sale coach and former France captain Philippe Saint-Andre told me that the old saying that "nobody knows which French side is going to turn up", should be a thing of the past.

"There's so much competition for places and the dream for everyone is to play in the World Cup. There will be revolution in France if we go to sleep for 40 minutes. The expectation for the World Cup is a minimum of reaching the final, so for this you need to be consistent in the Six Nations."

And Italy? Well, everyone agrees they are an increasing danger and an asset to the tournament. "The competition needs them. And Rome's a fantastic place to go for a match," said Wood.

After three hours of general flesh-pressing, we were ushered in to listen to some official speeches, and hear about new delights such as the "Garibaldi Trophy", designed by France legend Jean-Pierre Rives, for the annual winners of the France v Italy match.

But Monsieur Laurans slightly jumped the gun. We've still got more than a week's worth of talking yet. Over to you.

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