The RBS Six Nations Rugby Championship 2012 starts next week and it will be interesting to see how teams kick on after the Rugby World Cup 2011.

The New Zealand TAB has the following odds which indicate that France are favourites with Wales, England and Ireland the main threats.

The implications for www.testrugby.com  managers suggest that it is best to go for France players since they start with two home matches against bottom ranked Italy and the fourth ranked Ireland team.  They then play away to Scotland.  So back the French to hopefully win their first three games well, although it depends whether Dr Jekyl or Mr Hyde shows up.

Six Nations Rugby Championships 2012 Odds

1   France  2.70
2   Wales  3.30
3   England  4.50
4   Ireland  6.00
5   Scotland  25.00
6   Italy  200.00

In summary,

France got to the Rugby World Cup 2011 final without their coach's help and so you would think they should be able to win this tournament without Marc Lievremont.

Wales had an exciting young team at the Rugby World Cup, but look set to be missing some key players for their Six Nations 2012 campaign.  They showed during the Rugby World Cup that they had depth, but I wonder if they have enough to cover for players like Gethin Jenkins, Rhys Priestland, Shane Williams, Alun Wyn Jones and Luke Charteris.

England and Ireland need to change their teams if they are to be competitive.  Both had their moments at the Rugby World Cup, but have too many older players who won't be around in four years.  It is time to rebuild!

Scotland were disappointing at the Rugby World Cup and almost lost to Romania.  They have a new captain in Ross Ford and a solid forward pack, but don't have enough firepower out wide.

Italy are favourites for the wooden spoon.  They do have players capable of plenty of testrugby.com points because they have to make so many tackles.

Players to watch for assuming they are selected to play;

France - Loose forwards Thierry Dusautoir, Imanol Harinordoquy and Julien Bonnaire will be excellent value if they can repeat their Rugby World Cup 2011 final form.  Based on the Rugby World Cup 2011 game William Servat and Vincent Clerc were the other top scoring France players.

Wales - Toby Faletau plays a style conducive to scoring plenty of points.  Wales had some other high scoring players, but their locks Wyn Jones and Charteris will be sorely missed and if they do play will be worth the purchase.  Other good point scoring players based on the Rugby World Cup 2011 include George North, Leigh Halfpenny, Jamie Roberts, Johnathon Davies, Sam Warburton, Huw Bennet and Mike Phillips.  Wales play a style which tends to score more testrugby.com points than most other teams.

England - England didn't really troube the scorers at the Rugby World Cup 2011, but some players who seemed to score decently well were Manu Tuilagi, Ben Foden, Chris Ashton and James Haskell.  Tuilagi will miss the Scotland game first up.  It will be interesting to see how coach Stuart Lancaster.  Plenty will depend on selections for them with South African Brad Barritt and if Toby Flood is fit.

Ireland - Declan Kidney will have to do without Brian O'Driscoll this year and he will be a major loss for Ireland.  At the Rugby World Cup the best Ireland players were winger Keith Earls, Sean O'Brien, Jamie Heaslip, Robert Kearney and Rory Best.

Scotland needs major improvements if they are to be competitive in the Six Nations.  Their best players during a disappointing Rugby World Cup 2011 campaign was Sean Lamont while Richie Gray was great value and Ross Ford will get plenty of game time as captain and hooker.  This season could be a chance for youngster Duncan Weir.

Italian captain Sergio Parisse was by far the best Italy had to offer at the Rugby World Cup 2011.  Based on testrugby.com points in New Zealand Leonardo Ghiraldini and Alessandro Zanni.

It is difficult to know what has happened to all of the great fly halves in the world, many of whom used to hail from the Northern Hemisphere.  It seems that the next four years will see the new breed of fly halves take over from the greats of the past, but it will be interesting to see which of the new batch of players will sink or swim?

England

Forwards

Mouritz Botha
Calum Clark
Alex Corbisiero
Dan Cole
Tom Croft
Louis Deacon
Phil Dowson
Dylan Hartley
Courtney Lawes
Joe Marler
Lee Mears
Ben Morgan
Tom Palmer
Chris Robshaw
Matt Stevens
Rob Webber
David Wilson
Tom Wood

Backs

Chris Ashton
Brad Barritt
Mike Brown
Lee Dickson
Owen Farrell
Toby Flood
Ben Foden
Charlie Hodgson
Joe Simpson
Charlie Sharples
David Strettle
Manusamoa Tuilagi
Jordan Turner-Hall
Ben Youngs

Forwards

Fabien Barcella
Vincent Debaty
Luc Ducalcon
Nicolas Mas
Jean-Baptiste Poux
William Servat
Dimitri Szarzewski
Yoann Maestri
Romain Millo-Chluski
Pascal Pape
Julien Pierre
Imanol Harinordoquy
Thierry Dusautoir (captain)
Fulgence Ouedraogo
Yannick Nyanga
Louis Picamoles
Julien Bonnaire

Backs

Morgan Parra
Dimitri Yachvili
Lionel Beauxis
Francois Trinh-Duc
Yann David
Wesley Fofana
Maxime Mermoz
Aurelien Rougerie
Vincent Clerc
Julien Malzieu
Alexis Palisson
Maxime Medard
Clement Poitrenaud

Ireland

Forwards

Rory Best
Tom Court
Sean Cronin
Leo Cullen
Stephen Ferris
Cian Healy
Jamie Heaslip
Shane Jennings
Sean O'Brien
Donncha O'Callaghan
Paul O'Connell
Mike Ross
Donnacha Ryan

Backs

Tommy Bowe
Gordon D'Arcy
Keith Earls
Rob Kearney
Fergus McFadden
Conor Murray
Ronan O'Gara
Eoin Reddan
Jonathan Sexton
Andrew Trimble
Paddy Wallace

Forwards

Tommaso D'Apice
Leonardo Ghiraldini
Martin Castrogiovanni
Lorenzo Cittadini
Alberto de Marchi
Andrea Lo Cicero
Marco Bortolami
Quintin Geldenhuys
Antonion Pavanello
Cornelius van Zyl
Robert Barbieri
Mauro Bergamasco
Paul Derbyshire
Simone Favaro
Sergio Parisse
Alessandro Zanni

Backs

Edoardo Gori
Fabio Semenzato
Kristopher Burton
Luciano Orquera
Tommaso Benvenuti
Gonzalo Canale
Luca Morisi
Alberto Sgarbi
Angelo Esposito
Giulio Toniolattiv
Giovambattista Venditti
Andrea Masi
Luke Mclean

Scotland
Forwards

John Barclay
Kelly Brown
Geoff Cross
David Denton
Alasdair Dickinson
Ross Ford
Richie Gray
Dougie Hall
Jim Hamilton
Rob Harley
Allan Jacobsen
Alastair Kellock
Scott Lawson
Moray Low
Fraser McKenzie
Euan Murray
Ross Rennie
Alasdair Strokosch
Richie Vernon

Backs

Joe Ansbro
Mike Blair
Chris Cusiter
Simon Danielli
Nick De Luca
Max Evans
Stuart Hogg
Ruaridh Jackson
Lee Jones
Greig Laidlaw
Rory Lamont
Sean Lamont
Rory Lawson
Graeme Morrison
Dan Parks
Steven Shingler
Duncan Weir

Wales
Forwards

Craig Mitchell
Adam Jones
Ryan Bevington
Gethin Jenkins
Paul James
Rhys Gill
Rhodri Jones
*Matthew Rees
Huw Bennett
Ken Owens
Bradley Davies
Ian Evans
Lou Reed
*Ryan Jones
Dan Lydiate
*Sam Warburton
Justin Tipuric
Toby Faletau
Andy Powell

Backs

Mike Phillips
Lloyd Williams
Rhys Webb
Rhys Priestland
James Hook
Jamie Roberts
Jonathan Davies
Scott Williams
Gavin Henson
Ashley Beck
George North
Leigh Halfpenny
Alex Cuthbert
Harry Robinson
Liam Williams
Lee Byrne

Who do you think will win the Six Nations 2012?  Which players should we watch out for?

Have your say!

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