Six Nations team-by-team tips and predictions: Ireland to retain crown, new-look England to improve, Wales to struggle

Thomas Ridley26 January 2024

Ireland head coach Andy Farrell and captain Peter O'Mahony.

Tis' the season for Rugby Union's annual jamboree, the Six Nations, and at Planet Sport we have been looking at each team's chances of clinching the title.

The anticipation has been brewing ahead of what is set to be a thrilling Six Nations, with several storylines taking place among the backdrop of tournament preparations, including Louis Rees-Zammit's exit to NFL, Owen Farrell's break and subesquent transfer to Racing 92 and the international retirement of Johnny Sexton.

There's also been huge changes in personnel, with 27 uncapped players included across the six squads, and four of the teams have new captains.

We'll run through each team's prospects for the title and analyse which players could be in with a chance of the individual honours, before listing our full predictions at the bottom of the page.

(All odds are correct as of article publication)

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England (2023 finish - 4th)

England have flattered to deceive in recent editions, with their last three tournaments producing lacklustre finishes of fifth, third and fourth.

However, last year head coach Steve Borthwick had only been in the job for a matter of weeks and he defied expectations in the World Cup, leading England to a third place finish, albeit with a far more straightforward draw than some of the other home nations got.

Despite the positive World Cup campaign, Borthwick has shook up his squad with seven debutants and stalwarts Billy Vunipola and Kyle Sinckler have been dropped.

The absence of Owen Farrell, who is likely to not be pulling on an England shirt for the forseeable future due to his impending move to France, has given Jamie George a chance as captain, while George Ford is likely to step in as fly-half after he filled in superbly during the early stages of the World Cup.

Given the nature of England's territory-and-kick pressure based game, Ford could be in contention to be the Six Nation's highest pointscorer.

England should definitely perform better than they did last year, but it's hard to see them taking the title, with an England victory having odds of 11/2.

France (2023 finish - 2nd)

A lot of France's tournament will rely on how they cope without star player and captain Antoine Dupont, who has taken time away from the Six Nations to prepare for the Olympics.

Dupont has been the Player of the Championship in three out of the last four years and will be a big miss for Fabien Galthié's men.

However, this French team has the talent to deal with Dupont's absence, with Damien Penaud being one to watch as he looks to claim the top tryscorer award for the second year running and bookies are offering odds of around 5/1 for history to repeat itself.

Amid Dupont's break, Gregory Aldritt will lead the French out when they face Ireland in Paris in the tournament opener on February 2 and an awful lot will hang on that game, with some already describing it as a potential tournament-decider.

France are slight favourites for the tournament, with home advantage in the clash with Ireland seeming to sway things with the bookies, who are offering odds of 11/10 for a second French Six Nations victory in three years.

Ireland (2023 finish - 1st)

The Irish were on top of the world before they met New Zealand in the World Cup quarter-finals, in a thrilling game which they narrowly lost 24-28.

Before that game, Andy Farrell's troops were on a 17 game winning streak, having won the Grand Slam earlier that year.

It's time for Farrell to lead his team into a new era, and they will be without their talismanic captain Sexton, as he retired from international rugby following the New Zealand defeat.

Former British and Irish Lions captain Peter O'Mahony is taking on the role of captain, while Munster's 24-year-old Jack Crowley could pull on the iconic number 10 shirt.

It may be a difficult task to produce the same level of performances without Sexton, but the Irish squad still has talent in abundance, with centre Bundee Aki looking to continue the form that earned him a World Player of the Year nomination.

The Irish are the second favourites for the crown at 15/8, but if they beat France in Paris then they could be on the road towards a second consecutive title.

They are also 7/5 to retain the Triple Crown, which is worth a punt.

Italy (2023 finish - 6th)

The whipping boys of the Six Nations are back and are trying to avoid the wooden spoon once again.

The Italians had a poor World Cup campaign, which included a 96-17 walloping at the hands of the All Blacks and have struggled in this tournament, winning just one Six Nations match since 2015.

It seems inevitable that the Italians will end of with the wooden spoon again, but they could win one match if they play at their best against a dysfunctional Wales team, the last side they beat in a Six Nations match, and bookies are offering some good odds for Italy, with them 9/4 to win just one match.

While they do have attacking talent with the likes of Tommaso Allen and Paulo Garibisi, new head coach Gonzalo Quesada will need a miracle for his side to be in contention for the title.

Italy are the big outsiders of the tournament with odds of 250/1, but a market that would give punters a better chance of winning is the places, with Italy 1/3 to finish bottom and 10/3 to finish fifth.

Scotland (2023 finish - 3rd)

Scotland achieved their equal-best Six Nations finish in 2023 and will be looking to build on that this year.

Gregor Townsend's men, who will be co-captained by Finn Russell and Rory Darge, always seem to offer so much promise, but then it always seems to fade away.

There is talent all across the squad including the magnificent fly-half Russell and winger Duhan Van Der Merwe, who offers great value in the top tryscorer market at 8/1 as he has scored 21 tries in 35 international appearances, including three in three against old rivals England.

It's difficult to predict how Scotland's tournament will pan out and a lot will depend on their form away from Murrayfield with three out of their five games on the road, including a tough test in Dublin.

A first ever Scottish Six Nations win has odds of 11/1, but bookies think that a fourth place finish is most likely with odds of around 5/2 being offered for that.

Wales (2023 finish - 5th)

Wales had a shocker in last year's tournament, with their only win coming in Rome.

Now Warren Gatland and new captain Dafydd Jenkins must rally the troops and revitalise a Wales squad that has just lost one of its star players in the form of Rees-Zammit.

Rees-Zammit quit rugby in favour of the NFL just one hour before Gatland was due to announce his squad, it's a move that leaves Wales lacking some star quality on the pitch.

It's a new era for Gatland's men, with Dan Biggar also calling time on his international career, and there's five uncapped players in the squad and just 10 players out of the 34 picked have over 30 international caps.

It's a transition period for Wales, so don't expect them to put up a title challenge, but they will be stern opponents for any opposition and will be hard to beat at the Pricipality Stadium.

Wales are seen as outsiders for the championship with odds of 33/1, and the bookies think they could also be contenders to finish bottom, as they currently have odds of around 4/1 for the Wooden Spoon.