PLEASE NOTE: TO ALL CLEVELAND AREA RUGGERS Â THE 1964 RUGBY FOUNDATION WILL BE HOSTING THE ANNUAL FALLEN RUGGERS CELEBRATION AT THE PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY BOTH DAYS. PLEASE JOIN US TO RAISE A GLASS TO OUR FORMER PLAYING COLLEAGUES WITH WHOM WE SO MUCH ENJOYED PLAYING BUT WHO SADLY CAN NO LONGER BE WITH US
Now, to 6N Round One:
“Here we are again, Happy as can be. All good Fun and Jolly Good Company! ” The old ditty seems to fully epitomize the Six Nations Tournament’s spirit and essence. I was originally planning to start off with a bit of a rant about some of the issues in International Rugby right now, but, as recently -retired Irish rugby great Rory Best said in a very entertaining podcast with fellow century cap-holder Conor Murray a few days ago, while International rugby has its issues, the Six Nations mostly gets it right! This is true, and 100 tries were scored in last year’s tournament, so why dwell on the negative! Rory and Conor reminisced about the great feeling of mounting excitement they each had when, as kids, each rode down to Dublin on a Saturday morning in the back of the family car to the old Lansdowne Road stadium. I recall similarly riding up from the Sussex Coast to Twickenham in the back of my parents’ car in the late 1950’s and early’60’s. One of my earliest memories was walking towards the old black and dark grey stands of the Stadium, late for the kick-off as usual. In those days the corners were open, and approaching the stadium I could clearly see the West Stand scoreboard reading “ENGLAND 10, SCOTLAND 0” , new England fly-half Richard Sharp having burst onto the International scene by engineering two early tries. My heart sank before we were even inside the ground (fortunately, Scotland , led by the iconic Ken Scotland at full-back, fought back hard and only lost 10-8 in the end). Another time, I remember standing outside the players’ entrance for autographs after the England-Ireland game and having a great chat with the charismatic and legendary Irish and Lions ’winger Tony O’Reilly (who sadly passed away in 2024).
Great stuff! But, less of reminiscing. Even more pent-up excitement and apprehension than usual precedes the 2026 Tournament, given the shifting fortunes of each of each of the Six over the past season or two. France and England are now clearly the powerhouses. Can Ireland hold their own against them? Can Scotland be a potential dark horse? Is Italy continuing to improve? Can Wales rebound from what has been a catastrophic couple of years and arrest the very evident decline? We are about to see…TO THE MATCHES !
THURSDAY FEBRUARY 5TH 3.10 PM FRANCE v IRELAND, STADE de FRANCE, PARIS
Talk about being thrown in at the deep end! An injury-stricken and surprisingly out -of- sorts Irish squad have to attempt to re-attain their high performance of recent years by entering the cauldron of a fired -up Thursday night Parisian crowd expecting their powerful team to steamroller—led by talismanic scrum-half Antoine Dupont, and with such high quality and depth at every position that they can afford to leave out of even the matchday squad hallowed multi-cap veterans such as (feisty Dan Ackroyd-lookalike) winger Damien Penaud, centre Gael Fickou, and Number 8 Gregory Alldritt. France has lost a starting prop Atelio ( cardiac problems) but Ireland’s ability to capitalize may be limited given that their first three choice loosehead props are all out injured, as are veteran backs Hugo Keenan and Mack Hansen, while centre Bundee Aki is serving a three-match 6N suspension. Add to this some inconsistency at the fly-half position ( none of the 3 candidates—Crowley, Prendergast and Flynn—has been able to establish themselves as the clear successor to Johnny Sexton), and you have a team and squad in some state of flux. To have any chance in this match, Ireland MUST try and keep it close. If Les Bleus get their tails up, Watch out! In the podcast, Murray and Best were very “nervous” about this game—with every good reason!
SATURDAY FEBRUARY 7TH 9.10 AM ITALY v SCOTLAND, Stadio Olympico, ROME
The Scots still have a fair amount of talent and flair all across this team, including rising star Glasgow forward Gregor Brown, BUT in the November Internationals the strong promise shown in the 85-0 thumping of the US Eagles ( and it wasn’t even that close—a sad subject for another day!) was eradicated by the ensuing disappointment of home losses, first throwing away a 21-point lead to Argentina, and then losing to New Zealand after having pulled level at 15-all with all the momentum going their way, only to concede a last-minute try off a lineout following a long rolling kick into touch in their 22. Typical, enigmatic Scotland—the usual promise and raising of expectations is followed by big talk, followed by let-down and disappointment. Perhaps not this time. For once neither the players nor the fans are talking themselves up much, which is probably a very good thing! The main core of this starting Scottish team is drawn from the Glasgow Warriors club side—currently one of the very top and in-form teams in Europe, and this should aid their cohesiveness. The Scots lost this game two years ago and the Azzurri and their home fans will be hoping for a repeat. Italy continue to improve at both the national and club levels, making the most out of a thinner pool to draw from by virtue of astute coaching , planning and academies, producing rising stars like young Samuele Locatelli from Zebre. However, they are beset by a raft of injuries themselves. I am taking the dark blues to pull off a hard-fought win.
SATURDAY FEBRUARY 7TH 11.40 AM ENGLAND v WALES . Allianz Stadium, TWICKENHAM
England have won 11 in a row, Wales have lost 21 of their last 23. Anyone who watched the final 20 pulsating minutes of England’s last-minute 2025 Six Nations win against France will realize that this team, after decades of relatively conservative, physical rugby, may have FINALLY got it right, both style of play and selection-wise! On the other hand, all of the living legend Welsh stars/hall of famers of the past 50-60 years, from Sir Gareth Edwards through to Alan Wyn-Jones, must be beside themselves with frustration. This is probably not the ideal occasion to expect the start of a renaissance either. , and the fact that England’s inspirational leader Maro Itoje will start on the bench after time away for his mother’s funeral, will likely fire up his team-mates even more. Eleven members of the Welsh squad do play for top English Premiership clubs, several more play in Europe, and winger Louis Rees -Zammit is back from his protracted but ultimately unsuccessful attempt to break into the NFL. But, to cap it all, Wales have injury problems, with four major players out , including top veterans Jac Morgan and Talaupe Faletau. I fear it’s going to be a long afternoon for the men in red!
So there it is, a delicious palate of Six Nations rugby awaits. Ironically, after me talking about 6N always getting it right, this year they have shortened the time span of the Tournament by taking out the second fallow weekend and thus shortening the overall length. Thus, three consecutive weekends will be followed by one weekend ( of Feb 28/Mar 1) off, followed by two final consecutive weekends. The likely impact will be that it will favor the teams with deeper squads. We shall see
A FINAL REMINDER FOR THE FALLEN RUGGERS AND ALSO THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO PURCHASED 1964 RUGBY FOUNDATION 50 CLUB TICKETS OR PARTS OF TICKETS. YOU ARE HELPING US DO GREAT THINGS FOR NORTHERN OHIO RUGBY AT ALL LEVELS.
I LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING EVERYONE ON THE WEEKEND WHO CAN MAKE IT ALONG.
Bruce Lowe
