Scrumqueens 6 Nations predictions

John Birch and Ali Donnelly make their predictions ahead of the 2019 Women's 6 Nations.

Published by Alison Donnelly, February 1st, 2020

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Scrumqueens 6 Nations predictions

Ali Donnelly

Winners?England. They have had a year together as a full professional outfit, had a very good 2019 and if they overcome France on Sunday, there is no-one capable of stopping themFinal placings?England, France, Ireland, Italy, Wales, ScotlandPlayer to watch?Ireland’s 18 year old flier Beibhinn Parsons represents the future in the green jersey. She is powerful for her age, hugely talented and should be given plenty of game time.Player you will miss: Ellie Kildunne has chosen 7s over 15s for now and would surely be in this starting England team had she not. A huge talent, she had made a blistering start to her time in the England 15s shirt and to many, she is the next Emily Scarratt both in terms of her potential and her skillset. Surely will be back, but definitely a shame she is missing from the tournament.Key match;England v France. This will decide the title.Thing you’re looking forward to most?Working out who from Ireland, Italy and Scotland are in the best form going into the World Cup qualifiers later this year. It’s a huge year for the teams involved and they need to gather confidence and momentum through the tournament.And least?Trying to watch all of the games.  The scheduling is a joke.What else to look out for?A possible major annoucement about the competition on Tuesday 4th which World Rugby Chair Bill Beaumont has trailed on Twitter. Will we finally see the window for the touranment move? With England, France and Ireland too, attracting crowds of thousands, the tournament is surely ready to stand alone.

John Birch

Winners:EnglandFinal placings: England, France, Ireland, Wales, Italy, ScotlandPlayer to watch?Madoussou Fall. The 21-year-old has forced her way into the French starting team ahead of Safi N'Diaye after just 4 caps. Could be something special.Player you will miss:The clash with the sevens - especially in the opening weekend when the Six Nations runs against the Sydney 7s - means that we miss out on seeing a number of exciting players, especially from England, in the tournament, including the likes of Alex Matthews, Ellie Kildunne and Deborah Fleming to name but three. France also have several players who played in the Autumn tests now playing sevens in Australasia, either in the World Series in a development series, including Ian Jason, Marjorie Mayans and Carla Neisen.Key match;France v England - both just so far ahead of the restThing you’re looking forward to most?Seeing how much Scotland have developed with the new coach and much greater SRU support, including the South Africa tour. Would be great if they could beat someone!And least?That it's all going to be anti-climax after Week 1 with some one-sided games especially with three teams having the distractions of World Cup qualifiers on their mindsWhat else to look out for:The referees. A lot has been made about having an all-female set of referees, but there is nothing new in this. For most of the tournaments history the officials were all female, but it was a policy that provoked criticism as some them were not of the highest quality. Today there are more experienced female referees, and giving them more opportunities to take charge of the top games is important. But are there now enough to cover all of the games in what is now a much higher profile tourament?

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