With a new Six Nations campaign, Ireland will have a chance to win yet another one, a fourth in the last seven years of the tournament. While Andy Farrell has named a strong side, their rivals will send out some pretty good squads as well. It will likely be a four nation race for the coveted Six Nations title, but the question will be how will Ireland do in this tournament. While nabbing the Grand Slam will be probably very difficult to achieve, Ireland could very well win the 2020 Six Nations. Let's take a look at their fixtures for the tournament.
One thing that stands out is that Ireland has three matches on their own soil, which proved to be beneficial to their 2018 championship run. Two of those matches will be against nations who will be gunning for the trophy as Ireland will take on Scotland and as well as 2019 Six Nations champions and Grand Slam winner Wales. Those two, especially the one against Wales, will be very important for their chances. That being said, both of those matches will start the campaign off for Ireland and if they can win those, their chances of winning the Six Nations trophy are very good. The other match played on their home soil is against Italy in Round Four, which should be a victory, but depending on how the standings look at that point, it could be a crucial four (possibly five) points for Ireland.
The matches that are played away from Ireland will be against England in Round Three and versus France in Round Five. Clearly the most difficult match here will be against England as it will be played at Twickenham and Ireland will be going up against the runner up in this past Rugby World Cup. This could be the match that will determine who wins the tournament, but that obviously depends on the standings. The final match against France could be an intriguing one as this will likely be another victory, but depending on the standings, it could be a very crucial four (possibly five) points.
Now, when looking at the schedule, you have to look at each squad that Ireland will have to face. That should help get a better idea of how each match will play out, but the problem with that is it's just predictions, not them actually playing. However, let's take a look at each nation:
France
No one knows what type of French team we will see once they take the pitch as they have been very inconsistent squad despite being tough on defense. However, they will even be more of an unknown in this tournament as there have been 19 uncapped players named to the squad. The French have some talented players such as Teddy Thomas, Demba Bamba, Antoine Dupont, Damian Penaud, Gael Fickou, and Louis Carbonel, but this team is lacking experience as Fickou leads the French in caps at 51 despite being only 25 years old. However, there seems to be a lot of talent here as they are seemingly trying to build something special as they are drawing players from their last under-20s World Championship squads, which France won both. That being said, it's hard to gauge what the French are going to be like and with a lack of experience, Ireland has the advantage.
England
While the Irish are contenders, England is the favorite to win this. Head coach Eddie Jones has developed a very tactically sound and talented squad, which was good enough to reach the Rugby World Cup Final. While there is a lot of uncapped players in the squad, they are very talented players. That being said, there's a lot of experienced players on this side like Joe Marler, Mako Vunipola, Courtney Lawes, Ben Youngs, Owen Farrell, Jonathan Joseph, and Jonny May. There's also a lot of other talented players such as Manu Tuilagi, Anthony Watson, Elliot Daly, George Ford, Sam Underhill, Tom Curry, Lewis Ludlam, Maro Itoje, Kyle Sinckler, Jamie George headlining the squad. Some of the uncapped players such as Will Stuart, Tom Dunn, Jacob Umaga, Ollie Thorley, and George Furbank should be names to keep an eye on, but with so many great players on this squad, this will be a hard match for the Irish.
Italy
Italy has not progressed that much since joining the tournament in 2000, but that doesn't mean they won't put up a fight. The Italians usually have some talented players on their side, so they could make things difficult for the Irish. Some players to keep an eye from their squad are Luca Bigi, Jake Polledri, Tommaso Allan, Luca Morisi, Tommaso Benvenuti, and Matteo Minozzi. While it's likely to be a victory for the Irish, they should not take the Italians lightly.
Scotland
The Scottish have a very intriguing, but talented squad for this Six Nations. However, there's a lot of question marks for this team as there are going to be decisions for head coach Gregor Townsend to answer when it comes to the starting lineup in some important positions. One of the biggest ones will be who will replace Greig Laidlaw at scrumhalf after his international retirement. Then, there is the question of who will start at flyhalf after Finn Russell's dismissal. Despite all the question marks, they are still a talented team with the likes of Jonny Gray, Hamish Watson, Sam Johnson, Sean Maitland, Stuart Hogg, and Blair Kinghorn on their squad.
Wales
The reigning Six Nations champions and Grand Slam winners look poised to reclaim their hardware, but with a new head coach, the question that is asked is how will the team look. Wayne Pivac will take over for Warren Gatland, but he should continue what Gatland did with more of an offensive attack. The Welsh are always a difficult team to play and the one they will trot out is a very strong side as they have talent and experience on their side. With players like Jake Ball, Adam Beard, Alun Wyn Jones, Taulupe Faletau, Ross Moriarty, Josh Navidi, Justin Tipuric, Dan Biggar, Nick Tompkins, Hadleigh Parkes, Josh Adams, George North, Louis Rees-Zammit, Leigh Halfpenny, Jonah Holmes, and Liam Williams on the squad, they are going to be a hard team to beat.
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