6 Nations: England the team to beat

All things being equal, France would start this 6 Nations as favourites, despite their inferior world ranking to England.

France, seeded one place below England in third, come into the competition on the back of a momentum and profile boosting win over New Zealand in the Autumn; with an array of players in top form as evidenced by the sheer number of them nominated for the World Player of the Year award, and having the benefit of starting and finishing the tournament at home.

But sport can often be found wanting when it comes to equality, and it is in fact England who begin as my favourites.

Much is being made of the benefits of professionalism, but it is only a few weeks since England began their new lives as the world's first fully pro team, so in reality it is hard to see this making a huge difference in the early rounds and in the vital early key games against Ireland and France.

More likely is that they will benefit as the tournament progresses from the extra rest and recuperation they will have compared to their rivals - many of whom will be juggling full-time work commitments alongside their rugby endeavours.

So no, it is not professionalism which makes England favourites - it is our old friend Sevens.

We've written this week about the enormous pressure on all of the European teams are under to secure Olympic qualification in 2020.

You can read more about thepermutations here,but things look very challenging for England and France - and the French have decided to prioritise trying to qualify through the World Series. This is reflected through their selection this weekend, where they are shorn of some of their leading names as they focus hard both on developing players ahead of the Sydney leg of the World Series after the New Zealand warm-up last weekend, and on qualifying .

It means that World Player of the Year Jessy Tremouliere and last year’s French domestic Player of the Season, Caroline Drouin will not be involved in the opening round, having been part of the French team playing in New Zealand last weekend, also depriving France of their top two goal kickers against the Welsh and possibly against England.

This doesn't mean that they won't beat Wales, but it does rob them of the chance to build consistency going into the key game of the tournament against England in week two - even more important for Tremouliere who missed all of the Autumn tests with injury.

It is a shame for the tournament but it is an understandable tactical decision when so much is hanging on qualification for Tokyo for a nation that has not yet fully separated their programmes. It is not yet clear if some of the players involved in New Zealand will be rushed back for the England game, but it would hardly make ideal build-up for the key game of the tournament.

Sevens too is helping England in the form of the return of key players like Emily Scarratt, Jess Breach and Mo Hunt, who have swapped one contract for another and are now fully focused on 15s. They simply make England's backline a much tougher proposition and so England are the team to beat this year.

In the battle of the rest, with this 6 Nations not counting towards qualification for the next World Cup, there will be licence for experimentation.

Scotland and Wales are dealing with the loss of talismanic players through injury - with Jade Konkel and Sioned Harries both ruled out, delivering sizeable blows to at least their hopes against the top two.

Scotland would ordinarily be pleased that the fixtures served them up an opener at home against Italy - who they beat two years ago at home - but the Italians ran riot against them in their last outing and beat them in this fixture last season, so a good start will mean that Shade Munro's team need to conjure up some of the fire that saw them lose very narrowly to Canada and Spain recently.

Munro has introduced Alasdair Dickinson to his coaching set up to try and shore up some of the set piece problems that marred those games and is confident that his team can well cope without one of his most experienced players.

The loss of Harries is significant to Wales but while the neutrals amongst us will be disappointed to see France without many key players for the opening rounds - Wales will hope they can be the early beneficiaries. Yes France will be favourites at home regardless. but a decent and close run performance could well be considered a good start for Rowland Phillips side ,who will be looking to travel to Italy in round two on the back of some momentum.

Despite losing to Ireland a few weeks ago, Wales had a decent Autumn run coming into the 6 Nations, pushing Canada hard and beating South Africa and Hong Kong.

Phillips has been realistic in the build-up the the tournament, saying that the challenge for his team is to be top of the best of the rest - in reality looking at the games against Italy, Ireland and Scotland for their victories.

For Ireland, the real plus is the return of Alison Miller on the wing. She brings nous and a clinical edge, provided she can get back to her previous best, and on the back of a good win over Wales earlier this month, Ireland will be welcoming England with perhaps less trepidation than they might have at this stage in a World Cup cycle. Coach Adam Griggs has not been afraid to make big changes to his squad with former captain Niamh Briggs left out entirely and with youngsters like Béibhinn Parsons  included in his wider squad. Parsons though will be in Sydney for the World 7s Series for the opening round. The in-form Claire Molloy remains key.

Italy come into the Championship quietly confident, with two big Autumn wins against Scotland and South Africa boosting them to the position of the third best ranked team in Europe. Manuela Furlan (68 caps) captains an exciting and near full-strength team to face Scotland again in the opening fixture, packed with experience it contains only one new cap (prop Elena Serilli), but half a dozen players with 40 caps or more including the ever-reliable Sara Barattin at scrumhalf, Michela Sillari in the centre, and Lucia Gai and Melissa Bettoni up front.

The fixture computer has also been very kind to the Italians, giving them three very winnable matches before taking on England and France in the final two rounds – the latter at home, where the Italians have an excellent recent record against their nearest neighbours. With opponents distracted by sevens, or experimenting with youth, a top three finish for the Italians seems well within their reach.