A France side bolstered by Antoine Dupont begin their quest to deny Ireland an unprecedented third successive Six Nations title when they launch this year’s edition at home to Wales today.
Scrumhalf Dupont missed last year’s tournament to focus on rugby sevens in the buildup to the Paris Olympic Games and his decision paid off in style with a gold medal at the Stade de France.
In his absence, France finished second to Ireland.
Photo: AP
“We’ve got a lot of ambition for this tournament, we have the potential to win it and I’m excited about that,” Dupont said.
Under-pressure Wales coach Warren Gatland is well aware of Dupont’s quality.
“He’s incredibly quick and he’s powerful, he’s got great vision,” Gatland said. “He’s excellent in terms of staying on his feet and getting the ball away in contact.”
Welsh rugby is in crisis mode after a after a national record 12 straight defeats, including losses in all five of their Six Nations matches last year, but Gatland believes the situation could yet work in their favor at the Stade de France.
“We’ve spoken about the fact that ironically there is probably more pressure and expectation on them [France],” he said. “There is expectation from their fans.”
Ireland will pose a stern challenge to the chasing pack as they bid to become the first side to win the title three years in a row since the tournament was expanded to six teams in 2000.
Ireland are in an unusual position, with Simon Easterby in caretaker charge while head coach Andy Farrell is seconded to the British and Irish Lions for this year’s tour of Australia, but Easterby can call upon a seasoned squad led by captain Caelan Doris.
“He leads by example, but he’s also finding his own way to do things in his captaincy,” Easterby said of the Leinster player. “He’s definitely someone that when the big occasion comes, he steps up, and he’s proven that for Ireland and also, more recently, for Leinster.”
Ireland begin their title defense against England in Dublin tomorrow, with the visitors not having finished higher than third since being crowned Six Nations champions in 2020.
England won just five of their 12 Tests last year, but did defeat Ireland and new captain Maro Itoje believes Steve Borthwick’s men are on the verge of becoming title contenders again.
“If we play our stuff, if we are the team we believe we can be, we can win,” Itoje said. “There is not a team in this tournament that we can’t beat.”
“We know Ireland are a great team and the Aviva is a great place to play... These are the challenges that bring out the best out of myself and the team,” the 30-year-old lock said.
Scotland have become increasingly competitive under coach Gregor Townsend, but a side featuring gifted playmaker Finn Russell have sometimes sold themselves short, and they will likely need to overcome both France and Ireland if they are to win their first title of the Six Nations era.
Italy, their opponents at Murrayfield tomorrow, also helped deny Scotland a rare top-two finish with a shock 31-29 win in Rome last year.
“Losing out there is something that we were obviously very disappointed with,” Scotland’s Matt Fagerson said. “It derailed our tournament a bit.”
“Credit to Italy, they did really well at home last year, so hopefully we’re going to turn it around,” he said.
This year marks the 25th anniversary of Italy’s entry into the tournament, with the Azzurri looking to build on two wins and a draw last year — their best Six Nations return — after a string of poor performances led to questions over their involvement.
“The most important thing for us is to keep improving, keep going in that direction,” Italy captain Michele Lamaro said. “There are a lot of expectations on us, now the other teams are looking at us differently.”
Shaquille O’Neal is staying with TNT Sports on a new contract worth more than US$15 million per year, Front Office Sports reported on Friday. The news means the cast of Inside the NBA is staying together even as TNT is set to license out the show to ESPN starting next season. TNT was the odd network out in the NBA’s recent TV rights negotiations, as NBC and Amazon joined previous rightsholder ESPN in inking deals for basketball games. That left TNT without a need for pregame and postgame NBA shows. In a trade with ESPN, TNT is licensing Inside the NBA to the
Juventus on Sunday stopped Inter from replacing SSC Napoli at the top of Serie A by beating their fierce rivals 1-0 and moving into the UEFA Champions League positions. Francisco Conceicao made sure that Napoli would stay two points ahead of reigning champions Inter by classily tucking home the winning goal 16 minutes before the end of an entertaining contest in Turin. Portugal attacker Conceicao netted his fourth goal of the season in all competitions after brilliant work from Randal Kolo Muani to give Juve a third straight league win. Juve are in fourth place on 46 points, ahead on goal-difference from SS
Eugenie Bouchard already has her own signature pickleball paddle. She is No. 17 in the pickleball rankings and constantly appears on the main court at events because she is always a big draw. However, just to be absolutely clear, she is not retired from tennis. The 2014 Wimbledon finalist still practices on the tennis court, still competes at tennis events and still has a Women’s Tennis Association ranking (No. 1,288). The Canadian standout just has a new sport that has caught her attention. Bouchard is one of several familiar tennis names — like Jack Sock and Donald Young — crossing over to
Stephen Curry and Jayson Tatum on Sunday combined for 27 points as Shaquille O’Neal’s “Team Shaq” cruised to victory in the new-look NBA All-Star game in San Francisco. Curry, playing on his home court at Golden State’s Chase Center, reeled off a string of trademark three-pointers to help his star-studded lineup coast to a 41-25 victory over Charles Barkley’s “Team Chuck.” Boston Celtics star Tatum finished with 15 points after delivering a dominant performance in a starting lineup that also included Kevin Durant, Damian Lillard and James Harden. Team Shaq’s preparations for the game had been dealt a blow shortly before tip-off when