This year’s Six Nations will have particular relevance for Australian rugby, with the British and Irish Lions tour fast approaching.
The tournament is the last chance for the Home Nations’ finest to impress Lions coach Andy Farrell – and Wallabies fans should also take a keen interest, with some bigger-picture issues in mind.
1. Are the Lions’ unions coming off the boil at the right time for Australia?
The Lions will be strong – let’s get that out of the way. But the November Test campaigns of England, Ireland, Wales and Scotland were underwhelming. Since then, the formidable French clubs Toulouse and Bordeaux have laid waste to the competition in European club rugby, with the English sides looking well off the pace and only Irish powerhouse Leinster providing genuine opposition.
The French are favourites to win this year’s Six Nations and if they do so it will cast doubt on whether the Home Nations are slightly adrift of South Africa, France and New Zealand. That does not mean the Wallabies can bridge the gap to the top, but it will do no harm to their chances in July.
Fergus Burke playing for English club side Saracens.Credit: PA Images via Getty Images
2. How many non-Brits or Irish will make the tour?
Former Crusaders No.10 Fergus Burke is the latest player to be quickly whisked into the Scotland squad, with his connection to the Scots being that he once drank a can of Irn-Bru. Of course, we are being facetious here but the current eligibility rules do invite a degree of scorn. Burke wasn’t born in Scotland and doesn’t live or work there (and neither do his parents to the best of my knowledge).
Yet, he’s still deemed Scottish enough in rugby’s rule book to play for them, thus making him eligible for the Lions. The problem for the Wallabies is that the expat Australians, Kiwis and South Africans who have switched their allegiances to northern unions have made a habit of being exceptional players up there. Expect a few on the plane to Australia and for this issue to blow up again.
3. The Lions might not have another Corbisiero
It’s funny what sticks in the mind from the third Test between the Wallabies and the Lions in Sydney in 2013. There was Wallabies coach Robbie Deans’ haunted and shocked face in the post-match press conference, and a wobbly fan copping a spray from much-missed journo Wayne Smith for blocking the view from the press box (how this tour will be poorer due to absent friends). The third memory was listening to the messages being passed from official Craig Joubert on the sideline to referee Romain Poite about the disruption/damage Lions prop Alex Corbisiero was doing to the tighthead side of the Wallabies scrum.
Those messages, captured on the old SportsEars system, had a huge impact on the Test and arguably Australian rugby as a whole, but it does not appear that the Lions have another Corbisiero among their ranks. England are not a particularly big scrummaging side and Irish great Tadhg Furlong is again missing this weekend from the side to face England as injuries continue to mount. The Lions will no doubt target Australia up front when the series begins, but it is unclear if they have anyone of Corbisiero’s quality.
Ireland and prospective Lions five-eighth Sam Prendergast.Credit: Getty Images
4. Sam Prendergast could be the bolter at No.10
The young Irish five-eighth will start against England in Dublin and appears to have usurped Jack Crowley in the Irish pecking order. Farrell, who picked him in November, might now be outside the Irish camp on Lions duty, but he is clearly a Prendergast fan.
Finn Rusell of Scotland will be favoured to lock down a Lions’ play-making berth, as will England’s Marcus Smith, but the odds of Prendergast joining the tour appear to be shortening. He looks to have a great head on young shoulders and provides a contrast to the more mercurial talents offered by Russell and Smith. If Ireland have a good Six Nations with Prendergast at the helm, he’ll probably be bound for Australia.
5. Captain Caelan, Jac or Maro?
The hopes of Australia’s own Sione Tuipulotu captaining the Lions tour likely nosedived when he picked up a pec injury that might even jeopardise his much-anticipated reunion with new mate Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii. The pair’s exchange during the Wallabies’ loss to Scotland in Edinburgh demands a sequel, but pec injuries are notoriously slow to heal.
That leaves Calelan Doris (Ireland), Jac Morgan (Wales) and Maro Itoje (England) as the frontrunners for the captaincy honour, and all three will be keen to put down a marker during the Six Nations. At this stage, Doris looks the most likely to command his own Lions jersey, being the outstanding No.8 among the Home Nations.
Note: Paul Cully will be picking a Lions Team of the Week after each round of the Six Nations tournament, which will appear on Mondays on smh.com.au.
Watch all the action from the 2025 Six Nations tournament, with every match ad-free, live and on demand on Stan Sport.
