A successful 6 Nations will surely cement Itoje as the Lions captain, although his odds will surely lengthen if England performs badly in the tournament. The two contenders to step in and take the armband will be Ireland captain Caelan Doris and Scotland captain Sione Tuipulotu.
Most of the squad will be from Scotland and Ireland, so Tuipulotu and Doris will be the main contenders.
Tuipulotu plays 12 in a Scottish back line that could provide five starters for the first Lions test with Tuipulotu, Russell, Jones, Kinghorn and Van de Merwe all quite easily making the starting side.
Caelan Doris is well known by Andy Farrell and has worked under his coaching leadership.
BIG SCORES
Elsewhere, Premiership owners will be looking closely at the trend of English clubs losing by big scores to French and Irish clubs. Supporters will refuse to travel across the water, south or west to see their clubs lose by 60+ points.
Using the money argument that the French teams pay more is only partly true. Their development programmes are also producing good young players. A new super rugby European league has to be under consideration. How can Leicester send a full team to Toulouse and lose by 80 points?
Meanwhile, the final round of the European and Challenge Cup group stages has seen both Bath and Bristol depart the competition. The knockout draw has produced some titanic matches and here are my predictions ahaead of competition resuming on the weekend of Apr 4-6.:
- Bordeaux vs. Ulster. Bordeaux is playing electrifying rugby and will win.
- Toulouse vs. Sale. If Dupont is in your team, you win.
- Leinster vs. Harlequins. Leinster will remain unbeaten after this one.
- Toulon vs. Saracens. Saracens will need to be at their best but could win.
- Northampton vs. Claremont. Possession is King. Northampton has the talent.
- La Rochelle vs. Munster. Tough trip to the previous winners for Munster.
- Glasgow vs. Leicester. This is Leicester’s chance to redeem themselves.
- Castres vs. Benetton. Would be a surprise if Benetton win this.
Finally, for the first time in history, the Six Nations might leave free-to-air TV, with broadcasters facing a colossal £100 million price tag to secure broadcasting rights when the current deal ends.
Once again lower paid people will be forced away from watching the live broadcast, which has the knock-on effect of preventing young players from observing the skills and performances of top athletes, which is ultimately counterproductive to development.
The Global Rugby Coach, Mike Penistone, is a globally renowned professional rugby coach based in Phuket who is also an ambassador for the Asia Center Foundation, a charity for disadvantaged children. For more information visit: www.rugbycoachingconsultancy.com.