Four of the six sides under new management struck an upbeat note at launch while
England grapple with Saracens fallout
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Five of the teams at the Six Nations launch at a chilly Tobacco Dock in London’s Wapping could be heard talking an upbeat game.
Ireland, Wales,
France and
Italy are all under new management, while
Scotland have a passionate new captain in Stuart Hogg already itching to lead out Gregor Townsend’s army on Saturday week.
The only contingent not obviously oozing bonhomie were England, an inevitable consequence of the sizeable Saracens-shaped elephant in the room. Owen Farrell would rather publicly discuss his bowel movements than bare his soul on the subject of his club’s salary cap defrocking, while Eddie Jones is never a fan of anything that distracts from Red Rose business.