The redemption of the wounded giants in the Six Nations

The Six Nations constellation shines again without its three great stars of the last decade.

The retirement of Jonathan Sexton – the best Irish flyhalf of all time –, the signing of Owen Farrell to England and the Olympic odyssey of Frenchman Antoine Dupont leave the rugby classic without three colossal captains.

New blood for the World Cup mourning of the northern hemisphere, which arrived with the two best in the ranking and saw how South Africa and New Zealand maintained the global hierarchy of the south.

The two frustrated superpowers, Ireland and France, uncork the tournament in Marseille today (9:00 p.m., Movistar) with that planetary final that could have been and was not.

It is the opportunity for redemption for the wounded giants, which continues tomorrow with Italy-England and Wales-Scotland.

Five days in seven weeks, until March 16, to clear up unknowns as to whether the new cycle will serve to shorten the gap that the French and Irish marked with the rest.

If Scotland, with its eternal suit of the team that can reign, takes advantage of its continuity to win 24 years later.

Whether the shameless Italian bake brings lights or shadows.

The foreground is for the new leaders: colossi like Peter O'Mahony (Ireland), Grégory Alldrit (France) or Dafydd Jenkins, Welsh captain at 21 years old.

Sexton's Void

Jack Crowley has the worst job of this Six Nations: carrying the 10 of Jonathan Sexton, the captain of the best Ireland, which he leaves orphaned after retiring as the top scorer in the history of the tournament.

His coach, Andy Farrell, maintains that the change in cycle is not a turning point.

In his favor, the most experienced squad in the tournament, with an imposing forward.

Their challenge to history is to become the first team to repeat the Grand Slam – win every match – since France in 1998.

France's favoritism

Details of precision and discipline left France without a World Cup, their great pending account.

Not four months have passed and the Gauls once again assume the role of favorites because the calendar offers them a visit from Ireland to start and England to finish.

The eyes will be on Maxime Lucu, the person in charge of replacing Dupont.

Their factory of world champions continues to produce – the giant Emmanuel Meafou is the latest example – and there is no shortage of

playmakers

like Jalibert or solvent kickers like Ramos.

Opportunity for Scotland

In a tournament of absent leaders, Finn Russell starts as the great star of the Six Nations.

The 10, never lacking in talent, found a consistency on and off the pitch last year that was worth the best version of him and that of Scotland, which won its two initial matches for the first time and put as much pressure on Ireland and France as it could.

The Caledonians have lacked muscle up front and legs to endure the final phase of the tournament.

In terms of talent, they are no less than anyone.

The George Ford Hour

Few shirts weigh more than the English number 10, worn by Jonny Wilkinson.

The last bearer of it, Owen Farrell, said goodbye to the national team before becoming ineligible when signing for Racing 92 of Paris, a path followed by Henry Arundell, Jack Willis and Joe Marchant.

Representing England is no longer worth as much as lucrative French rugby contracts, even if it prevents you from playing for the national team.

The vacancy will be for George Ford, the flyhalf of the best England team - in 2019, with Farrell as center - usually relegated when his teammate took the helm.

He considers himself part of the recent failure: three years in the second half of the table.

Jamie George, a forward with stripes, will debut as captain in Rome.

The change of Wales

Wales arrives after being fifth in 2022 and 2023, but its coach, Warren Gatland, the New Zealander who returned last year and will begin his 17th Six Nations, warns: “We can perfectly win the tournament.”

The most successful coach of the XV del Dragón knows what he is talking about.

The debut against Scotland will mark the emotional pulse, but they host France and have plenty of nerve to compete in Dublin and London.

Hopes are placed on Jenkins as a leader - they see him as their successor to Alun Wyn Jones, their great gladiator - and on veterans like George North, who will be playing in the tournament for the 14th time, to pass on their irredeemable attitude to the young people.

The comings and goings of Italy

The Argentine Gonzalo

Quesada arrives from the Pumas for the umpteenth project in Italy, which last year raised its performance, with real options of knocking down France.

But he lost everything again.

With leaders like Michele Lamaro, the challenge is consistency, staying in the games so that their overflowing talent—Tommaso Menoncello, a 21-year-old prodigy who missed the World Cup due to injury, joins Paolo Garbisi or Ange Capuozzo—can prevail.

Maybe it's his chance to knock off England, the only Six Nations partner they haven't beaten.

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