THE SIX Nations gets underway this weekend and I’m sure there will the usual level of excitement in the matches coming up.

For me Ireland will be the favourites as they were the most consistent nation during the Autumn internationals and I think they’ve got their transitional stage now with the older players going out of the squad.

I would pick them as potential winners but it will be interesting to see how England get on.

They have quite a few injuries at the moment and it’s certainly not a first choice team they are putting out.

But that has given players a chance to impress that they certainly wouldn’t have been expecting and they will be fired up to make the most of it.

Obviously there is more at stake this season too because there’s also the World Cup to look forward to in the summer.

Players will be looking to cement their place in that squad and that will also add extra spice to this year’s competition.

England get started with a game at Wales on Friday which certainly isn’t the easiest fixture to be starting with.

But it’s going to be a great occasion and a great atmosphere too so it should all add to quite an entertaining evening.

SHOCKED BY AFTERMATH OF LYDNEY DEFEAT

QUITE a lot has been said in the aftermath of our game at Lydney at the weekend but I certainly didn’t think it was a dirty game.

Own of their lads was sent off for a punch but I thought it was very harsh and that’s coming from the person who he hit!

For me that’s part and parcel of playing rugby and I think the game has gone too soft.

Strangely enough though, the red card probably went against us as we didn’t seem to get a single decision after his dismissal.

It was as if the ref was trying to even things up and not much went our way at all.

That, along with the mistakes we made and not sticking to our game plan, hit us hard and made for a disappointing afternoon.

But I was then left very surprised by some of the accusations that were made after the game in the press.

Nothing was brought to the referee’s attention during the game and if something serious like that had happened then I’m sure it would’ve been.

If I’m honest I think it’s a bit of a smoke-screen to try and drag us down with them after their director of rugby was also sent off and I find that quite disappointing.

WE MUST STAND UP TO WORTHING CHALLENGE

WE WILL need to step things up when we head to Worthing this weekend.

They’re having a good season and are currently fifth in the table.

But we beat them at home earlier on in the campaign and we’ve done well against some of the other top sides so hopefully we can do the same tomorrow.