‘Triple NatWest 6 Nations champions’ has a nice sound to it, doesn’t it? Especially when you’re building up towards the 2019 Rugby World Cup. This is the target set to his squad by Eddie Jones as England look to become the first nation to win the trophy outright three times in row. To follow that up, Simon Middleton and the Red Roses are looking to become back-to-back Grand Slam Six Nations champions for the first time.

So strap yourself in because the next several weeks are going to be a rollercoaster ride you won’t want to get off.

Tough opposition await

The defence of the NatWest 6 Nations crown starts for England with a tricky trip to Rome on 4 Feb against the Italians, in what can be a difficult place to play your rugby. The traditional big  England v Wales clash is at Twickenham on 10 February, which you can guarantee will be a fantastic atmosphere to match the anticipated build-up.

After the rest week it’s a Calcutta Cup clash with an ever impressive Scotland looking to put down a marker and back-up the hype around them. March brings two mouth-watering final games, with France away in Paris and then a St Patrick’s Day heavyweight clash between England v Ireland, in what could be a possible Grand Slam and NatWest 6 Nations decider. The 2018 NatWest 6 Nations has it all this year and we can’t wait for it to get started.

With only two NatWest 6 Nations games at home for England this year it seems strange to be looking for more travel and overnight plans away from Twickenham, but as always we know your #WearTheRose support will be just as passionate and supportive as always.

Eddie Jones signs up

Building up towards the NatWest 6 Nations we were welcomed with the news our commander in chief, Eddie Jones, has signed a new two year extension to his contract, taking him up to 2021.

As you can imagine this was fantastic news for the England Rugby fan base, not so much for the wider rugby world. With a record of one defeat in twenty three, the squad is set up nicely for the challenges ahead. Eddie went on to say:

“Coaching England is a dream job for me, and I was delighted to be asked to stay on after Rugby World Cup 2019. “These are exciting times for English Rugby, with a focussed and committed squad who are full of potential and determined to win. I will continue to work as hard as I can to make England the world’s best rugby team.”

Committing the head coach to a longer contract sends a clear message to the team, the job is only half done and the target remains the same. Number one in the world awaits.

Red Roses focus on back-to-back Grand Slams

The rise of women’s rugby continues going into 2018 with all of the Red Roses’ Six Nations games set to be broadcast on Sky Sports. They’ll be looking to be the first team to win back-to-back Grand Slams – and it’s very achievable. As we saw in 2017, the Red Roses were too strong, but a lot has happened in the past year and the highly competitive Women’s Rugby World Cup threw out a few surprises and improved performances.

As always O2 will be alongside both England teams every step of the way during the NatWest 6 Nations and you can keep up to date by following us on O2 Sports social channels Twitter and Instagram. Keep showing your amazing support.  Love the game, #WearTheRose.

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Source: O2 Blog
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