The six nations is getting closer and closer. In under three week’s time, England take on Italy at Twickenham to kick-off the tournament of which Wales are firm favourites to emerge victorious.

Ahead of the first match, England coach Martin Johnson has admitted that he is keeping his options open in terms of team selection. Johnson also revealed that a desire for more versatility was the reason for choosing Olly Morgan over Gloucester team-mate Olly Barkley in his six nations squad.

Johnson has stated that it when selecting the group of players to represent England over the next couple of months, he was keen to ‘rebalance the squad’ somewhat. For example he said that previously he had ‘three 12s’ within the squad and this left him short at the back.

So, in a bid to balance the squad and provide more cover at the back, the back three combinations have been selected to provide ‘more flexibility’. By this he means that Matthew Tait can play at 13, full-back or wing and Mark Cueto can also play at full-back or on the wing.

As a result of this, Barkley – who has been a regular in the England set-up – was the man to miss out because only two 12’s were chosen to accommodate the new balance. Johnson described Barkley as ‘unfortunate’ to miss out, but backed him to come back fighting at some point in the future.

So, what is the England Squad in full?
Forwards: Tim Payne (Wasps), Andrew Sheridan (Sale), Matt Stevens (Bath), Phil Vickery (Wasps), George Chuter (Leicester), Dylan Hartley (Northampton), Lee Mears (Bath), Steve Borthwick (Saracens), Nick Kennedy (London Irish), Tom Palmer (Wasps), Simon Shaw (Wasps), Tom Croft (Leicester), James Haskell (Wasps), Lewis Moody (Leicester), Tom Rees (Wasps), Nick Easter (Harlequins), Luke Narraway (Gloucester).
Backs: Delon Armitage (London Irish), Olly Morgan (Gloucester), Mathew Tait (Sale), Mark Cueto (Sale), Paul Sackey (Wasps), Ugo Monye (Harlequins), Jamie Noon (Newcastle), Mike Tindall (Gloucester), Riki Flutey (Wasps), Shane Geraghty (London Irish), Danny Cipriani (Wasps), Toby Flood (Leicester), Danny Care (Harlequins), Harry Ellis (Leicester), Ben Foden (Northampton).
Other than Barkley’s omission, the main talking point is the return of Mike Tindall. The World Cup winner provides valuable experience to the squad and it is my opinion that he should be involved from the start against Italy. Otherwise, Johnson is risking putting a team out with too much inexperience. Even when things are going against England, Tindall is the type of character to rally the troops.

As for the six nations as a whole, well as previously mentioned, Wales are the undoubted favourites. I always like to offer some betting tips though, so it is my view that Ireland could be the team to beat. They finally look as though they are over the dreadful 2007 World Cup campaign and as long as Ronan O’Gara and Brian O’Driscoll manage to stay fit, they could go on and win the whole thing. Both England and France are required to travel to Croke Park as well, so a lot will depend on these fixtures.

As for England, well it may sound like a cliché, but they really do need to take one game at a time, starting with Italy on 7th February.

Bring it on!

By Thomas Rooney – A sports writer who blogs about rugby betting

Martin will be keeping his options open