France are my favourites for the Autumn Nations Cup, a Six Nations with extra spice

I’m a glass-half-full person, so I can’t help but be excited that the Autumn Nations Cup is happening. 

Given everything, fans and players just have to be grateful we’ve got some international rugby with silverware to play for. 

OK, we haven’t got New Zealand, South Africa or Australia coming over as usual. 

But we to get to see Fiji, a side people love watching for their traditional flair and offloading game. 

And also Georgia, who people have been crying out for to be part of the Six Nations. 

Coupled with England, Wales, Ireland, Scotland, France and Italy, that’s exciting. It’s the Six Nations with extra spice.

England face dogfight with Georgia

It’s hard to not book England as favourites because they won the Six Nations. But going by their form, I think France are the team to beat. 

They are the most exciting team in the world at this moment, are developing, playing quality rugby and look a real threat across the park. I’m not looking at England thinking that. 

Writing England off is difficult because they’re traditionally the standout performers. But so far on what we’ve seen in terms of defensive and attacking prowess, France are No1.

It’s great that they’re in different groups and could meet in an Autumn Nations Cup grand finale.  

England face Georgia first, on Saturday, and will expect an upfront battle. What Georgia might lack in tactical nous behind the scrum they will have in spades in their front five. England will have to be rock solid in that area to create a platform to play from. 

I’m sure the Georgians will come out all guns blazing, and for 40 minutes it might be a dogfight. But I think England’s knowledge and tactical prowess will come to the fore and they’ll run away with it in the second half. 

Georgia have got into the shop window of playing with the big boys and are competitive people, so of course they’ll want to beat England. But I don’t think that will be their expectation. 

It’s a huge opportunity for them. They have nothing to lose. They aren’t part of the Six Nations going forward but they have a chance to show they belong at this level. 

In England’s group, it’ll be hard for them to make an impact. They could come away with a bit of a hiding, but if it were me I’d be targeting Wales. 

Coach Wayne Pivac is under pressure, people are on their back, and they’ll probably lose in Dublin in the tournament opener on Friday night. That’s the momentum Georgia want to see.

Autumn Nations Cup could be sign of things to come

We’ve just had the end of a fragmented Six Nations and, while it was brilliant that England won, it was a bit of a damp affair. 

The tournament stopped in March and started again in October and people had lost interest or forgotten where it was. 

Now you’ve got a Six Nations with Fiji and Georgia added into the mix. It’s going to be competitive, week after week, and build momentum going into Christmas. I think this is really exciting. 

If it works, why not expand the Six Nations to eight? The usual autumn internationals with New Zealand, Australia and South Africa are great, but they’re one-off games that don’t count for anything. 

If you put them into this framework it could be really positive. I know it’s happened out of necessity, but this tournament is a brilliant outcome. 

Former England Sevens captain Ollie Phillips is the founder of Optimist Performance, experts in leadership development & behavioural change. Follow Ollie on Twitter and on LinkedIn.