Another Six Nations campaign dawns with Europe’s best and brightest vying for supremacy in the annual championship.
France defend a title won narrowly last year, and welcome Ireland and England to Paris in potentially pivotal opening and closing fixtures to the tournament.
Scotland, meanwhile, will hope to rebound from a difficult November to finally mount a challenge, while Wales will hope to banish off-field turmoil and secure a first competition win in two years. And what threat might an improving Italy pose?
With the schedule slightly condensed due to the removal of one fallow week, squad management and injury fortune might be all the more important.
Here are five new faces, and one old one, to look out for over the next couple of months.
Edwin Edogbo, Ireland
Edwin’s first day in camp. pic.twitter.com/QrEi0i5GFA
— Irish Rugby (@IrishRugby) January 26, 2026
As they attempt to both rebuild and compete, Ireland have a need to regenerate their squad and develop a few athletes with high-end potential. The arrival of Munster lock Edwin Edogbo into the international arena could be timely, then, with the sizeable second row providing a possible alternative to Joe McCarthy as a heavyweight option.
Edogbo has been unfortunate with injury over the last couple of seasons but could well be fast-tracked by Andy Farrell after the omission of Iain Henderson from the Irish squad. Younger brother Sean is one to watch, too, in the coming years, generally playing a row further back than his elder sibling.
Harry Latham-Coyle
Vilikesa Sela, England
The man affectionately known as “Billy” may turn out to be the biggest beneficiary of England’s growing prop crisis. The tighthead stocks have been ravaged, with both Will Stuart and Asher Opoku-Fordjour out injured, leaving Joe Heyes, who starts against Wales, as the last man standing on that side of the scrum.
Although he didn’t make the 23 for the opening clash at Allianz Stadium, Sela has a legitimate chance to be Heyes’s back-up by the tournament’s end. The 20-year-old is inexperienced and struggles for consistent game-time at Bath, given the quality of props in front of him, but his athleticism is raved about by those who watch him train, and he seems to have leapfrogged Gloucester youngster Afolabi Fasogbon in the England pecking order.
The 33-year-old Trevor Davison – who is known to have impressed England coaches in the past with his scrum prowess in training – is on the bench against Wales, but he has nothing like the long-term upside of Sela, who may get a shot as the championship progresses and could be a key contributor as England chase a first title since 2020.
Luke Baker
Freddy Douglas, Scotland
The competition for back-row places is fierce in the Scottish squad, but do not rule out Freddy Douglas from playing a real role in this campaign. Only 20, the Edinburgh flanker made his debut against Portugal late in 2024 but has really broken through in the United Rugby Championship this season, establishing himself as one of Europe’s most active and effective jackallers.
While he has work to do in other parts of his game, as one would expect of a player of such youth, his ability over the ball is highly valuable and could dovetail well with Rory Darge et al.
HLC
David Odiase, Italy
Electric teenage winger Edoardo Todaro, who has so impressed at Northampton Saints this season, was all set to fill this spot for Italy before cruelly tearing his cruciate ligament at training camp just days before the start of the tournament. He now faces a lengthy recovery, so we’ll turn our attention instead to intriguing back-row prospect David Odiase.
The Azzurri face a bit of a back-row conundrum with Sebastian Negri and Ross Vintcent both out injured, leaving bench and potentially starting spots to be filled by at least one of Odiase, Alessandro Izekor or Riccardo Favretto – better known as a lock but who has been playing some blindside flanker for Benetton. Former Italy Under-20s captain Odiase has been impressing for Zebre since his move from French side Oyonnax last summer.
The powerful 23-year-old went mildly viral when delivering an impassioned speech to his teammates at the 2023 World Rugby U20 Championship, and those leadership skills, along with his tireless defensive work rate, are a big part of the appeal of him as a player. Having made his Italy debut in South Africa over the summer, he could have a role to play for Gonzalo Quesada’s men this spring.
LB
Kalvin Gourgues, France
The latest top talent from Toulouse, Kalvin Gourgues made an eye-catching start to his Test career with a fine try against Australia in November. Comfortable at full-back and fly-half, he has shown a capacity to play either centre spot and offers a versatility that will be valuable if Fabien Galthie continues to load up his bench with forwards.
The Bordeaux Begles connection between Yoram Moefana and Nicolas Depoortere might earn them first crack in the centres at the start of the tournament, perhaps leaving Gourgues to take up a bench impact role to which he feels well suited with his blend of playmaking nous and carrying threat.
HLC
Tomas Francis, Wales
While every other selection in this piece is a young and/or inexperienced player hoping to make their mark in international rugby, we’ve taken the exact opposite approach with Wales. Given the problems faced by the Welsh Rugby Union at every level, their Six Nations squad is unsurprisingly stacked full of rookies, making someone like Francis a much-welcome outlier.
The 33-year-old prop hasn’t played for Wales since the 2023 World Cup quarter-final loss to Argentina, having moved to France to join second-tier side Provence and opting to spend time with his family out there rather than traipsing back across the Channel for international duty. But he is heading back to the UK from the start of next season to play for Gallagher Prem side Sale Sharks and has made himself available to Steve Tandy for this Six Nations.
That will be a huge boost to Wales, who could sorely use Francis’s 77 caps of international experience and scrummaging prowess on the tighthead side. For a young side who have largely experienced nothing but defeat, a returning star from the 2019 and 2021 Six Nations-winning campaigns will be a godsend.
LB
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