SIR CLIVE WOODWARD: If England want to win the Six Nations they MUST explode out of the blocks

This is going to be a fascinating Six Nations that will, with its empty stadiums, test our notions of the ‘vital’ importance of home advantage.

But there is one old adage of which I am certain and that is: you usually need a fast start to win the Championship.

You need to win your first game. Explode out of the blocks. Let the opposition do all the chasing, worrying, regrouping and panicking. Life becomes much simpler if you can do that, win well and move on to the next match with no issues.

England traditionally start very well. They have won 17 of their 21 opening-day encounters in the Six Nations but it’s been a huge issue for Scotland with just three wins in the first round.

I sense a real mental battleground here.

For England, many point out that the Saracens quartet of Jamie George, Maro Itoje, Owen Farrell and Elliot Daly have been without a competitive game for two months since the Autumn Nations Cup final against France. Billy Vunipola has also played just one friendly game, a defeat at Ealing Trailfinders.

Could this be an issue? Absolutely not would be my answer. These are professional rugby players at the peak of their powers. Getting their conditioning and preparation right is a huge part of their job — and the expert sports scientists in the background.

The Saracens players knew this interruption to their season was going to happen and will have adjusted their training accordingly. They can replicate the physical demands of an 80-minute match with programmes set out by the conditioners and I would be amazed if there hasn’t been some full-on ‘match’ sessions within the England group because there will be others very short on rugby after the two-week circuit-breaker and various injuries.

So England must start fast and then they must keep going because the easiest way for very good teams to beat good teams is by making the speed of ball and possession so quick that the opposition can’t live with it.

I am not talking about frantic, headless rugby. Execute the basics at lightning speed and with positive intent.

That can, of course, include intelligent kick passes and kick-to-retrieve tactics as well as clearance and tactical kicking when required. What it does not include is mindless box kicking and pointless aerial ping-pong between the respective back threes.

I can’t think of any side in history that has become the best team in the world by deliberately slowing down the ball when in possession or voluntarily giving up the ball with box kicks. There is no doubt you can still play very controlled rugby at a high tempo.

I want to see more from England in attack and in that respect I wish temporary attack coach Ed Robinson well. His dad Andy served me brilliantly and I am sure Ed will continue that family tradition.

As for the home advantage? We might be entering new territory here.

It will be interesting to experience the atmosphere of an empty ground for myself. 

I am lucky enough to be pitchside this evening with ITV and when the anthems play I want to try to put myself in the players’ boots and imagine how I would be feeling.

We should all salute the players — club and country — for the incredible intensity they have brought to their games during lockdown.

At home we have the piped crowd noises but on the pitch they have only their own voices and those of the back-up staff on the touchline.

My normal take on home advantage is that with very few exceptions the real ‘advantage’ of home games is that referees give you the vast majority of the 50-50 calls. They just do. Not deliberately or incompetently but because human nature dictates that is what happens when you are being so closely scrutinised by a home crowd.

With the crowd now taken out of the equation, visiting sides might experience more joy with the 50-50 calls and Test rugby is so tight these days that is often the difference between winning and losing.

This could be a pretty special match to mark the 150th anniversary of rugby’s oldest international. England must hit the ground running because that is how you win Championships and Grand Slams and Scotland must match them because that is when they play at their very best.

The return of Finn Russell — to the ground where he inspired the remarkable comeback two years ago in that 38-38 draw — will galvanise Scotland, who have a dangerous back division.

Stuart Hogg is a rejuvenated figure since he went to Exeter, Cameron Redpath is starting out on what could be an exciting Test career and there is the consistency and class of Sean Maitland, Chris Harris and Duhan van der Merwe. That is a back division that can cause damage if England don’t get on top and close them down.

There is a Lions sub-plot as well. If the Scotland players want to convince Warren Gatland they are made of the right stuff I would suggest a storming performance against England at Twickenham on Saturday evening would be a very good start.

But it’s still England for me. They have become streetwise, they are edgy and confrontational up front and although they have not reached the heights since that World Cup semi-final win against New Zealand in Japan, they remain a very accomplished battle-hardened team.

Will they take their game up to another level though? That’s what the rugby world is waiting to see.

Wales v Ireland

I commend Wales coach Wayne Pivac for his strong action in immediately banning Josh Adams for breaking Covid protocols in midweek. Sport cannot be different to mainstream life in this respect. Everybody must obey the laws and regulations at all times for us to beat the virus.

Sport is funny and perverse and I wonder if this awkward situation he had to confront might not turn out to be a key moment for Pivac who has been struggling in his first year or so.

He has been decisive and strong which will have been noted by the players and Louis Rees-Zammit is not exactly the worst replacement to call in. It would be absolutely in keeping with the best traditions of the comic-book sporting hero for the Gloucester man to have a stormer and make a name for himself internationally.

I’m tipping Wales. For all the doom and gloom over the Severn, they still have the talent, the big names and the class. They have somehow contrived to find ways of not showing that recently and in that respect we should never underestimate how tricky it was always going to be after the Gatland/Edwards double act.

But it’s time for personal and national pride to kick in and if Wales perform as I expect them to, Ireland are going to be hard pressed to leave Cardiff on Sunday with anything.

Italy v France

I have often said that promotion and relegation from the Six Nations would be the best thing for Italian rugby.

What has been lacking is the hunger and desperation for a win that would come automatically if the prospect of relegation hung over them. 

France will win but Italy owe the tournament a diehard performance — even a string of such performances.

Italy must dig deep on Saturday afternoon and perform as if they are playing for their lives to avoid relegation. If they do that, they will at least start contributing to the Six Nations spectacle again.