As the calendar ticks over into February and we celebrate the Chinese New Year, fans of the various rugby codes are preparing for the start of their new seasons over the coming weeks – starting this weekend with the first round of Europe’s Rugby Union Six Nations.
The tournament kicks off this Saturday with Wales hosting Italy before two huge clashes as France plays England and Ireland hosts Scotland. The Welsh have won the last two titles and should be far too good for the Italians here, but it will be interesting to see who prevails out of England and France with both considering themselves great chances of being crowned champions this year.
The Australian Open is over but the first round of the Davis Cup kicks off this weekend with the Unites States’ tie against Great Britain the pick of the match-ups. With America boasting the world number one doubles team of Mike and Bob Bryan, and the Brits having the luxury of Andy Murray in the singles, it looks like the result will come down to whether or not James Ward can win one of his two singles matches against the much higher ranked Americans John Isner and Sam Querrey.
Other interesting ties include France v Australia and the Czech Republic v the Netherlands, while China’s Asia/Oceania Group 1 clash with New Zealand was brought forward to this week with the Chinese going up 2-0 overnight and looking good to progress.
After an interesting round of EPL matches mid-week, the big clash of the weekend sees Chelsea travel to Manchester City in a mouth-watering top four clash. The Blues face a tough task stopping City at Etihad Stadium, with the home side having the opportunity to move into first place on the ladder should they score another win.
And the Super Bowl is here with Denver taking on Seattle on Monday morning our time. Look out for our Superbowl preview later this week as we examine all the ins and outs of this huge clash.
Good luck and good punting
