In our exclusive interview, the former Red Rose and Rugby World Cup winner also discusses the opening Six Nations match between Ireland and France, playing in the Calcutta Cup and builds his combined England and Ireland XV.
Former England international and Rugby World Cup winner Ben Kay believes France and England are the two favourites to win the Six Nations title, but also thinks England will be in contention to win the 2027 World Cup.
In a championship that is already making headlines for the number of injuries to key players, England are currently 9/4 in the rugby betting to win the Six Nations, behind France.
In our exclusive interview, Kay also discusses why Gregor Townsend’s Scotland team have the biggest point to prove, what his prediction is for the opening game between France and Ireland, and finally builds a combined England and Ireland XV.
How do you think Ireland are shaping up for the Six Nations, given the injuries they are dealing with?
I think it’s tough for Ireland because confidence wise you can see it starting to snowball a little bit. The fact that there are still some question marks over whether the glory years are behind them and how they’ve never really replaced Johnny Sexton.
You look at how they grew when everyone loved Ireland, they went from being the plucky Irish to dominating and being tremendous. Now it’s just started to dip. You find all the other little stories with the discipline, Bundee Aki and everyone saying, well actually, they do whinge at the ref quite a lot.
That becomes a story. So there’s pressure on Andy Farrell, probably for the first time. The one great thing about him is he is probably one of the best coaches at instilling confidence and getting rid of that noise around it. But it’s a really important championship for Ireland and their future aspirations around a World Cup. At the moment, they don’t look in as good a place as they were going into the last World Cup. And the first game in France on Thursday night will set the tone for everything. It can either allay a lot of those fears, or it’ll be back to the wall, catastrophic stuff. So it’s probably one of the biggest games in Andy Farrell’s tenure.
What are your thoughts on Bundee Aki’s suspension and how big a miss is he for Ireland?
He hasn’t always started, but he’s always been in and around there. But even when he hasn’t started, he’s had big games off the bench where he’s come on and done a job.
It’s a common theme for every team, but I can’t remember another beginning of the championship where there were so many injury stories. It seems like it’s the championship of squad depth, the ones that have the best depth, they’re going to be the ones that come out on top.
I know they’re not necessarily the same positions, but Ireland have got their set of injuries as well. If you take out the senior leadership, mainstay, totemic type of players through injury and then you’re taking another one out because of the disciplinary problems, it’s a big loss for them.
It’s not catastrophic, but just another bad news story. And at the moment, they’re desperate for some good news stories.
Which No. 10 gives Ireland the best chance in this tournament?
They’ve gone with [Sam] Prendergast, but I think the biggest thing they’ve actually missed with losing Sexton, which they haven’t replaced with anyone, is that Johnny Sexton bravery and fight. I guess it’s similar from an English perspective to the Owen Farrell personality.
Clearly, they’ve got a lot talented people that can throw miracle passes, but it’s whether they have got the fighter in there as well. When your pack’s going forward and everything’s great, it’s fine having someone that can throw the amazing passes and find a break. But it’s the person that can do it when the bullets are flying. When you’ve had 78 minutes with your backs against the wall, it’s someone who can stand right up in the face of the opposition and do it then. Some of that comes down to experience, but equally, the players around you as well.
Johnny Sexton was so integral to how Ireland played, but he also had a team that were performing around him. So it’s a little bit harsh on the other guys when you say they’re really missing Sexton because he got them playing well. But actually, it’s that combination of how they work together.
To me, no one’s nailed it down and it’s almost like Ireland are waiting for the next youngster to come through to see if they’ve got the same sort of ability.
They face France in the opening game of the tournament, what do you make of Ireland’s chances?
You’d make France favourites, obviously. But France are dealing with a few things themselves. Having played in Stade de France, if the expectation of the fans is high and it goes wrong, they turn on their team pretty quickly, so I think that’s what Andy Farrell will be saying. They have to use some of the problems that they’re facing against them.
The Uini Antonio story is huge. If I look back to us, if one of our players had to retire because of a heart problem, it would have a massive dent psychologically on the other players. Particularly as Alldritt, Penaud and Gael Fickou weren’t picked. So they’re all senior, leadership players and then suddenly another rock of the team is taken out.
I’m sure there are benefits of blooding some of the younger players and making sure they are part of the squad. But equally, there’ll be players that are used to having other people around who will say, well, Alldritt’s not here and now Antonio’s not here so will we have the strength that we’d usually have.
So there’s an opportunity for Ireland. It’s not a given by any means, but it’s going to be a tough night for them.
You went into the Stade de France in 2008 and earned England’s first win in France since 2000. How intimidating is that atmosphere and how do you silence the crowd?
A lot of it is whether you can stop them from playing. It’s like a momentum thing. When the big drums are going, it gets to you, and it can feel like something’s rolling against you when times are bad. But it’s whether you can stop the momentum and stop them playing, make them start forcing things.
When you’re playing, everything’s white noise really. But you get big moments, like if someone gets an interception, you’ll suddenly notice how noisy it is. But it’s so up and down with France because it’s so passionate. With every mistake, everyone throws their hands in the air. It’s just much more aggressive than some of the British stadiums.
So you’ve just got to try and harness that and force mistakes. Big tackles and turnovers are massive in a game because they’ll often start whistling the referee first and then if it’s still bad, they’ll start turning on their players.
I think it’s about being horrible to play against, but then when you have your opportunities, take them. You only really need two or three opportunities in a game and if you take those, it’s like the atmosphere falls off a cliff and goes from being really up with the drums beating to just whistling and noise. Then you know you’ve got them, so that’s what you’re chasing really.
Which team do you think is best placed to win the 2026 Six Nations? What separates them tactically or physically from the rest of the field?
I think France and England are probably the favourites. I think England are in as good a shape as they’ve been for a long time, with 11 wins on the bounce, so the confidence is there.
It’s not a given by any means, I think going up to Murrayfield will be really tough for England and obviously they have France on the last weekend. It’d be great if that was a Grand Slam decider. It would probably suit England better if it was a Grand Slam decider rather than all the pressure being on England if they’ve won all their games and Scotland if they’ve lost one.
But I think this is a sort of tournament of squad depth, and they’re probably the two teams with the biggest squad depth. So they’ll be able to cope with the players that are away better. I think England, if you look at all the stories coming out of the camp, they’ve very much changed and moved away from the old philosophy of play our chances down.
Instead, they’re saying we haven’t performed, coming second is not good enough. And I quite like that. Of course it’s going to be tough, but you’ve got to back yourself to go out and win. And certainly, there’s a lot of confidence within that squad at the moment.
I think I think it’s definitely down to France and England. If the game against France was at home, I’d say that England probably had the slight edge over it. But I could see bonus points coming into it as well. So you could see it not being a grand slam for anyone, but it being decided on who got the most bonus points.
Which team or a player has the biggest point to prove?
I think Scotland’s the team that has the most to prove. There’s big pressure on Gregor [Townsend] because Glasgow are playing so well and especially with their performances in the autumn, when they let the lead slip against Argentina.
I think there’s the most pressure on them to deliver, but they’ll be rubbing their hands at the second game. I think they’ll be slightly worried about the first game in Rome.
It’s a real shame that Italy have got a lot of injuries as well, but they still could do the job against Scotland. So the first two weeks for Scotland are massive. If they lose both of those, then it’s just going to be an absolute horror show for Gregor defending that and the team as well.
Player-wise, I think Prendergast needs to settle the debate. We shouldn’t be asking who any international team is going to pick as their 10. If everyone’s fit, you pretty much know who’s getting picked for all the teams in that position. So yeah, probably Prendergast has got the most to prove.
No one’s expecting him to be Johnny Sexton, but can he lead the team in his own way and settle that debate.
How do you feel the role of the modern lock has evolved since your playing days?
I would love to play in this era. The game has opened up much, much more. So there are more opportunities to get your hands on the ball, offload and play a little bit. There’s still the core role, the line out is massive for a team, and if you look at where the majority of tries come from, it starts with a line out.
It’s still an area that if it falls apart for a team, it destroys the whole performance. There’s obviously the defensive role in terms of putting those big shots in midfield, stopping the momentum of an attack is often down to those guys.
But I think it’s changed for everyone on the pitch. Rather than running players into brick walls, it’s the short passing game of the front five that’s changed dramatically, where you try and create one-on-one opportunities, which means you’ve got the most chance of making metres in contact.
It’s probably a little bit more structured about where you’re going to stand as well off first phase. You probably know that you go into the middle of the field and you’re working within that pod. There’s maybe a little bit less free reign as to where you can have an impact, but the amount of time that the ball’s kept in hand makes it much more exciting than back when we were playing.
Which current Six Nations players best represent that evolution?
Alex Coles playing for England this week. Him and Ollie Chessum are probably more like my style of player, as opposed to a Martin Johnson style player. Alex Coles has a has a huge number of moments in a game where he gets to make those decisions. Whether he carries it himself, whether he shows a bit of footwork, or whether he offloads out the contact. I think that’s probably the guy that embodies it most at the moment from an England perspective.
What do you think of Steve Borthwick’s call to keep Maro Itoje on the bench?
I think it’s 100% the right decision. It’s a really good decision to make. Obviously, Wales aren’t the side they would want to be at the moment.
But I lost my father while I was playing and it does have a huge toll, dealing with grief while you’re trying to play. Particularly for Maro, around test week for an international captain, you’ve got so many duties and all the press conferences to do. Just take that all away from him. Let him stay part of the squad. If he needs to, let him just walk off the training pitch and go back to his room and deal with it. I’m sure he won’t, but the pressure’s just all been removed from him.
Then he can sit there in a slightly more relaxed vein, watching the game and then come on to make a massive impact so he can do his mum proud. So I think it’s absolutely the right decision.
We shouldn’t really be talking about the benefits of doing that, because it’s such sad circumstances, but Alex Coles gets his opportunity and a bit of game time. You can test the leadership elsewhere, but that’s not the reason for doing it. It’s Borthwick doing the right thing by one of his key cogs and someone who’s very important to him who is going through a tough time.
Are there any emerging leaders in this England squad who you think could define the tournament, particularly in the high-pressure away fixtures?
I think that’s important. One of the challenges with picking George Ford there is that he’s such a good leader and such an on-field coach, that you also need other people. You can’t just have one guy on the pitch doing it. So I think that is important, and the number of leaders on the field is probably an area when England weren’t performing that well that we felt probably needed to improve a little bit.
You go back to my era and there were a huge number of leaders that took responsibility for game plans and everything else. And it felt like we had ownership of it. So I think England have worked really hard to sort of improve the number of leaders on the field. But there’s always going to be some dominant voices. And even when Farrell and Ford first broke onto the scene, they were probably the key leaders, even at a young age.
So it’s an opportunity now for England to bring some of the youngsters that are coming into the team through as proper leaders within the team. But I also think sometimes when you use the word leader, you feel like it’s the same set of skills and traits for everyone, but it’s not. You can have the quiet leaders that lead by their performance – a Richard Hill type in my era. And it’s getting that nice balance within a squad.
One of the biggest problems that England coaches face is that they have to be good selectors because there’s always us in the media asking why is he not picking this guy? But you also need that balance of skills. You’re not just picking the 15 most exciting players. You’re picking people that play best together, but you also need to develop those relationships and the pecking orders of leadership.
If you’re constantly chopping and changing because the next new thing’s coming, it’s very difficult to do that. There must almost be a path of what people’s psychology is when they first get picked in the team and they’re young, and then 10 games in, they might start to find their voice a little bit and become a bit more of a leader within the squad. So it’s just harnessing that and making sure that you’re picking the best players, but also the best players based on how they interact with each other.
I think this far out from a World Cup, you’re probably wanting to have in your mind what your starting team is going to be. You might make one or two changes before then. But you want to just let them settle together, and it’s why I say it’s so important with England to be a good selector, as there is the number of players. Whereas sometimes I felt with the great Wales teams or the great Irish teams, they barely changed because there weren’t that many other options to bring in instead of them.
If someone had a quiet game, they’d be allowed to play through that form. But the benefit of having those strong bonds within the team meant they were much, much stronger when they got to key tournaments.
Do you think England are strong enough to go head-to-head with the likes of the Springboks?
England will be in contention for the World Cup. Not to say they’ll be favourites, but they’ll be in contention for the World Cup. The next group of young players coming through, I know the RFU are really, really excited about as well. The age profile of this team means that the majority of them will still be available at the next World Cup.
I think the one psychological area that South Africa would have on England is still around the physicality and whether England can play the game that they want to play. So I think that’s the area that England over the next couple of years need to enforce. They’ve got a certain style of play which they’re developing as their own style, totally different to what my England team were about. That’s great, but they need a couple of examples where in their own mind, psychologically, they can go toe to toe with South Africa.
Whether it’s a big forwards battle or whatever. They have the ability to develop that, but they’re not quite there yet. But hopefully within the next two years they will be.
England haven’t extended Borthwick’s contract past 2027 – have they learned from the mistakes they made with Stuart Lancaster and Eddie Jones?
That would be the sole reason. It’s not to say that it wouldn’t be, but you don’t know what Steve Borthwick wants to do. He might say I’m done with international rugby, I’d like to now go to a club.
I think there’s a few coaches in that bracket, maybe Gregor Townsend and that Newcastle link-up. Potentially Andy Farrell might be looking with interest at Mark McCall stepping down from Saracens.
Those conversations will be had behind closed doors. I’m sure Borthwick and the RFU know more about how far along they are with what the relative plans are. I don’t think they need to make that call yet. He’s got two years left on the contract. Most players only sign for two years at a club. So, I don’t think there’s a desperation to get that sorted out.
Scotland have won four out of the last five matches against England – how much do you think rides on the Calcutta Cup game?
A lot, because it’s like a springboard for the tournament. It would be a massive statement if they went and performed brilliantly and blew them away because everyone will be expecting there to be a psychological hang-up, with whether Scotland have England’s number.
With the majority of those wins for Scotland, they would have been underdogs. I think England weren’t in a great place to deal with being the top team and being sniped at.
But I think they’ll genuinely be really excited about going up there and saying, we haven’t performed well enough against Scotland so let’s lay down a marker here. A little bit like the change in philosophy around their chat in press conferences where they say they’re going for a grand slam. They’ve finished second, but that’s not good enough. That change in mindset feeds into taking on the challenge of taking on Scotland. There’s been a mindset shift from England.
I think England will be relishing that challenge. Although England has to go to France on the final weekend, the way the fixtures pan out for them is really nice. They’ve got Wales, which lets them get up and running. Then a challenge of going up to Scotland, which could really kick them on nicely. Ireland at home off the back of that Scotland game and then a build up to that France away.
As a run of fixtures with it being France away and Scotland away, they come at quite a nice time. You’d maybe worry a bit more about England’s first game if they were going up to Murrayfield.
What is it like to play in a Calcutta Cup game at Murrayfield? Can you give some insight into the rivalry how it feels to be involved in that matchup?
It’s the same with Wales. We all know what people think of England and it’s not all down to us. It’s history and everything else, but it’s great. You want to play in hostile atmospheres.
The drive into Murrayfield is pretty good. A lot of people waving at you with not all their fingers showing. So it was always great. You’re driving through on a bus with a big red rose on the side and it all starts on the bus journey.
The atmosphere is great. Obviously, Flower of Scotland means a bit more against England than it does against all the other teams. But if you’re playing in a confident side, there’s nothing better than going into a hostile atmosphere. If you’ve got any cracks in your psychology, it’s a killer.
What’s one word you would use to describe each nation going into the tournament?
England: Buoyant
France: Unknown
Scotland: Under-pressure
Ireland: Slipping
Wales : Broken
Italy: Exciting
What would be your perfect Six Nations player, using one from each nation?
Flair: Ange Capuozzo (Italy)
Strength: Emmanuel Meafou (France)
Ball Carrying: Sione Tuipulotu (Scotland)
Tackling: Sam Underhill (England)
Game Control: Jamison Gibson-Park (Ireland)
Leadership: Dewi Lake (Wales)
What would be your combined England and Ireland XI?
15. Hugo Keenan
14. Immanuel Feyi-Waboso
13. Tommy Freeman
12. Bundee Aki
11. James Lowe
10. George Ford
9. Jamison Gibson-Park
1. Ellis Genge
2. Dan Sheehan
3. Tadhg Furlong
4. Maro Itoje
5. Tadhg Beirne
6. Tom Curry
7. Ben Earl
8. Caelan Doris
