Woodward in a different Europe

Sir Clive Woodward - it seems like only yesterday that he was enjoying a pint of Brakspear at Henley, where he was the part-time coach earning small-beer money - has been wined and dined, fêted and honoured in a manner befitting a knight of the realm. Fresh from the International Rugby Board's state-of-the- game conference in Auckland, the Red Rose coach returns to his bread-and-butter role next week when he announces a preliminary squad. Another long year and another hatstand to accommodate a delivery of new caps.

With the World Cup in one hand and the RBS Six Nations trophy in the other, Woodward, in several respects, has his hands full. England's finest have their usual rooms booked at the Pennyhill Park Hotel in Bagshot for the new challenge. This time, though, things will be very different.

For a start there will be a rather large space around Woodward's breakfast table. Martin Johnson's retirement will not only deprive England of the most ruthless and successful captain in history but one of their best forwards. Australia weren't quite the same without John Eales.

Lawrence Dallaglio, if he hasn't gorged himself on pure beef burgers, would appear to be the front runner, particularly as two of the other candidates, Jonny Wilkinson and Matt Dawson, have been out of circulation since returning from Australia. Finding a replacement lock is less difficult.

England can afford the odd experiment or two when they open their defence of the Six Nations against Italy in Rome on 15 February, but the latest prognosis on Wilkinson's shoulder (in Australia they have been wondering why this didn't happen months ago) is not good - he is now unlikely to be fit in time for Newcastle's match against Gloucester on 7 February.

Without him, Newcastle made an early exit from the Parker Pen Challenge Cup. Charlie Hodgson, his ready- made replacement, is not at all ready, suffering cartilage damage to a knee that had already been operated on to repair torn ligaments. He misses Sale's Heineken Cup match against Biarritz today as Europe's premier club competition staggers towards the completion of the penultimate round.

With the pool matches being staggered from Fridays to Sundays and with a bewildering array of kick-off times, it is little wonder that the Heineken, thus far, has fallen a little flat. Few teams have shown any degree of consistency, and when front-line players are injured the first instinct of most of the clubs is to recruit from abroad.

Patience is the first thing that has to be learnt by the majority of players who have been hand-picked for the academies. It looks like a long apprenticeship.

England: Test of their reserves

More than most they are still suffering from a World Cup hangover. Nine squad members have been injured at one time or another, although Bath report that Mike Catt could return for the top-of-the-table Zurich Premiership match against Wasps on 7 February - eight days before the Six Nations cappuccino in Rome. If Italy had such a casualty list they'd struggle to field a team but England have such strength in depth that their second XV looks almost as good as their first. A crisis at No 10? Wilkinson and Hodgson aside, they've still got Paul Grayson, Alex King and Olly Barkley, who is coming of age at Bath this season. England visit New Zealand and Australia in June and last week Sir Clive promised there would be no prospect of a repeat of the 1998 "Tour of Hell". His job is to find the right balance between this season's Six Nations and next year's Lions tour of New Zealand.

France: Not quite so Fabien

The fixture list has been stage-managed so the French and the English bring the curtain down on the Six Nations at the ludicrous time of 9pm in Paris on 27 March. This has already been identified as the dénouement of the championship, an insult that will not be lost on the others. France have problems of their own. Their captain Fabien Galthié has retired - he's working on his country's bid for the 2012 Olympics - and the new leader Fabien Pelous (right) has a knee injury. Bernard Laporte, given a new four-year contract as coach, said his players were less well prepared by their clubs for the World Cup than the English. "We train twice a day, what more does he want?" responded Guy Noves, the Toulouse coach. "It is strange Laporte defends a player who goes to bed at 6am and has tested positive for cocaine and ecstasy." Noves was referring to the prop Pieter de Villiers.

Ireland: In the shadow of Wood

Like Clive Woodward, Eddie O'Sullivan has to find a captain, in this case to replace a player he described as irreplaceable, the hooker Keith Wood. Brian O'Driscoll, outstanding in the World Cup, had been groomed, but has a hamstring injury. With Geordan Murphy finding his feet after a broken leg and Denis Hickie recovering from a ruptured Achilles tendon, Ireland will be without their game breakers, at least for the start of the Six Nations. And what a start, against France in Paris on St Valentine's Day. However, whereas the French have a gargantuan problem in the second row (apart from injury to Pelous, his partner Jerome Thion is out for the season), this is one position where Ireland are spoilt for choice although Malcolm O'Kelly has started the season with a minus mark. He missed a training session at Ireland's warm-weather fitness camp in Lanzarote last month.

Italy: Kirwan's great leap forwards

Shabbily treated in the World Cup where they were required to play four games in 14 days. They beat Tonga and Canada but were denied a quarter-final place by the Welsh. In four Six Nations campaigns, the Azzurri have won just two games, beating Scotland on their debut and, last season, Wales in Rome. "I'm very proud of the courage we showed at the World Cup," said their New Zealand coach John Kirwan, "but we need to improve again to complete our game." Treviso gave Italy a boost by beating Bourgoin in the Heineken Cup. In addition to the Bergamasco and Dallan brothers, Italy unveiled some players in Australia, like inside centre Andrea Masi, the brilliant 20-year-old back-row prospect Sergio Parisse and the stand-off Rima Wakarua. Many were surprised he kept Leicester's Ramiro Pez out of the World Cup squad, but he looked a worthy successor to Diego Dominguez.

Scotland: The Australian vision

Matt Williams, an Australian out of Leinster, makes his Six Nations debut as the successor to Ian McGeechan, who takes on the role of director of rugby, whatever that means. Williams has already made the soundest move by employing the New Zealander Todd Blackadder as his No 2. Blackadder has been responsible for turning Edinburgh into a force in Europe. Allister Hogg, considered a brilliant prospect at 21, is expected to feature and although the kilted Kiwis have become unfashionable, the Scots have latched on to Simon Cross, born in Mauritius, and Scott Gray, from Australia. Gray plays for Bath - not part of Williams's plan for Fortress Scotland. "If we can bring the best players north it would have an impact on the youngsters," Williams said. The pack look secure, the back-line less so with the retirements of Bryan Redpath and Gregor Townsend.

Wales: Search for lost momentum

Nobody can be quite sure which Wales will turn up for 2004 - the side who crashed to a whitewash last season or the new model who scored seven tries against the All Blacks and England in the World Cup. All will be revealed when they play Scotland in Cardiff on 14 February. Post Australia, where they played it off the cuff and worried the life out of the world champions, little has gone to plan in the Principality, beginning with the decision of the captain Colin Charvis to play second division rugby in France. He might argue that it is better than first division rugby in Wales. Of the five new regions, only Llanelli are fronting up. Cardiff and the Neath-Swansea Ospreys are consistent in that they can be relied upon to fail. Whether or not Cardiff would merge with the Celtic Warriors and the choice of the coach to succeed Steve Hansen have been added distractions.