The 6 nations rugby teams in the UK should start preparing for a very tough month of rugby in the Autumn international rugby series.

With just a couple of short months between the start of the Northern Hemisphere season and the visit of Australia, New Zealand and South Africa the three powerhouses of world rugby. The Home Nations will find themselves woefully underprepared for what lies in store.

There have been rumblings in the press that Wales fancy their chances of a famous victory, it will not happen. Not only will it not happen Wales will be lucky to stay with 30 points of their opponents. Scotland and Ireland will do well to hold them to 50.

Make no mistake about it the super 14 was not reflective of the sheer intensity and pace of the Tri Nations. The European Cup may have provided a small bridge to the Test arena last season. This season it will not.

The Home Nations will struggle with the pace and see saw nature of the game, a rock solid defence will be needed. Ball retention crucial. not one of the 6 Nations teams has either in terms of the modern game under the ELVs.

The best noise that any of the Home Nations Test players and coaches can make for the next few months will be silence, there is no need to rile an opponent that is simply too good at present.

The European players will learn and learn quickly, the lessons from the Autumn series will be well learnt and applied in the 6 Nations. This however will not help them in the short term.

Be prepared, it will be ugly.

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