Dawson's team-by-team guide

England scrum-half and BBC Sport Online columnist Matt Dawson profiles the Six Nations Championship sides.

England

We're probably regarded as favourites or joint favourites, but the Six Nations is a tough tournament.

All the other sides are capable of producing a big performance on the day, and no-one should be under-estimated.

Our preparations have gone really well, and we are looking forward to the first game against Wales.

The coaching staff have made us aware of a lot of things that normally might take two or three games to sink in.

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Wales

England's first opponents will provide a stern test, and it will be the first time we've experienced the initimidating atmosphere of their Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.

Whereas a lot of international stadiums are set back, the Cardiff crowd are right on top of you and that will be a huge factor in their home games.

There's no question that Wales on their day can beat anyone.

I would like to think the same of England, and it depends on who's totally focused.

Wales had a good autumn and played very well against the Springboks

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Scotland

McGeechan has been developing Scottish talent

Scotland had a couple of games they won easily in the autumn, and a big game against Australia where they played really well for 50 minutes.

They will look to build on that.

Coach Ian McGeechan has been developing the team, which culminated in the win against England.

They will be very well drilled and of course at Murrayfield, they will be a very difficult team to beat as we found out last season.

Scotland will certainly want to improve on their one win in 2000.

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France

The French had a good autumn campaign against New Zealand.

Their players in the Premiership have been doing well, and the French clubs have done well in Europe.

It seems they are on the way back from a disappointing couple of years.

They will look to sort out their home form, which has deserted them in recent times, and turn it into an intimidating arena.

France have some real class and pace. They've had the players, but haven't quite gelled, and could be a huge threat.

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Ireland

Wood believes Ireland can win three or four games

Ireland finished very, very strongly last time.

Having spoken to skipper Keith Wood and heard him in interviews, they are looking for three or four wins, which is a big target for anybody.

I think Ireland are capable of it. They are very difficult to turn over at Lansdowne Road, where there is a traditional atmosphere.

Ireland have also improved away from home, and shown they can go to places and win.

They could be a sneaky bet with the bookies to win more games.

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Italy

People are still expecting Italy to be the whipping boys, but those in the tournament realise how hard it is to play them.

We went to their stadium last year, which is a great little venue that can hold 25-30,000.

And they were outstanding for probably 30-40 minutes, and will be looking to develop from their pre-Christmas games.

It was certainly no surprise they beat Scotland, and I wouldn't mind putting some money on them turning somebody over this time.

They've fitted in superbly to the whole Six Nations ethos, and brought a new dimension to the competition.