"Aim for a Grand Slam" - Ollie Chessum looks ahead to Six Nations opener - Ruck
England Rugby News Six Nations 2026

“Aim for a Grand Slam” – Ollie Chessum looks ahead to Six Nations opener

4 February 2026
Charlie Elliott

Ollie Chessum heads into the 2026 Six Nations at a fascinating juncture, both in his own career and in England’s evolving journey under Steve Borthwick. For the first real time in the current regime, England are more than hopeful participants; they are genuine title contenders.

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Chessum has confirmed that ambitions extend as far as a Grand Slam, while acknowledging the scale of the challenge and the hard work required to turn aspiration into achievement.

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England last lifted the Six Nations trophy in 2020, but they arrive into this campaign on an imposing 11-game winning run. With a young core that has now accumulated meaningful Test experience, the sense is that Borthwick’s side is ready to convert progress into silverware. Competition for places has intensified across the squad, performances have become increasingly clinical, and confidence is visibly growing.

New faces such as back rowers Henry Pollock and Guy Pepper have forced their way into the matchday squad, while Henry Arundell and Immanuel Feyi-Waboso provide genuine threat out wide. England’s evolution has also captured public imagination, with Borthwick assembling a united, likeable group capable of generating support in a way reminiscent of the Red Roses’ recent success.

For Chessum personally, the past year has been transformative. After making his first England start in over 12 months during the 2025 Six Nations against Scotland, he went on to earn selection for the British & Irish Lions tour of Australia. Featuring in all three Tests, including a starting role in Melbourne as the Lions sealed the series, the Leicester lock returned home with invaluable experience. That leadership trajectory was reinforced in September 2025, when Leicester Tigers named him club captain for the 2025–26 season.

Attention now turns firmly to Saturday’s Six Nations opener against Wales at Allianz Stadium, a fixture Chessum relishes.

“Excitement is probably the word, I caught up with Byron McGuigan and he was like, ‘how are you, excited for Test week’ and I was like ‘too right we are’. It is the Six Nations, first game at home, it’s Wales, it’s a big one. When you look at the home nations derbies for me, anyway, it is Wales and Scotland are the two I really pick out.”

The fixture carries added personal interest.

“I have got unofficial Welsh in-laws, so it will be a good one this week. I am not married, they are not unofficially Welsh. They are from North Wales, a lot of the Welsh will argue that is not really Wales, I would argue it is.”

England v Wales is more often than not a tight, bruising affair, with last season’s emphatic English victory in Cardiff standing out as a rare anomaly. Chessum is well aware of how fine the margins usually are between the two sides, particularly after England edged a tense 16–14 win in 2024.

That narrow contest contrasted sharply with England’s most recent trip to the Principality Stadium, where they delivered a ruthless performance to close out the 2025 Guinness Men’s Six Nations in second place. England ran in 10 tries in a commanding 68–14 victory,

“It just has a bit of an edge to it, last year probably wasn’t the result anyone expected, it is always a result you hope for but the nature of these fixtures is they are usually incredibly close encounters, I think the last time we played them at Twickenham there was two points in it. We are expecting a very hard fought, close encounter this weekend.”

Despite external hype around England’s chances, Chessum insists the squad’s focus remains internal and process-driven.

“I think the group are well aware that there’s a lot of noise going on outside and there’s no hiding the fact that we’ve done well as a group over this last 12 months

“I would be lying to you if I said that our aspirations aren’t to go and win a Six Nations or aim for Grand Slam, of course that is but you’ve got to get there first, you’ve got to earn the right to be in that position and we’ve got to win this weekend against Wales and then the same process the following week, the week after, the week after.

“We’d be naive and stupid to start talking about a game in Paris in five or six weeks time, whatever it is. We’re fully focused on, game by game, step by step and the first step on this campaign is Wales this weekend.”

That grounded mindset also extends to outside praise.

“I’m sure if you ask most of the lads, would they rather the noise outside be positive or negative? I’m pretty sure they’d rather be positive but when you’re going good, everyone wants to think that you’re great and when you’re going not-so-good everyone says you’re the worst team in the world.

“I’m sure, like myself, most of the lads, if not all, have to take everything that’s said with a pinch of salt. It means nothing, the real experts are the people in the room, the coaches, the players, they know what the expectations are, they know how all these games are going to be regardless of what people outside have got to say.”

For Chessum, the key to getting over the line lies in clarity of identity.

“I suppose, just making sure we do everything our way. Steve speaks a lot about the England way, he spoke quite well the other day about how everyone likes to think that other teams just don’t turn up against England and that’s why the results that have happened over the last 12 months have happened the way they have, because New Zealand didn’t turn up at Twickenham.

“Steve was like, ‘actually we imposed the England game plan on those teams and that’s why they struggled to impose theirs.’ So, I think that’s been the main message, just doing things the England way.”

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