10 players who could make their international debuts in the 2019 Six Nations
Top 10s/ListsThursday, 17 January 2019 at 19:35
We’re less than two weeks away from the first fixture of this years Six Nations, as France take their turn at hosting Friday night rugby under the lights of the Stade de France against a Welsh side looking to back up their status as the third best team in the world.
Eager to avenge their 99th-minute defeat in Paris two years ago, Warren Gatland will be looking to his new heroes of Welsh rugby to get the job done against Jacque Brunel’s resurgent side.
Both teams bring a wealth of experience, with names like Matthieu Basteraud, Dan Biggar, Camille Lopez, and Ken Owens all looking set to run out on February 1.
But sometimes it’s not just those who’ve performed on this stage before that bring the magic touch needed to lift the silverware. Here are my ten picks for uncapped players that could debut in rugby’s greatest tournament.
1 - Romain Ntamack (France)
Following in father Emile’s footsteps, Romain earns a call up to the French side after an outstanding display in his side’s U20’s World Cup win. The young Frenchman pulled the strings at fly-half in a stunning final against England, but is now looking to do just the same in a senior side that continues it’s journey back to the top of northern hemisphere rugby. Ntamack’s challenge isn’t exactly an easy one, with Lopez looking set to hold onto the number ten shirt for the majority of the tournament, and Anthony Belleau standing in his way as a deputy to Lopez, but after last years calamitous showing at fly-half, it could be Ntamack’s time to shine very soon.
2 - Jack Carty (Ireland)
Ireland fans will be facing the inevitable announcement that Johnny Sexton is retiring, and the replacements are lining up nicely, with Joey Carberry showing his worth at ten. But step up Connacht’s Carty, a third contender to the throne who looks to contend with Carberry for a chance to shine at fly-half. His chances might seem slim, but as Connacht’s influence builds in the team, so do the hopes of a debut for the 26 year old, especially now that Ross Byrne has surprisingly been omitted from the squad.
3 - Jake Kerr (Scotland)
Scotland has a bit of an issue with hookers, as usual suspects Fraser Brown and George Turner are both ruled out through injury. Leaving Townsend with no choice, he looked south to Kerr of Leicester Tigers, and by the looks of things, he’s not done too badly. Sure he’s depleted Edinburgh and Glasgow further by enlisting Dave Cherry and Grant Stewart respectively, because you’d be mad to give the Six Nations ago without a healthy choice of front row options, but with only one experienced player in the number 2 jersey, someone is going to have to step up, and my bet goes to Kerr.
4 - Ben Earl (England)
England need to consider having an experimental phase sooner rather than later. One that replicates the likes of their British and Irish counterparts wouldn’t hurt, and one name that should be right at the top of their list is the Saracen Ben Earl. The back row is a sticking point for England at the moment, but Earl has been outstanding and has been showing enough potential to earn himself a crisp white jersey. If England want to bolster their pack for more for the trickier encounters, and savour Brad Shields or Sam Underhill and others, then Earl would be a fantastic name to start off with in the pack.
5 - Paul Willemse (France)
Ntamack isn’t the only player looking to break into the French side this February, but he’s not the first bit of southern hemisphere talent to belt out La Marseillaise. South African born lock Willemse has blossomed brightly under ex-Scotland boss Vern Cotter at Montpellier, enough so to catch the attention of Brunel and go toe-to-toe with the Clermont pairing of Arthur Iturria and Sèbastian Vahaamahina for a place in the forward pack. If you thought Ntamack would have a contest for game time, Willemse has more than a mountain to climb for his.
6 - Tom Farrell (Ireland)
Farrell has been in fine form for Connacht of late, with his side showing promise the Pro 14, but the 12 and 13 jerseys are hotly contested at the moment. Bundee Aki and Garry Ringrose are holding down the position with one of the greatest attacking partnerships the northern hemisphere has ever seen. But Farrell won’t settle for that, and will look to break into the side and make his presence known in the run up to the World Cup.
7 - Dave Sisi (Italy)
Benetton have been some what of a hit or miss this season in the Pro 14, but that hasn’t Conor O’Shea from seeing potential in Italy’s uncapped lock Sisi. It’s a tricky position for this team as it hasn’t seen the talents like Parisse or Campagnaro come into the second row, and Dave Sisi has a way to go before reaching their levels of fame, but the Six Nations isn’t a bad place to start. Some seriously good individual performances have come out of this new team, and Sisi has been gifted the chance to create another.
8 - Thomas Young (Wales)
The response on social media was enormous following Tuesday’s announcement, as Thomas Young earned a place in Gatland’s Six Nations squad. And his addition couldn’t come at a better time, with Ross Moriarty still injured, and Taulupe Faletau ruled out with another broken arm. For the second year running Wales are on the brink of an injury crisis, but they proved last year there was no crisis with an emphatic victory over the Scots. So let’s not got ahead of ourselves, because the youngsters have proved before they can do a pretty neat job for Gatland’s final curtain call.
9 - Nathan Earle (England)
Saracens boast some ridiculously good players in their final third. Alex Goode, Liam Wiliams, Sean Maitland, Alex Lewington, the list goes on. But Nathan Earle stands out this season as his electric form cries out for an international call up. Eddie Jones hasn’t exactly got a shortage in supply when it comes to wingers and full backs. Chris Ashton’s revival in England, coupled with Jack Nowell’s stunning return to form, added to Jonny May’s high scoring rate, it’s enough to make any England fan excited. But like with Schonert above, the big names need to be preserved, particularly in World Cup year, and Nathan Earle is a pretty good name for Jones to consider, but he needs game time before Japan rolls around, and the Six Nations is a good place to start.
10 - Sam Johnson (Scotland)
Glasgow already has a big problem when it comes to Six Nations. The numbers they lose to Gregor Townsend are staggering, but that won’t bother Scotland fans one bit, and Sam Johnson might just be added to the list of departing players from the Warriors. He, much like Thompson, was destined to feature last autumn but was ruled out through injury, but as Townsend looks to find his best pairing at centre, Johnson could just be the answer he is looking for. Sure, he’s not got the attacking qualities of Huw Jones or the experience of Alex Dunbar, but he’s too good to ignore with the form he has shown over the last couple of seasons in the Pro 14, and there was intention to include him last time Scotland were up and at them, so there must be something exciting the boss enough to give him a chance.
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- Jordie Barrett over Damian de Allende is far from being correct. The hype around Dupont is also overreaching, he's probably 4th in the world and has been since the 2023 WC. He also avoids certain matchups which is strange. The rest of the list is pretty good apart from minor subjective biases.JasonMarlow16-09-2026
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