FORMER England fly-half Rob Andrew predicts an afternoon of “incredible drama” awaits in today’s climax to the 2015 Six Nations.

Three teams are hoping to be seen as the dominant force in northern hemisphere rugby with England, Ireland and Wales jostling for a title that will almost certainly be decided by points difference.

A thrilling day begins in Rome where Wales will seek to put Italy to the sword before attention switches to Edinburgh and Ireland’s attempt at setting a mighty total for England to overhaul against France at Twickenham.

“I suspect it will be a day of incredible drama — six hours of people gripped by what’s going on,” said Andrew, who won 71 caps from 1985 to 1997.

“Every minute of every game and every time a point is scored or conceded, will have a massive knock-on effect on what will happen in the last 10 minutes of England v France.

“It will probably go down to the final seconds — it did last year with the final play of the France v Ireland game.

“France had a try disallowed because of a forward pass in what was virtually the last pass of the game.”

The staggered kick-offs unique to the Six Nations promise a climactic day of sporting theatre and Andrew disagrees with calls for synchronised scheduling to ensure no team has an unfair advantage.

“The fact it’s three staggered kick-offs adds to the drama and makes the Six Nations unique and special,” Andrew said.

“I don’t subscribe to the view they should all kick off at the same time because the Six Nations is not a level playing field anyway.

“The playing order is always different and you’re not playing home and away each season.

“How the fixtures are thrown up is part of the drama. Each year the batting order is slightly different and that creates its own narrative.

“We’ve grown up with this format and it’s the greatest rugby tournament in the world. The drama and colour of the games make it very, very special.”

Favourites England enter the final day with a points cushion of plus four and Andrew believes they must hope Ireland prove unable to overwhelm Scotland.

“Clearly you don’t want to be chasing too many points because that will affect lots of things. Limiting the target against France to one score is where you want to start,” Andrew said.

“I believe if we bring the level of intensity and concentration that we’re capable of, then we will beat France.

“The difficulty comes from the target we need, but that is set by other teams.”

SCOTLAND

Scotland have been cast in the role of kingmakers as the race for this year’s Six Nations battle royale goes to the wire — but forward Adam Ashe admitted yesterday that he could not care less who ends up wearing the crown.

The Dark Blues host reigning champions Ireland on the final day of this year’s championships.

Only points difference separates Joe Schmidt’s team from title rivals England and Wales as all three vie for the throne.

Vern Cotter’s Scotland could play a vital role in deciding the eventual winner but all Ashe is concerned about is ensuring his side are not slayed for the fifth time this year.

The 21-year-old flanker said: “Having a say in the race for the title doesn’t really give us any extra motivation. We are focusing on ourselves completely.”

Saturday’s Murrayfield clash is the Scots’ last chance to claim a morale boost before they turn their attentions to September’s World Cup kick-off.

WALES

LIAM WILLIAMS insisted yesterday that there is “no pressure” on Wales when they target a memorable comeback triumph in this season’s Six Nations title race.

Just six weeks after losing at home to England following a second-half implosion when they failed to score a point, Wales could be crowned Six Nations champions for the third time in four years today.

The odds are against them, given their inferior points difference compared with leaders England and second-placed Ireland.

Wales, realistically, need to secure a landslide win against Italy at the Stadio Olimpico in today’s first game, and hope it is enough, but a victory of any description would suffice if France topple England at Twickenham and Scotland see off Ireland.

“In the first-half, we will kick our goals, then after the break we will see if it’s OK to open up,” Wales wing Williams said.

“We will go out there, do the business and then sit back and watch the other matches.”

by Our Sports Desk