England had a great autumn, beating Tonga and Australian before a thrilling game against World Champions South Africa ended with a Marcus Smith penalty in the closing moments secured victory for the Red Rose.
Ordinarily this would mean that a team would come into a Six Nations as favourites, however, France and Ireland both beat New Zealand in the autumn meaning that Eddie Jones' men will have some trepidation after finishing fifth last year.
A major positive from the Autumn games will be the emergence of two talents Freddie Steward and Marcus Smith among others as Jones attempts to revitalise the squad that struggled last spring.
With that, it looks set to be one of the most exciting tournaments in years with Wales and Scotland both playing good rugby and in with a chance of honours.
When does the Six Nations start?
The matches start on Saturday 5 February and will run until Saturday 19 March. The opening Saturday sees Ireland vs Wales and Scotland vs England while France vs Italy takes place on the Sunday.
Where can I watch the games?
All of the games will be broadcast live on terrestrial television with BBC and ITV sharing the rights to all of the games throughout the six weeks of competition.
Who is in the squad?
Bristol Bears duo Harry Randall and Kyle Sinckler have been named in England's initial 36-man training squad in preparation for the Six Nations.
Captain Owen Farrell is back in the squad after injury while Ben Youngs is in line to beat Jason Leonard's record to become England's most capped player during the tournament, he is currently two caps behind Jason Leonard who has 114.
Eddie Jones told the England website: "Selecting this squad has been a difficult task, we’ve got plenty of good young players coming through and some of our more experienced are rediscovering their best form,
"We think this 36 for the first training week reflects a good balance of that experience and up-and-coming talent. In Brighton we’ll focus on getting the fundamentals of our game in play right and developing the cohesion of the team.
"The Six Nations is going to be the most competitive we’ve ever seen. All the countries performed well in the autumn, so we need to be at our best and improve with every game."
Full Squad:
FORWARDS
Alfie Barbeary (Wasps, uncapped)
Jamie Blamire (Newcastle Falcons, 5 caps)
Ollie Chessum (Leicester Tigers, uncapped)
Luke Cowan-Dickie (Exeter Chiefs, 31 caps)
Tom Curry (Sale Sharks, 36 caps)
Alex Dombrandt (Harlequins, 4 caps)
Charlie Ewels (Bath Rugby, 26 caps)
Ellis Genge (Leicester Tigers, 31 caps)
Jamie George (Saracens, 61 caps)
Joe Heyes (Leicester Tigers, 2 caps)
Jonny Hill (Exeter Chiefs, 12 caps)
Maro Itoje (Saracens, 51 caps)
Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints, 90 caps)
Lewis Ludlam (Northampton Saints, 10 caps)
Joe Marler (Harlequins, 74 caps)
Bevan Rodd (Sale Sharks, 2 caps)
Sam Simmonds (Exeter Chiefs, 9 caps)
Kyle Sinckler (Bristol Bears, 47 caps)
Will Stuart (Bath Rugby, 15 caps)
BACKS
Mark Atkinson (Gloucester Rugby, 1 cap)
Orlando Bailey (Bath Rugby, uncapped)
Owen Farrell (Saracens, 94 caps)
Tommy Freeman (Northampton Saints, uncapped)
George Furbank (Northampton Saints, 5 caps)
Ollie Hassell-Collins (London Irish, uncapped)
Max Malins (Saracens, 10 caps)
Joe Marchant (Harlequins, 7 caps)
Jonny May (Gloucester Rugby, 69 caps)
Luke Northmore (Harlequins, uncapped)
Jack Nowell (Exeter Chiefs, 34 caps)
Raffi Quirke (Sale Sharks, 2 caps)
Harry Randall (Bristol Bears, 2 caps)
Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs, 43 caps)
Marcus Smith (Harlequins, 5 caps)
Freddie Steward (Leicester Tigers, 5 caps)
Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers, 112 caps)
What is the schedule?
ROUND 1
Saturday February 5, 2022
- Ireland vs Wales - 2.15pm - ITV
- Scotland vs England - 4.45pm - BBC
Sunday February 6, 2022
- France vs Italy - 3pm - ITV
ROUND 2
Saturday February 12, 2022
- Wales vs Scotland - 2.15pm - BBC
- France vs Ireland - 4.45pm - ITV
Sunday February 13, 2022
- Italy vs England - 3pm- - ITV
ROUND 3
Saturday February 26, 2022
- Scotland vs France - 2.15pm - BBC
- England vs Wales - 4.45pm - ITV
Sunday February 27, 2022
- Ireland vs Italy - 3pm - ITV
ROUND 4
Friday March 11, 2022
- Wales vs France - 8pm - BBC
Saturday March 12, 2022
- Italy vs Scotland - 2.15pm - ITV
- England vs Ireland - 4.45pm - ITV
ROUND 5
Saturday March 19, 2022
- Wales vs Italy - 2.15pm - BBC
- Ireland vs Scotland - 4.45pm - ITV
- France vs England - 8pm - ITV
