Brace yourselves for this weekend’s sports/esports action!

Six Nations

It’s that time of year again! The days are getting longer, the weather is warming up, and rugby fans around the world are gathering for five weeks of jam-packed Six Nations action! The 2023 Guinness Six Nations rugby championships will begin on 4 February at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff. It’ll be held in 6 stadiums around Europe and briefly, the tournament is a round-robin style where teams play each other once and accumulate points, from which the winner is determined.

The defending champions France will aim to reclaim their title after their win in 2022, and if the rugby union world rankings are anything to go by, this Six Nations will be a one-on-one battle between Ireland and France. Ireland currently rank number 1 in the world after beating New Zealand in the summer and will hold the home advantage against both France and England which will surely give them a huge burst of confidence in their quest to fend off their competition. As well as these glowing statistics, Ireland have flanker Josh van der Flier, the World Rugby men’s player of the year, in their squad. Could this be enough to take them all the way?

England, despite holding the record for winning the Six Nations the most, seem to be entering their tournament in incredibly poor form. Firing their most successful coach two months before the start of the tournament would never be an easy decision, but England had really lost their way by the end of Eddie Jones’ era and were in desperate of a change. Steve Borthwick, along with his assistant coaches including Kevin Sinfield, will have to simplify and tighten up England’s gameplan in order to see the same success of just 3 years ago.

Are the Azzurri destined for another Wooden Spoon finish this year? They are entering the Six Nations off the back of a very mixed bag of results including their first ever defeat to Georgia and a humiliating 63-21 loss to South Africa. On the other hand, their massive 49-17 victory over Samoa will no doubt give them a boost of confidence to make some headway in the tournament. Their first match at home to France will surely be a test, especially with essential playmaker Paolo Garbisi missing from the squad for the first few rounds of the tournament due to injury.

As the first day of the Six Nations is fast approaching, it’s all to play for. If we know anything about this tournament, it’s that it’s bound to throw up a whole host of shocking results. Who do you think will be crowned champions? Stay tuned to find out!

IEM Katowice

Calling all you CS:GO fans out there! The wait is over, and we’re set for this year’s first big tournament. So, have your popcorn at the ready as this discipline’s big guns (pun very much intended) descend on Katowice once again to kick off what looks set to be an epic year of CS:GO action. 

What’s more, with a whopping $1,000,000 prize fund up for grabs, you can bet your bottom dollar that everyone’s going to fight tooth and nail for the grand prize and that we’re in for some real thrills over the coming days!

Speaking of the grand prize, FaZe Clan are looking like the favourites to bring home the bacon heading into this tournament. FaZe were an utter tour de force at times last year, as they steamrolled their way to victory at ESL Pro League Season 15, IEM XVII-Cologne and PGL Major-Antwerp, as well as last year’s IEM Katowice, and were looking absolutely unstoppable at one point.

However, they are certainly not invincible as they did go off the boil a little towards the end of last year, as evidenced by their incredibly disappointing showing at Intel Extreme Masters Rio Major 2022 where they finished bottom of their group after suffering 3 losses without registering a single win. 

That being said, they seem to have rediscovered their mojo recently, finishing top of their group in the Blast Premier: Spring Groups and they’ll be eager to harness that winning momentum as they seek to lay down a marker here.

At the same time, securing victory most certainly won’t be a cakewalk for the bookies’ favourites as they’ll be facing some stiff competition in Katowice. One team who’ll be looking to capitalise on their recent run of good form will be G2 Esports, who capped off what had been quite a turbulent year in dramatic fashion by defying the odds to be crowned champions at the Blast Premier: World Final at the end of last year. What’s more, they also, like FaZe Clan, finish top of the group in the Blast Premier: Spring Groups and will no doubt view this tournament as another opportunity to show the esports world what they are capable of.

Another team who’ll also be desperate to show what they are made of is Natus Vincere. Although they took home the grand prize at last year’s BLAST Premier: Spring Finals, 2022 proved to be an incredibly frustrating year for NAVI as they failed to hit the dizzy heights of 2021. Will their updated roster rediscover NAVI’s winning form of old? Only time will tell.

Last but not least, one potential dark horse that’s also worth keeping your eyes peeled for is Heroic. Whilst they weren’t exactly firing on all cylinders in the Blast Premier: World Finals, Heroic came into form at the back end of last year, taking 2nd place in the Intel Extreme Masters Rio Major 2022, as well as winning both Blast Premier: Fall Finals and BLAST Premier: Fall European Showdown 2022. The question is: can they throw a cat amongst the pigeons once again?