Rugby, the John McClane of British Sport, is back with a vengeance this weekend, as we welcome the return of our favourite rugby tournament, the Six Nations Championship. Over the next six weeks, the subzero gloominess of Winter will thaw, and Super Saturday will herald the long awaited start of Spring.

Tens of thousands of die-hard fans will descend upon Europe’s modern battlefields – the stadia of Paris, Dublin, London, Cardiff, Rome and Edinburgh – to watch thirty legends in an unparalleled melee for national honour and glory.

Six Nations Traditions

This annual spectacle has brought with it yet another excuse to establish new traditions at the England residence.

As well as each of us joining our respective hotly-contested, work-place, fantasy leagues (with trophies and all!), it has also become a tradition of ours to mark the final weekend of the tournament with a “biscuit-off”, which involves each country being represented by a gingerbread man modelling, very handsomely, I must say, his team’s kit. The “six biscuits” battle, as only biscuits can, until only one cookie remains standing over his broken and crumbled adversaries.

As a taste of things to come, here is a photo of last year’s contenders:

This year’s “Super Saturday” will be taking place on the 16th March, where yours truly will be in attendance at the championship’s final game, and arguably the biggest clash of them all, England vs. Wales, at Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium.

MAY THE BEST COOKIE WIN!!

*for me that would be Wales, of course – C’mon Cymru! But for James, his support will be behind Lancaster’s bombers, England.

Report back here on the 16th to see which nation triumphed, and to see whether Wales can buck the trend and become the first Grand Slam champions to retain the title for a successive season…