FIFTEEN MATCHES OVER FIVE WEEKENDS in February and March, each laying down another layer in rivalries which mostly go back more than a century. The simple iconography of white, red, green and three shades of blue. Thousands of rugby fans good-naturedly drinking various European capitals dry. Welcome to the SIX NATIONS, one of the best annual sporting events in the world and a reliably effective antidote to the winter doldrums.
This year, however, the storm clouds are hovering, for rugby is a sport in crisis. Two Premiership clubs, Wasps and Worcester
