England dogged by domestic woes as Six Nations rivals talk up new eras

Five of the teams at the Six Nations launch at a chilly Tobacco Dock in London’s Wapping could be heard talking an upbeat game. Ireland, Wales, France and Italy are all under new management, while Scotland have a passionate new captain in Stuart Hogg already itching to lead out Gregor Townsend’s army on Saturday week.

The only contingent not obviously oozing bonhomie were England, an inevitable consequence of the sizeable Saracens-shaped elephant in the room. Owen Farrell would rather publicly discuss his bowel movements than bare his soul on the subject of his club’s salary cap defrocking, while Eddie Jones is never a fan of anything that distracts from Red Rose business.

Related: Defiant Eddie Jones still believes England can be world’s best team | Michael Aylwin

It begged an immediate question before a ball is even kicked in this year’s championship: will the Saracens saga sap England’s collective spirits on the field, too? Not even Farrell can be entirely sure. “I don’t know. When we get together it will be clear, because we’re very good at being honest and open, getting stuff out there and sorting stuff out if we need to. We’ll see if we need to.”

England’s opponents will be awaiting further updates with interest, particularly the French as they prepare for the first Le Crunch of the post-Brexit era in Paris on Saturday week. What a galvanising effect it would have on the tournament if France come flying out of the stalls and catch the World Cup finalists napping. If that happens all bets for the tournament really would be off.

None of this automatically means England will be vulnerable, merely that they are occupying an emotional halfway house at present. The World Cup had its obvious high points but, last time out against South Africa in the final, Jones’s side fell well short of their best. Now, with half their first XV suddenly en route for the Championship next season, there are further psychological hurdles to be overcome.

There are some who believe England may be able to use the Saracens factor to their advantage in terms of circling the wagons, not least Ireland’s new coach, Andy Farrell, who is better qualified than anyone to gauge his son’s mood. “I’d be using the situation if I was Eddie and Eddie’s not stupid,” Farrell Snr said. “It’s a bit up in the air, isn’t it? But all you can do as a parent is support and offer your advice along the way. It becomes a little bit sensitive when you don’t know the full implications, the answers to the questions or the questions that have not been asked yet. But international rugby is a completely different environment. All he’ll be thinking about is captaining his country.”

Jones, for his part, is hoping his squad’s relocation to their Algarve training base – coincidentally Ireland will be just down the road – will allow the entire Saracens contingent to flick a mental switch. “What do they love doing?” he asked, rhetorically. “Playing rugby. Who do they love playing for? Their club? Well, they’re not playing for their club, they’re playing for their country. It’s the best thing for them. And then, for the rest of the team, it is an opportunity to get tighter.”

Maybe, but listening to Fabien Galthié discussing his “mission” to rebuild the “love affair” between Les Bleus and the French public, assisted by the less-then-romantic input of their no-nonsense new defence coach Shaun Edwards, was to suspect a bristling contest awaits. “We will want to make sure the crowd do not get too enthusiastic,” nodded Jones. “A damp, wet, cold Stade de France, 4pm on Sunday afternoon, we can’t wait to get there.”

No one exuded a calmer sense of purpose, however, than Wales’s reshuffled leadership combo of Wayne Pivac and his captain, Alun Wyn Jones, eager to build on last season’s grand slam. As Pivac acknowledged, “history says it’s going to be tough” – the last time any home union won consecutive grand slams was England in 1991 and 1992 – but the New Zealander is looking to try to develop Wales’s attacking game having taken over from the long-serving Warren Gatland.

Filling Gatland’s shoes will not be straightforward, as Jones mischievously observed when the subject cropped up: “Warren did a great job. They’ve got Gatland’s Gates in Cardiff now. Every time Wayne walks through there he’ll be going through something that pays homage to Warren and he’ll feel that expectation.

“He has a certain style of play and it will be interesting to see if he can impose that on the Welsh players at international level.” Back in New Zealand, the distant Gatland will already be chuckling at Jones’s latest attempt at mind games.

Fitness-wise, Liam Williams is expected to be fit for Wales’s second game, in Ireland, and the Gloucester teenager Louis Rees-Zammit should be available for their opening game, against Italy in Cardiff. The 18-year-old wing is so inexperienced his coach suspects “he has not done much shaving yet”, while his captain has also been doing some extra-curricular research. “He was born in 2001, so the first thing I did was see what Now That’s What I Call Music CD came out that year. It wasn’t a good year. It had Stronger by Britney Spears on it.”

If Wales collect another grand slam this season Oops! I Did It Again might be a more appropriate choice.