Maro Itoje is not looking his freshest in the Six Nations and Mako Vunipola has also gone quiet after the exacting tour to New Zealand
One of the most interesting sequences in sport is threatening to repeat itself yet again. Every four years, during the Six (or Five) Nations season immediately following a British and Irish Lions tour, it is as if lead weights have been attached to the legs of one nation and restorative oxygen pumped into the dressing-rooms of the rest.
Spot the common theme in the following list of champions in post-Lions years since the late 1960s: France, Wales, no winner, Wales, Wales, France, Scotland, Scotland, Wales, France, France, France, France, Ireland. It is necessary to spool back 55 years to the icy early months of 1963 to find the last time England won a title in the wake of a Lions trip. Should Eddie Jones’s squad successfully defend the crown they have won for the last two seasons, they will be bucking a serious trend.
Related: Dylan Hartley a doubt for England’s key Six Nations match in France
Related: Stars, drama and upsets: what to expect in Six Nations’ final straight | Gerard Meagher
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