Mark Regan Column: Italy clash is the ideal Six Nations start for England

The Six Nations kicks off this weekend, but I will be concentrating on Clifton versus Redingensians tomorrow.

It is a big game for us at Clifton and I just hope the weather holds off enough for us to play. We are four points clear at the top of the table, with a game in hand, and things are going very well.

I am really enjoying the coaching side of it and there are a good bunch of lads at Clifton, which always helps. They want to listen and learn, and that makes life one hell of a lot easier and is one of the reasons we are getting such good results.

I will try to keep up to date with events at Twickenham, where I expect England to beat Italy even though I am surprised by the selection of Andy Goode at fly-half.

Italy are improving massively, and the main reason for that is that most of their top players now play in either England or France. They are being coached by better coaches and playing alongside better players.

But this is still a good game for England to start with, particularly as they play Wales at the Millennium Stadium next.

Martin Johnson has clearly opted for safety in picking Goode. He is the banker card. Danny Cipriani has not been playing that well, but the selection of Goode is not exactly looking to the future.

I am surprised he is in, particularly as he is no longer playing in the Guinness Premiership. I am not certain the intensity of the French league is the same as it is here.

Going to Brive was probably a great move for him, and I am sure he is playing well, but the way I see it is that if you are going to play for England, you have got to play in the shop window – and that is our Premiership.

Back at Bristol, we made a great start to our Newcastle match preparation on Wednesday, but then lost a day yesterday due to snow.

We had made a contingency plan if we couldn't train outside – and that was to go to the gym. But then a road was shut between the training ground and the gym, so unfortunately we had to cancel that.

It was disappointing, particularly after making such good progress the previous day, but I am sure some of the lads – most probably the Arscotts – made the most of it and went and did a bit of snowboarding!