As the Six Nations rolls into town once again, an ill-fortuned group of key players must come to terms with the prospect of watching their team-mates from the sidelines. From England’s Vunipola brothers to France’s Wesley Fofana, each country is suffering from their own share of injuries and absentees.

In light of this, here we propose our own Six Nations’ ‘absent XV’:

Mako Vunipola (1): The first of two Vunipola absents that will hit England hard. Like his brother, Mako is recovering from knee trouble. It's understood the England camp believe he may return for their final game against Ireland.

Sean Cronin (2): The first of many players in this 'absent XV' unavailable for selection due to a hamstring injury. The Ireland hooker is expected to miss all of the Six Nations.

Sean Cronin won't feature for Ireland (Getty)

WP Nel (3): The tighthead prop is out for the entirety of the tournament with a neck injury. A recent scan revealed that the Edinburgh player damaged an intervertebral disc in his neck during a Challenge Cup tie against Harlequins. It's not known if he'll return to play this season.

Luke Charteris (4): The giant lock is suffering from a bone fracture in his hand and currently undergoing fitness tests. He could be back in action for 11 February when Wales host England.

George Kruis (5): The lock's latest injury set-back has left the England camp sweating. The 26-year-old was only recently declared fit for the side's opener against France but his participation in the Twickenham encounter has now been ruled out after suffering a knee injury in training on Tuesday.

Kruis is suffering from a knee injury (Getty Images)

Peter O'Mahoney (6): The all-action Munster flanker is part of Ireland's supremely-competitive back-row mix but a hamstring problem will keep him sidelined for the early stages of the tournament at least.

Chris Robshaw (7): The former England captain recently underwent shoulder surgery and has been ruled out for 12 weeks meaning he will miss this season's entire Six Nations tournament.

Billy Vunipola (8): The Saracens number eight sustained knee ligament damage in England's victory over Argentina last November and looks set to miss the early Six Nations rounds. There's a chance he may return for the end of the tournament.

Billy Vunipola in action against Argentina (Getty)

Dan Lydiate (9): Really? Yes, we know, but if Italy can attempt to remould Mauro Bergamasco as a scrum-half, then we're going to tinker with the Wales flanker, who will miss the rest of the season with knee ligament damage. Ok. we know this isn't really acceptable, but the matter of fact is that Europe's scrum-half contingent are in rude health this time of year.

Francois Trinh-Duc (10): The Toulon fly-half is currently recovering from a broken arm he sustained last November. He could be available later on in Les Blues' Six Nations campaign.

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Anthony Watson (11): The England wing picked up a hamstring problem in an England training camp and is expected to be out for three to four weeks. It's hoped he'll be available for selection later on in the tournament.

Manu Tuilagi (12): The Leicester Tigers battering ram has been ruled out of the entire tournament with a knee injury. The injury-plagued player suffered a ligament tear against Saracens and is set to miss the rest of the season.

Tuilagi's injury woes continue (Getty)

Peter Horne (13): The centre was stretched off during Glasgow Warriors' Pro12 defeat by Munster last December. A scan confirmed a four-month lay-off with an ankle injury that means he's unlikely to feature for Scotland during their Six Nations campaign.

Wesley Fofana (14): The Frenchman ruptured his achilles tendon against Exeter in January and will be out of contention for the Six Nations.

France will have to make do without Fofana (Getty)