6 Nations 2015

[JB1973]

Ball/Davies is a toss up for me, both are solid but nothing special and neither is great in the line out. I'm guessing charteris makes the bench as he is better in that area and gives us an option if the line out is faltering.

The bench is certainly a worry , liam Williams aside I don't see much impact off there, I'd be happier if we had ken owens,dan baker and adam there but compared to England/Ireland we cannot complain about missing players.

With home advantage we have no excuses if we don't win Friday

[simonokeeffe]

Ball/Davies is a toss up for me, both are solid but nothing special and neither is great in the line out. I'm guessing charteris makes the bench as he is better in that area and gives us an option if the line out is faltering.

The bench is certainly a worry , liam Williams aside I don't see much impact off there, I'd be happier if we had ken owens,dan baker and adam there but compared to England/Ireland we cannot complain about missing players.

With home advantage we have no excuses if we don't win Friday

Davies has a lot more dog about him IMO which is needed in a pack which isnt exactly huge

Be interesting to see if England try to hide Ford off first phase from Roberts

[JB1973]

15. Mike Brown (Harlequins, 33 caps)
14. Anthony Watson (Bath Rugby, 4 caps)
13. Jonathan Joseph (Bath Rugby, 6 caps)
12. Luther Burrell (Northampton Saints, 7 caps)
11. Jonny May (Gloucester Rugby, 11 caps)
10. George Ford (Bath Rugby, 6 caps)
9. Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers, 42 caps)

1. Joe Marler (Harlequins, 26 caps)
2. Dylan Hartley (Northampton Saints, 61 caps)
3. Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers, 45 caps)
4. David Attwood (Bath Rugby, 16 caps)
5. George Kruis (Saracens, 4 caps)
6. James Haskell (Wasps, 53 caps)
7. Chris Robshaw (captain, Harlequins, 32 caps)
8. Billy Vunipola (Saracens, 12 caps)

Replacements

16. Tom Youngs (Leicester Tigers, 17 caps)
17. Mako Vunipola (Saracens, 15 caps)
18. Kieran Brookes (Newcastle Falcons, 6 caps)
19. Tom Croft (Leicester Tigers, 38 caps)
20. Nick Easter (Harlequins, 47 caps)
21. Richard Wigglesworth (Saracens, 16 caps)
22. Danny Cipriani (Sale Sharks, 9 caps)
23. Billy Twelvetrees (Gloucester Rugby, 16 caps



Team as expected, Cole/Haskell for Wilson/croft doesn't really weaken England much and joseph improves their attack.

Surprised to see no corbserio or care in the 23 , predictions?

[blockhead]

France

Scott Spedding; Yoann Huget, Mathieu Bastareaud, Wesley Fofana, Teddy Thomas; Camille Lopez, Rory Kockott; Damien Chouly; Bernard Le Roux, Thierry Dusautoir (capt); Yoann Maestri, Pascal Pape; Rabah Slimani, Guilhem Guirado, Alexandre Menini

Replacements: Benjamin Kayser, Uini Atonio, Eddy Ben Arous, Romain Taofifenua, Loann Goujon, Morgan Parra, Remi Tales, Remi Lamerat

[jezzer]

One good thing about French squad announcements is - after 3 years or so - you get to know all the French players in the Top 14 (plus a couple of Saffers)

[JB1973]

France

Scott Spedding; Yoann Huget, Mathieu Bastareaud, Wesley Fofana, Teddy Thomas; Camille Lopez, Rory Kockott; Damien Chouly; Bernard Le Roux, Thierry Dusautoir (capt); Yoann Maestri, Pascal Pape; Rabah Slimani, Guilhem Guirado, Alexandre Menini

Replacements: Benjamin Kayser, Uini Atonio, Eddy Ben Arous, Romain Taofifenua, Loann Goujon, Morgan Parra, Remi Tales, Remi Lamerat

some fire power behind the scrum there, can't see the scots holding out against that lot

[jezzer]

WALES TEAM TO PLAY ENGLAND:
Leigh Halfpenny (Toulon), Alex Cuthbert (Cardiff Blues), Jonathan Davies (ASM Clermont Auvergne), Jamie Roberts (Racing Metro), George North (Northampton Saints), Dan Biggar (Ospreys), Rhys Webb (Ospreys), Gethin Jenkins (Cardiff Blues), Richard Hibbard (Gloucester), Samson Lee (Scarlets), Jake Ball (Scarlets), Alun Wyn Jones (Ospreys), Dan Lydiate (Ospreys), Sam Warburton (Cardiff Blues, CAPT), Taulupe Faletau (Newport Gwent Dragons).
Replacements: Scott Baldwin (Ospreys), Paul James (Bath Rugby), Aaron Jarvis (Ospreys), Luke Charteris (Racing Metro), Justin Tipuric (Ospreys), Mike Phillips (Racing Metro), Rhys Priestland (Scarlets), Liam Williams (Scarlets).


Liam Williams on bench, rest is as expected other than priestland ahead of anscombe on bench

There's really not much wrong with the players in that 23. An injury in the front 5 would be a big blow to their 6N chances, but other than that it's up there with any NH squad. The questions are mostly around the tactics and Wales not being too predictable.

[Rémy63]

France

Scott Spedding; Yoann Huget, Mathieu Bastareaud, Wesley Fofana, Teddy Thomas; Camille Lopez, Rory Kockott; Damien Chouly; Bernard Le Roux, Thierry Dusautoir (capt); Yoann Maestri, Pascal Pape; Rabah Slimani, Guilhem Guirado, Alexandre Menini

Replacements: Benjamin Kayser, Uini Atonio, Eddy Ben Arous, Romain Taofifenua, Loann Goujon, Morgan Parra, Remi Tales, Remi Lamerat

God... Enough of Huget, Dusautoir and Papé...

There are just bringing some stupidity and average in this team.

Marvin O'Connor is bringing something very special for Bayonne for years now. Arnaud Mela is surely the best french lock even at 35 since he disciplined his game. Vahaamahina is in the starting XV of Clermont and is performing so well...

Very happy for Loann Goujon, a childhood friend of mine with whom I've played with and against in young categories, but it's like a bet as he was recently full of injuries...

Fofana - Bastareaud it's not working but as Dumoulin is injuried, it's seemed to be the better choice, especially against the Scots.

[paddyor]

Burrell - 38 tackles made / 11 missed for England. 88 / 39 for Saints this season, last 3 games - 18/14.
Wayne Smiths caveat applies - Stats do lie

But all the same that's bad. AFAIK he plays 12 for Saints and 13 for England so maybe he's just not very good at defending at 12.

[Vamos los azules]

15. Mike Brown (Harlequins, 33 caps)
14. Anthony Watson (Bath Rugby, 4 caps)
13. Jonathan Joseph (Bath Rugby, 6 caps)
12. Luther Burrell (Northampton Saints, 7 caps)
11. Jonny May (Gloucester Rugby, 11 caps)
10. George Ford (Bath Rugby, 6 caps)
9. Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers, 42 caps)

1. Joe Marler (Harlequins, 26 caps)
2. Dylan Hartley (Northampton Saints, 61 caps)
3. Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers, 45 caps)
4. David Attwood (Bath Rugby, 16 caps)
5. George Kruis (Saracens, 4 caps)
6. James Haskell (Wasps, 53 caps)
7. Chris Robshaw (captain, Harlequins, 32 caps)
8. Billy Vunipola (Saracens, 12 caps)

Replacements

16. Tom Youngs (Leicester Tigers, 17 caps)
17. Mako Vunipola (Saracens, 15 caps)
18. Kieran Brookes (Newcastle Falcons, 6 caps)
19. Tom Croft (Leicester Tigers, 38 caps)
20. Nick Easter (Harlequins, 47 caps)
21. Richard Wigglesworth (Saracens, 16 caps)
22. Danny Cipriani (Sale Sharks, 9 caps)
23. Billy Twelvetrees (Gloucester Rugby, 16 caps



Team as expected, Cole/Haskell for Wilson/croft doesn't really weaken England much and joseph improves their attack.

Surprised to see no corbserio or care in the 23 , predictions?

You're not a superstitious type who panics if Wales are made favourites are you?
I expect you to win well. You have a good defence against an inexperienced England backline, a points machine in Halfpenny who will punish any English indiscipline and some big strong lumps in attack. Even your line out which has been known to misfire is up against a fairly weak England one this time round.

I see Shaun Edwards was in the media this week making another bid for England defence coach job if the RWC goes badly for them, with a few asides of what has Andy Farrell actually won in Union. Stirring the Wigan v Wigan subplot very nicely he was!

[Oldschool]

On a general note how do people rate the different national coaches.
Joe Schmidt - No. 1 and developing and improving.
Warren Gatland - No. 2.
Lancaster - No. 3 has stalled a bit in his developing.
Cotter - No. 4. Perhaps tba but it's likely he'll bring a lot of basic improvements to the Scotland squad.
Jacques Brunel - No 5. Seems a bit unfair given the talent? he has at his disposal. Would be no where near as effective if he were France's coach.
Saint-Andre - Toughest job in rugby. The dressing room has been lost so often it's not funny anymore. Everybody has an equal say - just look at their economy.
It's a wonder the players haven't called a one day strike for one of the 6Ns games.

[jezzer]

God... Enough of Huget, Dusautoir and Papé...

There are just bringing some stupidity and average in this team.

Marvin O'Connor is bringing something very special for Bayonne for years now. Arnaud Mela is surely the best french lock even at 35 since he disciplined his game. Vahaamahina is in the starting XV of Clermont and is performing so well...

Very happy for Loann Goujon, a childhood friend of mine with whom I've played with and against in young categories, but it's like a bet as he was recently full of injuries...

Fofana - Bastareaud it's not working but as Dumoulin is injuried, it's seemed to be the better choice, especially against the Scots.

You would know the players a lot better than I would, but I was very surprised not to see Vahaamahina on the bench at least.

As for Goujon's injury history - has he been battered a lot then? Aw, come on - I had to.

[olaf the fat]

God... Enough of Huget, Dusautoir and Papé...

There are just bringing some stupidity and average in this team.

Marvin O'Connor is bringing something very special for Bayonne for years now. Arnaud Mela is surely the best french lock even at 35 since he disciplined his game. Vahaamahina is in the starting XV of Clermont and is performing so well...

Very happy for Loann Goujon, a childhood friend of mine with whom I've played with and against in young categories, but it's like a bet as he was recently full of injuries...

Fofana - Bastareaud it's not working but as Dumoulin is injuried, it's seemed to be the better choice, especially against the Scots.

You would know the players a lot better than I would, but I was very surprised not to see Vahaamahina on the bench at least.

As for Goujon's injury history - has he been battered a lot then? Aw, come on - I had to.

they tore strips off him

[Slipper1]

God... Enough of Huget, Dusautoir and Papé...

There are just bringing some stupidity and average in this team.

Marvin O'Connor is bringing something very special for Bayonne for years now. Arnaud Mela is surely the best french lock even at 35 since he disciplined his game. Vahaamahina is in the starting XV of Clermont and is performing so well...

Very happy for Loann Goujon, a childhood friend of mine with whom I've played with and against in young categories, but it's like a bet as he was recently full of injuries...

Fofana - Bastareaud it's not working but as Dumoulin is injuried, it's seemed to be the better choice, especially against the Scots.

You would know the players a lot better than I would, but I was very surprised not to see Vahaamahina on the bench at least.

As for Goujon's injury history - has he been battered a lot then? Aw, come on - I had to.

they tore strips off him

I heard there was no injury at all, he was just chicken.

[johng]

God... Enough of Huget, Dusautoir and Papé...

There are just bringing some stupidity and average in this team.

Marvin O'Connor is bringing something very special for Bayonne for years now. Arnaud Mela is surely the best french lock even at 35 since he disciplined his game. Vahaamahina is in the starting XV of Clermont and is performing so well...

Very happy for Loann Goujon, a childhood friend of mine with whom I've played with and against in young categories, but it's like a bet as he was recently full of injuries...

Fofana - Bastareaud it's not working but as Dumoulin is injuried, it's seemed to be the better choice, especially against the Scots.

You would know the players a lot better than I would, but I was very surprised not to see Vahaamahina on the bench at least.

As for Goujon's injury history - has he been battered a lot then? Aw, come on - I had to.

they tore strips off him

A very brave man. Certainly no Chicken

[jezzer]

I heard there was no injury at all, he was just chicken.

That rumour was just a cod, Slipper. Good to see he's starting from the bench - wouldn't want him dropped into the red-hot cauldron from the off. He must be sizzling with anticipation at getting some time.

[JB1973]

On a general note how do people rate the different national coaches.
Joe Schmidt - No. 1 and developing and improving.
Warren Gatland - No. 2.
Lancaster - No. 3 has stalled a bit in his developing.
Cotter - No. 4. Perhaps tba but it's likely he'll bring a lot of basic improvements to the Scotland squad.
Jacques Brunel - No 5. Seems a bit unfair given the talent? he has at his disposal. Would be no where near as effective if he were France's coach.
Saint-Andre - Toughest job in rugby. The dressing room has been lost so often it's not funny anymore. Everybody has an equal say - just look at their economy.
It's a wonder the players haven't called a one day strike for one of the 6Ns games.

1) Schmidt (saw a bit on scrum v this weekend where Ruddock went into detail about how good and thorough he really is. he explained how Ireland scored of a set move 3 phases after a set piece when Schmidt knew where every defender would be , Martyn Williams was also raving about how good he is. Hopefully the next lions coach

2) Gatland yes he's predictable yes his mind games are boring , yes his style is not easy on the eye but he has turned wales into a solid outfit, where we give everyone a game and he has cut out all the idiotic nonsense we saw from pretty much all his predecessors bar Hansen.

3) Lancaster solid job from a solid coach also does come across as a gentleman in victory or defeat.

4) cotter (at last Scotland have a decent coach and a guy who is willing to pick the form players and not just people he likes (scott Johnson)

5) brunel (improving Italy just a shame for him the other nations in the main are also improving)

6) PSA don't rate him, no consistency of selection, no game plan and seemingly no relationship with his team,

[LeRouxIsPHat]

Burrell - 38 tackles made / 11 missed for England. 88 / 39 for Saints this season, last 3 games - 18/14.
Wayne Smiths caveat applies - Stats do lie

But all the same that's bad. AFAIK he plays 12 for Saints and 13 for England so maybe he's just not very good at defending at 12.

I'm a big Burrell fan and thought he could even have been the player of the championship last year, but for some reason he hasn't really been firing since. Certainly not consistently. I think if you put him in between Farrell and Barritt/Tuilagi he'd still be excellent, not Ford and Joseph though.

For me, England should only be putting one of the Bath starlets in the three midfield slots otherwise they lose too much defensive dominance and power. That's no disrespect to them but I just don't think their style is as suited to international rugby, and as I've been saying for a while I think Lancaster is straying too far from the strengths they were developing over the last few years. Cipriani is a classic example of that. If you start Ford then you don't want a Cipriani type to come off the bench and change things. If Ford isn't playing well or exposed by the Welsh (which I can see happening) then you want to be able to call on a solid option like Myler. It'd be different if it was Farrell starting and you wanted someone to provide a spark late on.

I can see Wales destroying England tbh. Their team looks very good and they'll be like caged animals for a Friday night game against England. I can see a few of the English players shrinking in that environment due to inexperience and poor skills. Wales will play a very fast game that just doesn't suit the Northampton and Saracens style game and I can see it exposing Ford too as a result. Cole hasn't played in ages, the second row is good but down to the bare bones nonetheless, and I reckon the pack will struggle with the pace of the game. They'll have to put out fires for the midfield too which will make things even worse.

Wales by 15-20.

[Rémy63]

You would know the players a lot better than I would, but I was very surprised not to see Vahaamahina on the bench at least.

As for Goujon's injury history - has he been battered a lot then? Aw, come on - I had to.

Well, for Vahaamahina, that's an euphemism to say that both PSA and Bru don't like him. At Perpignan, he got the reputation to play rugby amateurishly.

But in 6 months in Clermont, he has matured a lot and alongside with Cudmore, his impact on the game is now huge, on the mauls, rucks and defensivly.

With a big man like Mela, with experience and a huge fighting spirit that can inspire him, he could be a very good asset for France...

But PSA prefers Dumb&Dumber duo Maestri/Pape who always try to re-invent stupidity.

[Peg Leg]

I heard there was no injury at all, he was just chicken.

That rumour was just a cod, Slipper. Good to see he's starting from the bench - wouldn't want him dropped into the red-hot cauldron from the off. He must be sizzling with anticipation at getting some time.

I'd have him as a starter, dip him in from the off.