Six Nations 2011 General Banter/Team Talk Thread

PhatPiggins

Noffles wrote: »

Lol... nice to see the votes of confidence for the Welsh selection.... I'm not too depressed about it to be honest, a squad based on form and a little smaller than most.... 1st game the real decider for us, odd saying that but it is, beat England we'll do well, lose (if we do I would imagine it'll be fairly substantial) and we'll be all over the ****ing place... Still can't wait for it to start though!

Thats a very reallistic summary of the Welsh prospects, succesive welsh teams always seem to be confidence dependent for what ever reason.

The front row losses are a hammer blow.

Noffles

PhatPiggins wrote: »

Thats a very reallistic summary of the Welsh prospects, succesive welsh teams always seem to be confidence dependent for what ever reason.

The front row losses are a hammer blow.

Aye, to lose Jenkins was a bad start then to follow it up with Jones... sick... at least we have a good excuse now though

Noffles

trackguy wrote: »

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/rugby_union/welsh/9372376.stm

Will this man ever learn??

Nah, he won't, it's his "thing".... was waiting to see when he'd start and who it would be...

thomond2006

trackguy wrote: »

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/rugby_union/welsh/9372376.stm

Will this man ever learn??

In fairness he's probably right!

Brenireland

Something which maybe of interest to you guys is the Guinness Fantasy 6 nations is back up and running!/however Id be more inclined to go for the IRISH Times one...

Just wondering would you give me your views on my team...

Now hopefully it's good enough:

Banahan/Rougerie/L.Fitzgerald/L.Mclean/M.Evans

T.Flood/M.Parra

AW jones/S.O'Brien(Heaslip injured)/A.Kellock

S.Parisse/N.Hines

Haskell/Harinordoquy/Healy...

the rules are you must include a certain amount of players from each country/hence Italian players.

shmaido

Flannery
G.Murphy
Trimble!! (Horgan has to get a look in now?)
Kearney

Injured but might recover
Heaslip
Ferris
Best
Bowe


Just coming back from injury
O'Connell

if we keep on losing big names like trimble especially in the back three, Ireland are going to be really stretched, of course I hope this will fast tracks McFadden in to the main squad!!

Also with Ferris & Heaslip probably out, it throws the whole backrow open, sadly I think this will mean Leamy's inclusion whom I just don't rate anymore (admittedly I never really did...)

Probable backrow:
6. Leamy/SOB
7. Wallace
8. SOB/Leamy

Bench: Ruddock

My choice would be the current Leinster backrow but hey.....

Linky

Brenireland

Brenireland wrote: »

Something which maybe of interest to you guys is the Guinness Fantasy 6 nations is back up and running!/however Id be more inclined to go for the IRISH Times one...

Just wondering would you give me your views on my team...

Now hopefully it's good enough:

Banahan/Rougerie/L.Fitzgerald/L.Mclean/M.Evans

T.Flood/M.Parra

AW jones/S.O'Brien(Heaslip injured)/A.Kellock

S.Parisse/N.Hines

Haskell/Harinordoquy/Healy...

the rules are you must include a certain amount of players from each country/hence Italian players.

anybody?no?

andrewdcs

Brenireland wrote: »

anybody?no?

I tend to go by whos playing whom as you do get a lot of subs (iirc) so the home teams and whoever has Italy (sorry Italy!)

waiting till the last moment to pick as you never know what France or England team will come out (too many options)

sock puppet

Brenireland wrote: »

Something which maybe of interest to you guys is the Guinness Fantasy 6 nations is back up and running!/however Id be more inclined to go for the IRISH Times one...

Just wondering would you give me your views on my team...

Now hopefully it's good enough:

Banahan/Rougerie/L.Fitzgerald/L.Mclean/M.Evans

T.Flood/M.Parra

AW jones/S.O'Brien(Heaslip injured)/A.Kellock

S.Parisse/N.Hines

Haskell/Harinordoquy/Healy...

the rules are you must include a certain amount of players from each country/hence Italian players.

A few of those players may not start. Hines, Rougerie, almost certainly Banahan, possibly Haskell.

Brenireland

sock puppet wrote: »

A few of those players may not start. Hines, Rougerie, almost certainly Banahan, possibly Haskell.

Really,thanks every one for the point of views,I wonder will Flutey start?
I would have taught most of them would start especially Banahan/haskell & Rougerie all unreal players.

PhatPiggins

sock puppet wrote: »

A few of those players may not start. Hines, Rougerie, almost certainly Banahan, possibly Haskell.

Why would Hines not start?

jolley123

PhatPiggins wrote: »

Why would Hines not start?

Seeing as Kellock is the captain and he rates Richie Gray highly.

sock puppet

PhatPiggins wrote: »

Why would Hines not start?

I'd expect him and Hamilton to rotate a bit with maybe Gray coming in too.I haven't watched much English rugby this season. Has Hamilton been awful? He did have a very poor game against the ABs.

thomond2006

sock puppet wrote: »

I'd expect him and Hamilton to rotate a bit with maybe Gray coming in too.I haven't watched much English rugby this season. Has Hamilton been awful? He did have a very poor game against the ABs.

Hamilton broke his foot in the AIs, I don't know if he's back though.

Scotland squad:

Backs - Joe Ansbro (Northampton Saints), Mike Blair (Edinburgh), Jack Cuthbert (Bath), Simon Danielli (Ulster), Nick De Luca (Edinburgh), Max Evans (Glasgow Warriors), Alex Grove (Worcester Warriors), Ruaridh Jackson (Glasgow Warriors), Greig Laidlaw (Edinburgh), Rory Lamont (Toulon), Sean Lamont (Scarlets), Rory Lawson (Gloucester), Dan Parks (Cardiff Blues), Chris Paterson (Edinburgh), Hugo Southwell (Stade Francais) and Nikki Walker (Ospreys).

Forwards - John Barclay, Johnnie Beattie (both Glasgow Warriors), Kelly Brown (Saracens), Geoff Cross, Ross Ford (both Edinburgh), Richie Gray, Dougie Hall, Robert Harley (all Glasgow Warriors), Nathan Hines (Leinster), Allan Jacobsen (Edinburgh), Alastair Kellock (Glasgow Warriors), Scott Lawson (Gloucester), Moray Low (Glasgow Warriors), Scott MacLeod (Edinburgh), Euan Murray (Newcastle Falcons), Ross Rennie (Edinburgh) and Richie Vernon and Jon Welsh (both Glasgow Warriors).

Edit: Hamilton isn't in the squad.

Pete_Cavan

shmaido wrote: »

Flannery
G.Murphy
Trimble!! (Horgan has to get a look in now?)
Kearney

Injured but might recover
Heaslip
Ferris
Best
Bowe


Just coming back from injury
O'Connell

if we keep on losing big names like trimble especially in the back three, Ireland are going to be really stretched, of course I hope this will fast tracks McFadden in to the main squad!!

Also with Ferris & Heaslip probably out, it throws the whole backrow open, sadly I think this will mean Leamy's inclusion whom I just don't rate anymore (admittedly I never really did...)

Probable backrow:
6. Leamy/SOB
7. Wallace
8. SOB/Leamy

Bench: Ruddock

My choice would be the current Leinster backrow but hey.....

Linky

In fairness, we are lucky in that the injuries we have picked up are in possitions where we have plenty of options (backrow and back three). Even with Heaslip and Ferris out we still have Wallace, Leamy, SOB, Jennings, Ruddock and McLoughlin available. I would go with a backrow of 6. SOB 7. Wallace 8. Henry with Jennings on the bench for the first match.

Even with G.Murphy, Bowe, Trimble, Kearney, Horgan (thought I heard it said on the radio that he has an injury, wasnt really listening so maybe someone can confirm that one for me) out we still have Earls, Fitz, McFadden and Duffy. I would start with 11. Earls 14. McFadden 15. Duffy and Fitz on the bench. The one area where we could not afford to lose anyone is prop but IMO the injury to Hayes actually strengthens us so we have gotten off lightly here again.

Injuries havnt been as kind to England and Wales. Without Lawes and Croft the English pack has lost most (all!) of its mobility and Wales have lost two thirds of their first choice front row. IMO they do not have the same quality replacements we do and they will be weakened by injuries more than us.

boredatwork82

Just looking at the photos training. Fionn Carr was in them. Did he get called up. I didn't hear anything about it, but given the injuries to Bowe, Trimbo, and Horgan, Luke Fitzgeralds poor form, is there a chance we may see Carr get a look in.

danthefan

boredatwork82 wrote: »

Just looking at the photos training. Fionn Carr was in them. Did he get called up. I didn't hear anything about it, but given the injuries to Bowe, Trimbo, and Horgan, Luke Fitzgeralds poor form, is there a chance we may see Carr get a look in.

No.

They call anyone and everyone up to be involved in training. Horan was there too I think for example.

boredatwork82

Yeah I saw Horan and I was thinking WTF?
Ah lets hope Carr does get a run out, although he hasn't been in great form either.

thomond2006

Sherry is there because Best and Fla cannot train.

Horan is there because Hayes can't train.

Carr is there because so many back three players are out.

Conspiracy theory disproved.

danthefan

thomond2006 wrote: »

Sherry is there because Best and Fla cannot train.

Horan is there because Hayes can't train.

Carr is there because so many back three players are out.

Conspiracy theory disproved.

No, they always call in players who aren't named in squads to train. Always.

Risteard

Sure this time last year the Munster Academy lads were training with the Irish team while they were based in Limerick .I remember a picture of Danny Barnes in training.

France team to face Scotland at the Stade de France, Saturday, 5 Februay, kick-off 5.00pm:

Damien Traille, Yoann Huget, Aurelien Rougerie, Maxime Mermoz, Maxime Medard, Francois Thrinh-Duc, Morgan Parra, Imanol Harinordoquy, Julien Bonnaire, Thierry Dusautoir (captain), Lionel Nallet, Julien Pierre, Nicolas Mas, William Servat, Thomas Domingo.

Substitutes: Guilhem Guirado, Luc Ducalcon, Jerome Thion, Sebastien Chabal, Dimitri Yachvili, David Skrela, Clement Poitrenaud.

..

jolley123

Why the hell did he choose Traille at fullback and not Medard?? Huget ahead of Clerc.....this guy's out of his head. Good news for us.

jolley123

jolley123 wrote: »

Why the hell did he choose Traille at fullback and not Medard?? Huget ahead of Clerc.....this guy's out of his head. Good news for us.

That means nothing for the Irish game the week after. He could just as easily revert to his best side with all playing in their regular positions. I sincerely doubt Rougerie will be in the mid-field for instance. The pack looks good though.

jolley123

Deleted User wrote: »

That means nothing for the Irish game the week after. He could just as easily revert to his best side with all playing in their regular positions. I sincerely doubt Rougerie will be in the mid-field for instance. The pack looks good though.

Well surely this is better then him putting out his best team against Scotland, to win big and then come to us with momentum and gametime. At least if he does choose his best team against us, it'll be their first game of the 6 nations for some of them. Judging by his decisions lately though, I find it hard to believe that he would put out his best team against us.

jolley123

jolley123 wrote: »

Well surely this is better then him putting out his best team against Scotland, to win big and then come to us with momentum and gametime.

Both you and I know that Lievremont doesnt operate that way; a bonus for Ireland.

CouchSmart

Scotland: H Southwell (Stade Francais); N Walker (Ospreys), J Ansbro (Northampton Saints), N De Luca (Edinburgh), M Evans (Glasgow Warriors); D Parks (Cardiff Blues), R Lawson (Gloucester); A Jacobsen (Edinburgh), R Ford (Edinburgh), E Murray (Newcastle), R Gray (Glasgow Warriors), A Kellock (Glasgow Warriors, captain), N Hines (Leinster), K Brown (Saracens), J Barclay (Glasgow Warriors).

Replacements: D Hall (Glasgow Warriors), M Low (Glasgow Warriors), R Vernon (Glasgow Warriors), R Rennie (Edinburgh), M Blair (Edinburgh), R Jackson (Glasgow Warriors), S Lamont (Scarlets)

Hines to 6 is interesting.

http://www.espnscrum.com/sixnations2011/rugby/story/133500.html

Noffles

http://www.espnscrum.com/sixnations2011/rugby/story/133506.html

And we've now lost Halfpenny... shame wanted to see him screaming down the wing... oh well, I've sure there's a Williams and a Prydie that can do that just as well...

JustinDee

Noffles wrote: »

http://www.espnscrum.com/sixnations2011/rugby/story/133506.html

And we've now lost Halfpenny... shame wanted to see him screaming down the wing... oh well, I've sure there's a Williams and a Prydie that can do that just as well...

What about that hefty winger just starting out? North?

thomond2006

JustinDee wrote: »

What about that hefty winger just starting out? North?

Injured, he had shoulder surgery after the AIs.

Noffles

Shame about 1/2P and shame on the teenage giant North, he would of been good to see... Can't they just sit around and play PS3 this week...!!

thomond2006

When are the England and Wales teams being announced?

CouchSmart

Wednesday, Thomond.

Noffles

thomond2006 wrote: »

When are the England and Wales teams being announced?

Think they're both tomorrow lunch

thomond2006

CouchSmart wrote: »

Wednesday, Thomond.

Noffles wrote: »

Think they're both tomorrow lunch

Cheers. I've something written for it.

Noffles

thomond2006 wrote: »

Cheers. I've something written for it.

Waiting with baited breath.....

roycon

cant believe poitrenaud was left out. hes put on a bit of weight over the last year and been playing out of his skin in the top 14.

Morf

roycon wrote: »

cant believe poitrenaud was left out. hes put on a bit of weight over the last year and been playing out of his skin in the top 14.

Ditto.

It's in HD on BBC 1 HD. Not BBC HD. Which is a pain. I plan to record the repeats on Setanta HD anyway.

Gracelessly Tom

thomond2006 wrote: »

Cheers. I've something written for it.

Teams are out now, lets be having it Thomand!! Looking forward to this!:D

SomeFool

I'll just stick up te teams til Thomond gets here.

England: B Foden (Northampton Saints); C Ashton (Northampton Saints), M Tindall (Gloucester, capt), S Hape (Bath), M Cueto (Sale Sharks); T Flood (Leicester Tigers), B Youngs (Leicester Tigers); A Sheridan (Sale Sharks), D Hartley (Northampton Saints), D Cole (Leicester Tigers), L Deacon (Leicester Tigers), T Palmer (Stade Francais), T Wood (Northampton Saints), J Haskell (Stade Francais), N Easter (Harlequins).

Replacements: S Thompson (Leeds Carnegie), D Wilson (Bath), S Shaw (Wasps), J Worsley (Wasps), D Care (Harlequins), J Wilkinson (Toulon), M Banahan (Bath)

Wales: J Hook (Ospreys); M Stoddart (Scarlets), J Roberts (Cardiff Blues), J Davies (Scarlets), S Williams (Ospreys); S Jones (Scarlets), M Phillips (Ospreys); P James (Ospreys), M Rees (Scarlets, capt), C Mitchell (Ospreys), B Davies (Cardiff Blues), A-W Jones (Ospreys), D Lydiate (Newport Gwent Dragons), S Warburton (Cardiff Blues), A Powell (Wasps)

Replacements (TBC): R Hibbard (Ospreys), J Yapp (Cardiff Blues), R Jones (Ospreys), J Thomas (Ospreys), D Peel (Sale Sharks), R Priestland (Scarlets), L Byrne (Ospreys)

Noffles

Like the selection, it's about as good as we could have put out when you look at the squad available... Also like the look of the bench. If we'd had our initial front three I would of said we'll have an excellent game... unless we get some sort of parity in the set piece, scrum in particular we'll struggle BIG TIME!

At this stage though, I'm looking forward to the start, whether I feel the same after 80 minutes is debatable and as is often said, it's the team on the day!

buck65

Welsh team looks weak tbh.

BoarHunter

the XV of the first Week end from planet rugby

15 Ben Foden (England) - When both he and Chris Ashton play well, Saints and England seem to win. Foden's flashes of brilliance and a good fend always kept Wales guessing.

14 Chris Ashton (England) - Some are only just talking about him possessing some of the best support lines in the game but those who followed him at Wigan Warriors and more recently Northampton know his worth when it counts. Two more tries for England.

13 Joe Ansbro (Scotland) - Lancashire representative Ansbro must be pinching himself. His metre-making ability against France was a massive plus for coach Andy Robinson.

12 Maxime Mermoz (France) - He only played 45 minutes but it was a stellar performance. It is a massive shame for the Championship and France that he now requires surgery.

11 Maxime M�dard (France) - Max Evans was electric for Scotland as his centre tendancies saw him come off his wing to find work. M�dard though was the official man-of-the-match.

10 Toby Flood (England) - Tests are won by moments of vision and clinical actions. Flood showed both when spotting numbers 1 and 3 in the Welsh defensive line to set up Ashton.

9 Ben Youngs (England) - Scrum-half was a problem in this selection as few really shone. However, a second look at Friday's game showed Youngs making many right calls.

8 Imanol Harinordoquy (France) - A few would say this is a hard call on Sergio Parisse in his Six Nations comeback but there was nothing ordinary about Harinordoquy on Saturday.

7 Thierry Dusautoir (France) - His battle with John Barclay was one to savour and he just about came out on top. France missed 25 tackles but you can be sure Dusautoir made his.

6 Tom Wood (England) - Such was his strong debut that captain Mike Tindall is already likening him to Richard Hill! Wood was a strong line-out option and ball carrier throughout.

5 Bradley Davies (Wales) - A tad harsh to leave out Scotland captain Al Kellock after his try and general bullish game, but Davies was just too strong a runner in red to leave him out.

4 Richie Gray (Scotland) - French fans even warmed to the youngster as they applauded him when replaced late on. Gray is already being touted as a 2013 British and Irish Lion.

3 Martin Castrogiovanni (Italy) - Ireland struggled to cope in the scrum at times as Rory Best popped up on numerous occasions courtesy of Castro's power. He edges Dan Cole.

2 William Servat (France) - A line-out success rate in the late 90s and a showing of real sturdiness elsewhere, Servat continues to prove that he is Europe's number one #2.

1 Thomas Domingo (France) - Quickly becoming indispensable to this Les Bleus line-up, Domingo's raw power and squat frame makes him a real handful in the loose

http://www.planetrugby.com/story/0,25883,16024_6735568,00.html

Noffles

Wales team to face Scotland in Edinburgh on 12 February:
Lee Byrne (Ospreys); Morgan Stoddart (Scarlets); Jamie Roberts (Blues), Jonathan Davies (Scarlets); Shane Williams (Ospreys); James Hook (Ospreys), Mike Phillips (Ospreys); Paul James (Ospreys), Matthew Rees (Capt, Scarlets), Craig Mitchell (Ospreys), Bradley Davies (Blues), Alun Wyn Jones (Ospreys), Dan Lydiate (Dragons), Sam Warburton (Blues), Ryan Jones (Ospreys)

Replacements: Richard Hibbard (Ospreys), John Yapp (Blues), Jonathan Thomas (Ospreys), John Turnbull (Scarlets), Tavis Knoyle (Scarlets), Stephen Jones (Scarlets), Rhys Priestland (Scarlets)


Hook at 10... the peoples choice...! Ryan Jones instead of the woeful Powell... Byrne at FB and pretty much the same again.

^much better team imo

trackguy

Noffles wrote: »

Wales team to face Scotland in Edinburgh on 12 February:
Lee Byrne (Ospreys); Morgan Stoddart (Scarlets); Jamie Roberts (Blues), Jonathan Davies (Scarlets); Shane Williams (Ospreys); James Hook (Ospreys), Mike Phillips (Ospreys); Paul James (Ospreys), Matthew Rees (Capt, Scarlets), Craig Mitchell (Ospreys), Bradley Davies (Blues), Alun Wyn Jones (Ospreys), Dan Lydiate (Dragons), Sam Warburton (Blues), Ryan Jones (Ospreys)

Replacements: Richard Hibbard (Ospreys), John Yapp (Blues), Jonathan Thomas (Ospreys), John Turnbull (Scarlets), Tavis Knoyle (Scarlets), Stephen Jones (Scarlets), Rhys Priestland (Scarlets)


Hook at 10... the peoples choice...! Ryan Jones instead of the woeful Powell... Byrne at FB and pretty much the same again.

Both Jones and Preistland on the bench? Seems like a cop-out from Gatland, although I suppose they aren't strictly just 10's.

Hook is going to have to run the show - not sure he provides as much direction as Jones.

Noffles

Deleted User wrote: »

^much better team imo

On paper it doesn't look like that much... but the subtle changes "should" reap benefits

toomevara

Hook to ten, good to see, has to be done. Gatland also got the dreaded vote of confidence today...This is a crucial game for his future no matter what the WRU are saying up front;

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/welsh/9390663.stm

Podge_irl

toomevara wrote: »

Hook to ten, good to see, has to be done. Gatland also got the dreaded vote of confidence today...This is a crucial game for his future no matter what the WRU are saying up front;

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/welsh/9390663.stm

Crucial game that I think they'll lose.

They can hardly change coach before the RWC at this stage though surely?

CatFromHue

i didnt think powell did too bad. it was one of his better performances and when he went off i thought wales missed him. i have made fun of his abilities in the past but he was much improved last friday.

i didnt think too much of hook when he went to outhalf. he hasnt played there in a while and it showed against the englsih. it will be interesting to see how he gets on against the scots.