6N Tournament 2018 (non-Irish TT)

Bazzo

stephen_n wrote: »

I’m amazed Para only has 66 caps, feels like he’s be around forever.

Probably something to do with the French putting out a different combination of half backs in every match since time immemorial.

prawnsambo

Here's the breakdown by position:

Prop
BEN AROUS Eddy (Racing 92)(19)
GOMES SA Cedate (Racing 92)(0)
POIROT Jefferson (Union Bordeaux-Bègles)(14)
PRISO Dany (Stade Rochelais)(0)
SLIMANI Rabah (ASM Clermont Auvergne)(41)

Hooker
CHAT Camille (Racing 92)(10)
GUIRADO Guihem (RC Toulon)(56)
TOLOFUA Christopher (Saracens RFC)(7)

Lock
GABRILLAGUES Paul (Stade Français Paris)(2)
ITURRIA Arthur (ASM Clermont Auvergne)(1)
LAMBEY Félix (Lyon OU)(0)
VAHAAMAHINA Sébastien (ASM Clermont Auvergne)(28)

Flanker
CAMARA Yacouba (Montpellier HR)(6)
GOURDON Kevin (Stade Rochelais)(15)
JELONCH Anthony (Castres Olympique)(2)
LAURET Wenceslas (Racing 92)(12)
MACALOU Sekou (Stade Français Paris)(1)

Number 8
TAULEIGNE Marco (Union Bordeaux-Bègles)(0)

Scrum half
DUPONT Antoine (Stade Toulousain)(6)
MACHENAUD Maxime (Racing 92)(31)
PARRA Morgan (ASM Clermont Auvergne)(66)

Out Half
BELLEAU Anthony (RC Toulon)(2)
JALIBERT Matthieu (Union Bordeaux-Bègles)(0)

Centre
BASTAREAUD Mathieu (RC Toulon)(42)
CHAVANCY Henry (Racing 92)(3)
DOUMAYROU Geoffrey (Stade Rochelais)(2)
LAMERAT Rémi (ASM Clermont Auvergne)(16)

Back three
DULIN Brice (Racing 92)(29)
FALL Benjamin (Montpellier HR)(6)
PALIS Geoffrey (Castres Olympique)(0)
THOMAS Teddy (Racing 92)(8)
VAKATAWA Virimi (Racing 92)(15)

Bazzo

Small enough squad when you look at it that way.

prawnsambo

Bazzo wrote: »

Small enough squad when you look at it that way.

Probably the right way for a new coach to approach it. Not too many chickens to herd and can add to the squad after the first game or two.

prawnsambo

Apart from the front row, there's not a lot of experience in that pack.

razorblunt

Gourdon back in, great player, one of the few that kept going in Belfast last weekend too.

.ak

prawnsambo wrote: »

Apart from the front row, there's not a lot of experience in that pack.

Looks like they’re gearing towards a RWC squad.

Squidgy Black

Geoffrey Palis is an interesting selection too. Got called up to the 2014 6N squad and was never used, same with last years 6N, part of their Summer tour squad last year but ended up being replaced due to injury. 4 years after being first selected he might get his first cap.

prawnsambo

Well you can scratch Bastareaud off the available list to play Ireland. He got three weeks which includes the France v Ireland match. Free to play after that.

Is Remi Lamerat expected to be fit for the Ireland game?

Buer

Mariah Creamy Succotash wrote: »

Is Remi Lamerat expected to be fit for the Ireland game?

He is already fit. He played last weekend.

prawnsambo

Mariah Creamy Succotash wrote: »

Is Remi Lamerat expected to be fit for the Ireland game?

He played against Saints at the weekend. Did he get injured again?

prawnsambo

prawnsambo wrote: »

He played against Saints at the weekend. Did he get injured again?

Guess I just missed that, thanks. So he is fit then. Very good player.

prawnsambo

Mariah Creamy Succotash wrote: »

Guess I just missed that, thanks. So he is fit then. Very good player.

Yeah. I expect it will be him and Chavancy who will start against Ireland.

Clegg

Haskell's been banned for the England's first two 6N games.

They're running quite low on proven quality backrow forwards. And even Haskell isn't top quality either.

accensi0n

prawnsambo wrote: »

Well you can scratch Bastareaud off the available list to play Ireland. He got three weeks which includes the France v Ireland match. Free to play after that.

Haskell just got 4 weeks.. really thought Bastareaud would get longer.

thomond2006

Incredibly inexperienced French squad. The most capped backrow player has 15 caps!

I don't follow Top14 as closely anymore but there are a lot names I don't recognise.

prawnsambo

thomond2006 wrote: »

Incredibly inexperienced French squad. The most capped backrow player has 15 caps!

I don't follow Top14 as closely anymore but there are a lot names I don't recognise.

Their selections at lock are fairly young too. Vahaamahina is the oldest at 26. The others are 23 or 24. Same in the back row where the oldest are Lauret and Gourdon. THe others are 21, 22 and 23. The 8 is 24.

It's going to be interesting how they manage in such a tough game. They don't exactly have winning form behind them.

stephen_n

prawnsambo wrote: »

Their selections at lock are fairly young too. Vahaamahina is the oldest at 26. The others are 23 or 24. Same in the back row where the oldest are Lauret and Gourdon. THe others are 21, 22 and 23. The 8 is 24.

It's going to be interesting how they manage in such a tough game. They don't exactly have winning form behind them.

Maybe they are just accepting this 6N as a write off and building for the future. Not sure the French fans will accept that though.

Larbre34

Clegg wrote: »

Haskell's been banned for the England's first two 6N games.

They're running quite low on proven quality backrow forwards. And even Haskell isn't top quality either.

Agreed, well over the hill.

Im going out on a limb to say England will have lost a game before we meet them in Twickenham and that we wont have. Some bookies will give you 5/1 for Ireland to win the slam, im taking it.

Larbre34

Larbre34 wrote: »

Agreed, well over the hill.

Im going out on a limb to say England will have lost a game before we meet them in Twickenham and that we wont have. Some bookies will give you 5/1 for Ireland to win the slam, im taking it.

I think we're going to win the slam this year.

razorblunt

I couldn’t see the image on page 1 of the Scottish squad before, only seeing it now. Good to see Laidlaw lose the captaincy, I think he holds them back. This makes him droppable too. He shouldn’t have walked back into the squad anyway but SRU politics would dictate Townsend is probably better off dropping him Than not including him.

Bazzo

https://twitter.com/EnglandRugby/status/953915186381033472?ref_src=twcamp%5Ecopy%7Ctwsrc%5Eandroid%7Ctwgr%5Ecopy%7Ctwcon%5E7090%7Ctwterm%5E1

Buer

Some really interesting calls there from England but they're still going to be putting out a top class front five with great bench options which will see them through their opening couple of games comfortably.

I can see Jones reverting to his 2017 plan with Itoje going to 6 and the England pack squeezing the life out of opponents.

I don't see past an England title again, unfortunately. If Scotland had a front row, I think they would have a sneaking chance of catching England out but I expect them to be steam rolled up front now.

razorblunt

Mallinder?

I've yet to see any justification for the hype around Isiekwe too.

prawnsambo

razorblunt wrote: »

Mallinder?

I've yet to see any justification for the hype around Isiekwe too.

I suspect that the likes of him and Marcus Smith are being brought in for development. Good few new caps who may not see any action. Although Italy may provide a good training run for them.

jr86

Interesting squad, still plenty of quality despite several injuries to big players

I think England are the rightful favourites here. They haven't lost a match at Twickenham since 2012 in this competition when they had an experimental campaign, making wholesale changes since RWC 2011.

Scotland might be their only real banana skin away from home but can't see the English underestimating them and they're well able to win ugly under Jones.

prawnsambo

Here's the England squad in the normal layout:

Prop
Mako Vunipola (Saracens) 44
Lewis Boyce (Harlequins) 0
Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers) 77
Alec Hepburn (Exeter Chiefs) 0
Kyle Sinckler (Harlequins) 8
Harry Williams (Exeter Chiefs) 5
Hooker
Tom Dunn (Bath Rugby) 0
Jamie George (Saracens) 20
Dylan Hartley (Northampton Saints) 89
Lock
Nick Isiekwe (Saracens) 2
Maro Itoje (Saracens) 14
Joe Launchbury (Wasps) 47
George Kruis (Saracens) 21
Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints) 61
Flanker
Gary Graham (Newcastle Falcons) 0
Chris Robshaw (Harlequins) 59
Sam Simmonds (Exeter Chiefs) 3
Sam Underhill (Bath Rugby) 3
Number 8
Zach Mercer (Bath Rugby) 0
Scrum half
Danny Care (Harlequins) 76
Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers) 73
Out half
Harry Mallinder (Northampton Saints) 0
Marcus Smith (Harlequins) 0
George Ford (Leicester Tigers) 40
Alex Lozowski (Saracens) 4
Centre
Jonathan Joseph (Bath Rugby) 35
Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs) 10
Ben Te’o (Worcester Warriors) 8
Owen Farrell (Saracens) 53
Back three
Mike Brown (Harlequins) 64
Nathan Earle (Saracens) 0
Jonny May (Leicester Tigers) 29
Denny Solomona (Sale Sharks) 2
Anthony Watson (Bath Rugby) 28
Jack Nowell (Exeter Chiefs) 23

jr86

So what's the likely line-up for Italy?

Brown - Watson - JJ - Farrell - May/Nowell - Ford - Youngs - Vunipola - Hartley - Cole - Launchbury - Lawes - Itoje - Robshaw - Simmonds

Or similar?

I'd imagine George, Sinckler and Teo will be kept in reserve for impact. He could always do the same with Lawes

It seems mad to have 3 Leicester backs in there though given their awful form, but EJ hasn't really tended to pick on club form to date

prawnsambo

jr86 wrote: »

So what's the likely line-up for Italy?

Brown - Watson - JJ - Farrell - May/Nowell - Ford - Youngs - Vunipola - Hartley - Cole - Launchbury - Lawes - Itoje - Robshaw - Simmonds

Or similar?

I'd imagine George, Sinckler and Teo will be kept in reserve for impact. He could always do the same with Lawes

It seems mad to have 3 Leicester backs in there though given their awful form, but EJ hasn't really tended to pick on club form to date

Yeah, but it's Ford, Youngs and May. Who have always stepped up at international level. Also, if he doesn't start Ford, he has to put Owen Farrell at ten and that leaves his centre options tight enough, especially if he wants a second playmaker on the pitch.

Bazzo

Not sure you could say Jonny May has always stepped up at international level...

MDunne14

prawnsambo wrote: »

Here's the England squad in the normal layout:

Prop
Mako Vunipola (Saracens) 44
Lewis Boyce (Harlequins) 0
Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers) 77
Alec Hepburn (Exeter Chiefs) 0
Kyle Sinckler (Harlequins) 8
Harry Williams (Exeter Chiefs) 5
Hooker
Tom Dunn (Bath Rugby) 0
Jamie George (Saracens) 20
Dylan Hartley (Northampton Saints) 89
Lock
Nick Isiekwe (Saracens) 2
Maro Itoje (Saracens) 14
Joe Launchbury (Wasps) 47
George Kruis (Saracens) 21
Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints) 61
Flanker
Gary Graham (Newcastle Falcons) 0
Chris Robshaw (Harlequins) 59
Sam Simmonds (Exeter Chiefs) 3
Sam Underhill (Bath Rugby) 3
Number 8
Zach Mercer (Bath Rugby) 0
Scrum half
Danny Care (Harlequins) 76
Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers) 73
Out half
Harry Mallinder (Northampton Saints) 0
Marcus Smith (Harlequins) 0
George Ford (Leicester Tigers) 40
Alex Lozowski (Saracens) 4
Centre
Jonathan Joseph (Bath Rugby) 35
Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs) 10
Ben Te’o (Worcester Warriors) 8
Owen Farrell (Saracens) 53
Back three
Mike Brown (Harlequins) 64
Nathan Earle (Saracens) 0
Jonny May (Leicester Tigers) 29
Denny Solomona (Sale Sharks) 2
Anthony Watson (Bath Rugby) 28
Jack Nowell (Exeter Chiefs) 23

Mallinder is a 15 and Eddie jones has made that known publicly , can’t see where his selection has come from he’s statistically one of the worst players in prem and at 21 he’s not in as an apprentice like Marcus smith

prawnsambo

MDunne14 wrote: »

Mallinder is a 15 and Eddie jones has made that known publicly , can’t see where his selection has come from he’s statistically one of the worst players in prem and at 21 he’s not in as an apprentice like Marcus smith

He's also a centre. He could be a bench option at 23 because of his versatility.

MDunne14

prawnsambo wrote: »

He's also a centre. He could be a bench option at 23 because of his versatility.

He won’t get near it as a centre as they have nowell, Slade , jj , faz , teo and lozowski potentially .. all of them are ahead of him and manu when he joins up with the squad in 6n

MDunne14

MDunne14 wrote: »

He won’t get near it as a centre as they have nowell, Slade , jj , faz , teo and lozowski potentially .. all of them are ahead of him and manu when he joins up with the squad in 6n

Nowell will be 23 I think can cover wing , 13 and 15

prawnsambo

You keep talking amongst yourself.

pickarooney

Bazzo wrote: »

Not sure you could say Jonny May has always stepped up at international level...

He's always stepped sideways.

Dog Botherer

Looks like I was right, England really don’t have a back row...

MDunne14

Dog Botherer wrote: »

Looks like I was right, England really don’t have a back row...

Itoje 6 robshaw 7 simmonds 8 will do for their first two games until Hughes is back not to mention underhill is every bit as good as leavy or jvdf if you watch him closely he’s a quality 7

Yeah_Right

MDunne14 wrote: »

Itoje 6 robshaw 7 simmonds 8 will do for their first two games until Hughes is back not to mention underhill is every bit as good as leavy or jvdf if you watch him closely he’s a quality 7

Itoje is a quality player. World class but he is a better lock than blindside. Obviously England has an abundance of good locks and not are weak in the loose forward department so I can the logic.

Robshaw is a very average 7. Stopgap only. I think he would be better as a blindside, similar to Ruddock. There are at least half a dozen players in Ireland who are better 7s than Robshaw.

Simmons I don't know much about as I don't get to watch much of the AP.

Underhill looks promising. How much international experience does he have?

Hughes is a one trick pony and he can fade in and out of matches. Admittedly it can be a very good trick.

MDunne14

Yeah_Right wrote: »

Itoje is a quality player. World class but he is a better lock than blindside. Obviously England has an abundance of good locks and not are weak in the loose forward department so I can the logic.

Robshaw is a very average 7. Stopgap only. I think he would be better as a blindside, similar to Ruddock. There are at least half a dozen players in Ireland who are better 7s than Robshaw.

Simmons I don't know much about as I don't get to watch much of the AP.

Underhill looks promising. How much international experience does he have?

Ya they could go robshaw underhill and simmonds either
Underhill is very good only became eqp at end of last year so only a handful of caps

The Pheasant2

Wouldn't mind if they had Hughes tbh - think he's often found out at test level.

Clegg

England has an abundance of quality tight five forwards but a relative dearth of quality in the backrow. Billy V is world class, but can't be relied upon to stay fit. Haskell and Robshaw were good once but I think they're past their best. Underhill is highly rated and Simmonds and Mercer are decent but nothing brilliant.

I've been listening to a lot of rugby podcasts recently and the hosts were crying out for Don Armond to be included in the squad, calling him the best performing English qualified backrow for the last 12 months. No sign of him the squad.

Also worth noting that Jack Nowell is being considered as a centre for the 6N.

penybont exile

Really looking forward to this ..... bookies have us 4th favourite in a two horse race.

I kinda like that ....

prawnsambo

penybont exile wrote: »

Really looking forward to this ..... bookies have us 4th favourite in a two horse race.

I kinda like that ....

Welcome back. Been a while...

penybont exile

prawnsambo wrote: »

Welcome back. Been a while...

Ha HA ..... Thank you ..... Love this time of the year!

Can't say I'm a big regional rugby fan ..... P14/Euro watched only occasionally .... 6N however .........

sydthebeat

penybont exile wrote: »

Ha HA ..... Thank you ..... Love this time of the year!

Can't say I'm a big regional rugby fan ..... P14/Euro watched only occasionally .... 6N however .........

You mustn't know any of your squad this time then.... Since it's made up of pro 14 dirt trackers


Seriously though, you must be worried about your injury list and the ability of some of the replacements to step up. I hope Gatland gives the likes of Adams and j Davies a fair crack of the whip. I think you need freshness in that team, a freshness a back 3 of North, cuthbert and halfpenny doesn't give you.

Im hoping our home advantage is good enough to get us over the line against you.... We anyways struggle.

penybont exile

sydthebeat wrote: »

You mustn't know any of your squad this time then.... Since it's made up of pro 14 dirt trackers


Seriously though, you must be worried about your injury list and the ability of some of the replacements to step up. I hope Gatland gives the likes of Adams and j Davies a fair crack of the whip. I think you need freshness in that team, a freshness a back 3 of North, cuthbert and halfpenny doesn't give you.

Im hoping our home advantage is good enough to get us over the line against you.... We anyways struggle.

TBH ... i don't know what to expect from Wales.

IMO the team has become too settled so some enforced changes maybe a good thing ..... throwing inexperienced players into big games has often worked for us in the past.

Cliché I suppose ...... but a good performance (and a win) against Scotland will set us up for a 'nothing to lose' game at Twickenham. We can be dangerous in scenarios like that.

Quite a number of the squad are in good form so hopefully Gatland is not afraid to mix it up with the match day selection .... a backline of Davies, Biggar, Williams, Parkes, Williams, North, Patchell is decent. Our front row & back row options also look good .... 2nd row is where we are light - time for one of the youngsters to really step up!

kuang1

Did a quick google there on who'll be doing the commentary for TV3 for the 6n. The only answer I got was Dave McIntyre with Quinlan co-commentating. (That could be worse I suppose)
There will be other commentators needed of course...please, please, please don't anyone tell me Conor McNamara is gonna be anywhere near a commentary booth...

Yeah_Right

penybont exile wrote: »

Quite a number of the squad are in good form so hopefully Gatland is not afraid to mix it up with the match day selection .... a backline of Davies, Biggar, Williams, Parkes, Williams, North, Patchell is decent. Our front row & back row options also look good .... 2nd row is where we are light - time for one of the youngsters to really step up!

What's your thoughts on Parkes? I never rated him in NZ or SA. I always felt he was a good NPC/Currie Cup level player who was lucky to get a Super Rugby contract. Usually as a stopgap in a weak SR team. Yet he seems to be going well in the NH. Didn't he get MOTM on his debut for Wales?