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6 Nations 2011

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Rosco

Rosco

Worse than Brendan
Member
It's not far away now, and it's amazing that a tournament that's so small with such familiar opponents can retain it's popularity and interest.

Paddy Power have England the favourites for it @ 7/4. France are 5/2, Ireland 3/1, Wales 11/2, Scotland 14/1 and Italy 250/1. I can only presume it was France's poor performances in the November internationals that has them at 5/2 rather than favourites.

I haven't been watching a whole lot of non Irish rugby so can anyone give us a low down on how their country is shaping up ?

I'm very tempted to back Ireland to finish top of the table, because we play France and England at home. Also some of the problems we had seem to resolving themselves. Cian Healy and Mike Ross have shown this season for Leinster that they know how to scrummage so if Ross starts (and he should IMO) we're stronger in the scrum than we have been for years. We have a lot of talent in the back row, only France can match us for depth and ability there. We've dropped O'Leary so we should see quicker use of the ball which will give our back line more better quality possession. Sexton is still improving.

On the downside we have a number of injury concerns:

Flannery at hooker - he's easily the best lineout thrower we have, if he doesn't play we may become a bit vulnerable there.

Heaslip at 8 - One of the best in the world at the moment, he'd be a loss to any team. The only silver lining is that it opens up a spot for O'Brien to play (so long as Kidney picks him). Anyone who hasn't seen him play yet will love him when they see his all action abrasive approach to the game. Top notch ball carrier.

Tommy Bowe - our best winger for the last few years has a knee injury which might keep him out.

Full back - Kearney and Murphy are out for the tournament. Fitzgerald is the one who seems to be in line to step in at 15 but he's only back from injury himself and looked really out of sorts against Saracens. Our only other possibilities seem to be Bowe (who might be out himself) Earls (who never looks comfortable under a high ball) or maybe Paddy Wallace (and I'm not sure how much he has played at 15)
 
England are far more at ease with themselves than at the start of Johnno's reign. They're still a work in progress but there's a feeling that, even half developed, this team could do well as there's a real togetherness about them.

Backs - Ashton and Cueto on the wings are looking good. Centre picks are more in doubt at the moment - I'm not sure whether Flutey's fit and, though Tindall has his uses, I have a hunch Johnno and his coaches will be looking to throw the ball around more this season, and generally up until the World Cup. Armitage has been banned for eight weeks after that incident with the drugs official, which would see him miss the whole tournament, but there'll be an appeal so we've yet to see if he'll come into the picture at fullback.

Half-backs - up in the air really (no pun intended). Flood's the man in possession at 10 and Wilkinson looks to be out of the running as long as he stays in France, but there are mutterings in the press about that particular RFU policy so watch this space. Youngs is well ensconced at 9 but has good competition from Care and Simpson.

Hooker is the main doubt in the front row. If Hartley's throwing were better he'd quite probably get the nod, but as it is he's neck and neck with Thompson (mind you, they can barely muster one neck between them). Sheridan and Cole are the best bets to start at prop, but there are a fair few willing and ready understudies like David Wilson and Tim Payne.

Great things are expected of Courtney Lawes in the second row (the guy's a real footballer as well as having that edge you need) and it looks as though Tom Palmer is in pole position to pack down alongside him.

Back row will be interesting. Will Moody be/stay fit? Will Easter take the armband over if not? (The answer is probably yes.) Will Tom Croft and a resurgent Tom Rees be fit enough to come back into the reckoning? Will Hendrie Fourie get a run in the side?

Wild card - possible return of Clive Woodward in a similar job (though with a different title) to that which Rob Andrew has been playing at doing these past few overpaid and underproductive years. Both during his playing days and afterwards, Andrew is one of the best illustrations I've ever seen of the principle that "it's not what you know, it's who you know".

Summary - England have a chance, but like Ross I'm not altogether sure why France have been made second favourites rather than favourites outright. I do think the bookies have the right top three though.
 
Cheers JJ. Just watching Leinster playing Racing Metro, winning handily but playing sloppily. O'Brien has just picked up another MOTM award, second one in a row.

And Fergus McFadden is looking really good since coming on. I think he'll get capped this season and make the World Cup squad because of his versatility.
 
Ireland open their Six Nations campaign against Italy in Rome on Saturday week. Kidney has seen a succession of front-liners fall by the wayside with Rob Kearney and Geordan Murphy both certain to miss the entire tournament.

They have been joined in recent days by Heaslip, Bowe, John Hayes, Shane Horgan and Andrew Trimble. In addition, Stephen Ferris remains a concern with a knee problem while Jerry Flannery has yet to return to full training.
Click to expand...

The 3/1 is looking less attractive now.

And McFadden has been training with the 6 nations squad this week, so it looks like he might get a call up.
 
I would say that there are fairly significant question marks hanging over all teams in the 6 Nations, and for one of the first times there is not an out-and-out clear favourite.

The French team look to be in transition, the English are not yet fully baked, but are clearly a confident squad (with severe deficencies at 10 and 8), and the Irish are knocking on for free bus passes. The Welsh are being talked about much less thatn in previous years and I wonder whether this squad has one last hurrah left in it (I hope not). Either that or it is nails in the coffin for about half the side.

Wide open.
 
Ireland will have a say in it too IMO. Can't see the others in with a real chance (appaz.both first-choice Welsh props are now out for the tournament BTW), though you never know.
 
I can't see anyone other than France winning it this year.

With our injuries i don't hold out much hope for us, allthough we've still got a good chance against the english.
 
You do like to lead with your chin, don't you? ;D If we bring our A game we'll murder you up front. A lot may depend on how much the referee lets you lot get away with. And I think you overpraise France, who probably are the best out there but have the problem of dealing with nutty selections by a coach about whom I'm still a long way from being convinced.

Welcome back anyway mate.
 
I'm looking forward to KO tomorrow night, should be an interesting game. I'm not sure how much of an advantage England will have in the scrum though, Paul James is no pushover and on your own put in the loosehead is all important. The lineout will be a lottery thanks to the hookers but England should have the advantage in the loose.

The more i look at the Welsh team the more vulnerable they look, if Toby has a good game it could be comfortable.

Kenny4PM why is Hook not playing in the centre and Lee Byrne at 15 ?

PP have the betting at England -3, I can see England beating that quite easily, particularly if Powell turns over ball a lot in contact.

In the other bets I quite fancy taking the two underdogs with the points they're being given. Scotland are not bad at all, Ireland are under strength and Italy will be at their best.

I can't believe Kidney picked O'Leary at 9 for us. Fitzgerald and Earls could be well tested under high balls this weekend and Italy will pounce on any errors and both are prone to them. I hope O'Brien lives up the reputation he's established in the Heineken Cup this year. 6'2, 17 stone and he can move. Electric ball carrier and the right type of guy you want in the pack against Italy.
 
[quote author=Judge Jules link=topic=43754.msg1277250#msg1277250 date=1296740500]
You do like to lead with your chin, don't you? ;D If we bring our A game we'll murder you up front. A lot may depend on how much the referee lets you lot get away with. And I think you overpraise France, who probably are the best out there but have the problem of dealing with nutty selections by a coach about whom I'm still a long way from being convinced.

Welcome back anyway mate.
[/quote]

Afternoon mate.

I'll admit that i'm more than a little bit concerend about how we'll fair in the scrum without our 2 best props, but that area put to one side, we certainly have the edge in the pack imo. Warburton, Powell and Lydiate make up a youthful, big and exciting back row + Davies and A Wyn Jones have the potential to be Wales 2nd row for many years to come.

It seems strange to say, but i'm more worried about where the tries are going to come from. With North, Henson, Halfpenny, Bishop and Byrne (bench) not playing, we really lack a cutting edge.

If we can avoid getting pinged in the scrum all night long(big if), i think we'll have a great chance of winning a tight, foward dominated game.

Either way i like what Gatland is doing, he's putting together a very young and talented squad that will soon start to produce the goods.

Rosco:

Gatland loves J Davies at centre (great prospect), so with Byrne not playing well he's found a way to fit all 3 of Roberts,Davies and Hook into the side. the feeling is that if Stephen Jones fails to perform tonight, then Hook will get his chance at 10 for the rest of six nations.
 
Johnno says hi and please thank Gatland for writing his team talk for him. 😉

Can't wait now. Bring it on. 8)
 
Tindall absolutely butchered a good chance there, but England cams straight back up the pitch to open the scoring with a simple inside pass from Flood to Ashton. Wales were completely strung out and defended poorly.
 
Very enjoyable. Good win for England, the thing that worries me most is the quality of Englands bench. Shaw and Wilko are brilliant options at the end of a tight game.

Hook needs to be the main man for Wales
 
Great end to a fairly poor game. Darcy, Leamy and o Leary should be for the chop after that.

The good news is my treble on the handicap bets is still on. Need the Scots to lose by less than 14 now
 
Why didn't we all back France at 9/4 ?

Based on the first game they are head and shoulder above the rest and they didn't actually play that well. They were just so clinical when Scotland turned over ball.

My handicap treble came up which was nice, I think I'll try one every week
 
Its rare that i wish injury upon Irish players not named Keane, but O'Leary is a doubt for this game on Sunday. Even if Stringer replaces him i would like to see him miss out
 
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