It is the 2nd week of RBS Six Nations rugby this weekend.
As usual, there will be 3 Six Nation games on the weekend, between these 6 participationg countries, 2 on Saturday and 1 on Sunday.
Ireland host Wales on Saturday, 16:30 SA Time (14:30 GMT).
Scotland host England on Saturday, 19:00 SA Time (17:00 GMT).
France host Italy on Sunday, 17:00 SA Time (16:00 France Time, 15:00 GMT).
Rugby-Talk will feature LIVE GAME ARTICLES for all 3 games.
Ireland / Wales:
Rugby365 reports that both Ireland and Wales will be looking to build on their opening Six Nations wins last week when they square off in Dublin on Saturday.
Warren Gatland’s reigning Six Nations champions started their quest for a third successive title with a 23-15 win over Italy, while Ireland kicked off their campaign by beating Scotland with ease on Sunday.
Those Round One results simply add to the sense of occasion surrounding the Aviva Stadium affair, with both sets of players having enjoyed healthy rivalries within the PRO12 and built lasting friendships on the British and Irish Lions tour Down Under last year.
And all those factors, plus the passion of the Irish in Dublin and the way in which Joe Schmidt’s men have spoken of their desire to knock Wales off their perch, means flyhalf Rhys Priestland and co are expecting a no-holds barred encounter in two days’ time.
“There’s a buzz about the place and we’re ready to have the kitchen sink thrown at us from the way Ireland have been talking,” said Priestland.
“It’s going to be hostile out there and from listening to them you can tell there’s a lot of emotion. They are the rivals we know best because both countries have four teams in the PRO12 and come up against each other quite often. We are familiar with the way we both play.
“They are on a high and are desperate to stop us winning a third title. But we are desperate to win and it doesn’t matter what we’re up against, we will give our best because it means so much to play for Wales.”
Priestland spoke candidly about the need for improvement after the opening win over the Azzurri, with the Scarlets playmaker knowing that a similarly unsatisfying second half would likely lead to defeat in Dublin.
Ireland were superb in parts against the Scots and came within a whisker of a first win over New Zealand at the end of last year and Priestland is anticipating similar performance levels from Paul O’Connell and co at the weekend.
“We are looking to test ourselves against a very good Irish team who could have beaten the All Blacks last year. It’s a massive challenge,” added Priestland.
“We are under no illusions about how difficult it is going to be, the toughest challenge we will face in the Six Nations, maybe.
“Defensively, we are going to have to be at our best. We need to improve with the ball in hand from last week, but defences win you championships.”
Players to watch:
For Ireland: Rob Kearney will pose a threat from the back, and the experience of Brian O’Driscoll in midfield could prove decisive. Jonny Sexton will look to control matters and Jamie Heaslip will look to run over some Welsh defenders. Captain Paul O’Connell will be key in the line-outs and loosehead Cian Healy will set the tone at scrum-time.
For Wales: Leigh Halfpenny should provide a steady stream of points from the kicking tee, and if he can unleash wings Alex Cuthbert and George North it could be a long night for the Irish. Jamie Roberts will use his physicality to get over the gainline and bring other ball-carriers like Taulupe Faletau and Dan Lydiate into the game. The experienced Alun Wyn Jones will be the key man in the line-outs and props Adam Jones and Gethin Jenkins will be expected to get the scrum going forward.
Head to head: Leigh Halfpenny and Rob Kearney are both threatening from the back, and in midfield the battle between Jamie Roberts and Gordon D’Arcy should be fierce. Taulupe Faletau and Jamie Heaslip are both dangerous runners off the back of the scrum whilst in the set-pieces the key duels will be between Alun Wyn Jones and Paul o’Connell in the line-outs and Cian Healy and Adam Jones in the scrums.
Recent results:
2013: Ireland won 30-22 in Cardiff
2012: Wales won 23-21 in Dublin
2011: Wales won 22-10 in Wellington
2011: Wales won 19-13 in Cardiff
2010: Ireland won 27-12 in Dublin
2009: Ireland won 17-15 in Cardiff
2008: Wales won 16-12 in Dublin
2007: Ireland won 19-9 in Cardiff
2006: Ireland won 31-5 in Dublin
Rugby365 Prediction: The teams appear to be very evenly matched, so we are backing Ireland to take a narrow win at home by less than three points.
Teams:
Ireland: 15 Rob Kearney, 14 Andrew Trimble, 13 Brian O’Driscoll, 12 Gordon D’Arcy, 11 Dave Kearney, 10 Johnny Sexton, 9 Conor Murray, 8 Jamie Heaslip, 7 Chris Henry, 6 Peter O’Mahony, 5 Paul O’Connell (Captain), 4 Devin Toner, 3 Mike Ross, 2 Rory Best, 1 Cian Healy
Replacements: 16 Sean Cronin, 17 Jack McGrath, 18 Martin Moore, 19 Dan Tuohy, 20 Tommy O’Donnell, 21 Isaac Boss, 22 Paddy Jackson, 23 Fergus McFadden.
Wales: 15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 Alex Cuthbert, 13 Scott Williams, 12 Jamie Roberts, 11 George North, 10 Rhys Priestland, 9 Mike Phillips, 8 Taulupe Faletau, 7 Sam Warburton (Captain), 6 Dan Lydiate, 5 Alun Wyn Jones, 4 Andrew Coombs, 3 Adam Jones, 2 Richard Hibbard, 1 Gethin Jenkins
Replacements: 16 Ken Owens, 17 Paul James, 18 Rhodri Jones, 19 Jake Ball, 20 Justin Tipuric, 21 Rhys Webb, 22 James Hook, 23 Liam Williams.
Date: Saturday 8 February
Venue: Aviva Stadium, Dublin
Kick-off: 16:30 SA Time (14:30 GMT)
Predicted weather: Partly cloudy but dry with a wind of 50 kph, high of 11
Referee: Wayne Barnes (England)
Assistant Referees: Glen Jackson (New Zealand), JP Doyle (England)
TMO: Graham Hughes (England)
Scotland / England:
Rugby365 also reports that England are preparing themselves for a pitch battle in more ways than one when they face Scotland for the Calcutta Cup at Murrayfield on Saturday.
It was at the Edinburgh ground where England coach Stuart Lancaster began his time in charge of the national side with a hard-fought 13-6 win two years ago.
They now head north on the back of an agonising 26-24 defeat away to France in the first round of the Six Nations, a loss that prolonged the wait for a first Red Rose Grand Slam since England’s World Cup-winning year of 2003.
But Lancaster was sufficiently encouraged by the way England, who had been 3-16 down early on, rallied to lead 24-19 before losing to Gael Fickou’s converted try three minutes from time, to name an unchanged matchday party for the first time in his 23 Tests in charge.
The only lingering fitness doubt concerned Gloucester wing Jonny May, who went off early at the Stade de France with a broken nose.
“It’s good to be able to select the same players and they are all determined to put last week’s result behind us and build on the performance,” said Lancaster.
England showed plenty of ambition in Paris, not always a quality associated with the men in white shirts, and it will be interesting to see if they can play the same sort of game on Saturday, with captain Chris Robshaw determined they shouldn’t suffer another “plucky” defeat.
But the fact that England haven’t scored more than 15 points at Murrayfield since 2004 tells the story of how Scotland, whatever else may be happening, can always rouse themselves for rugby’s oldest international match.
And the fact Scotland, once more paying the price for a back division lacking a cutting edge, were well beaten 28-6 by Ireland in Dublin last weekend will provide additional motivation.
“Scotland will be hugely motivated by their defeat in Dublin and, as we found two years ago, Murrayfield is a tough place to play,” said Lancaster.
While England are unchanged, Scotland coach Scott Johnson has dropped captain Kelly Brown, giving the flanker’s place to test debutant Chris Fusaro and leadership duties to scrum-half Greig Laidlaw.
“Fusaro is picked to do a certain role and we believe there’s an opportunity for him to do it,” Johnson said.
“England are powerful, they have an edge to their side and are assertive and aggressive,” the Australian added.
“They will probably consider themselves unlucky last weekend but it’s not always brute force that wins these games.”
In a bid to find an elusive spark behind the scrum and so help Scotland end a run of four straight defeats by England, Edinburgh centre Matt Scott has been promoted from the bench with Tommy Seymour replacing injured New Zealand-born wing Sean Maitland.
Bad weather has often been a key factor in the quality of Calcutta Cup rugby and, should the forecast rain arrive, the 132nd Scotland-England clash may well be something of a slog.
However, a new and worrying dimension is the state of the once pristine Murrayfield pitch.
The grass at the Edinburgh ground has come under attack from parasitic nematodes this season, making scrums in particular a dangerous lottery, with the packs struggling to keep their footing on the loose turf and even backs in open play undone by the poor surface.
This week saw the Scottish Rugby Union announce plans to install a new hybrid pitch at Murrayfield in time for next season, but that may be scant consolation to the players in action on Saturday.
“I hope I’m wrong but I do have concerns that the state of the pitch will have a big influence over who wins,” former Scotland prop Peter Wright told the Daily Mail.
“Such an important game could be decided by a player losing his footing at the set-piece and giving away a penalty. That shouldn’t be the way a team wins a Six Nations match.”
Players to watch:
For Scotland: Four of the top six tacklers in Round One were Scottish, with Duncan Weir and Tim Swinson each making
15 tackles, Alex Dunbar 14 and Ryan Wilson 13. Stuart Hogg had a good attacking day despite Scotland’s defeat, being the top off-loader with four, equal top in clean breaks with three, and second in defenders beaten with six.
For England: Despite being on the pitch for only 14 minutes against France in Paris Ben Morgan beat four defenders and made 45 metres for England. Jack Nowell, on his Test debut made the second most metres of any player in the opening weekend with 81 metres from 10 carries. Danny Care dropped his second goal in the Championship, also doing so against Scotland in 2009. The only other scrumhalf to have dropped a goal in the Six Nations was Morgan Parra against Ireland in 2010.
Head to head: They may not be the two most celebrated fullbacks in the competition, but Stuart Hogg (Scotland) and Mike Brown (England) are both exciting with ball in hand. Obviously in any game possession is the key – which means the forwards hold the key. Should there be anything close to parity in the possession stakes then flyhalves Duncan Weir (Scotland) and Owen Farrell (England) will be the men that could decide the outcome.
Recent results:
2013: England won 38-18, London
2012: England won 13-6, Edinburgh
2011: England 16-12, Auckland (World Cup pool match)
2011: England won 22-16, London
2010: Scotland and England drew 15-15, Edinburgh
2009: England won 26-12, London
2008: Scotland won 15-9, Edinburgh
2007: England won 42-20, London
2006: Scotland won 18-12, Edinburgh
2005: England won 43-22, London
Rugby365 Prediction: Scotland have three times before bounced back after an opening weekend defeat in the Six Nations to record a victory in Round Two, but the Scots have won just two of their last 11 matches in the Championship – both last year, against Italy and Ireland in Rounds Two and Three. England’s 24-26 reversal at the Stade de France was their second defeat in successive Test matches; they have not lost three in a row since the year-end internationals of 2008. Given the quality of their respective rosters, we feel England will just have too much firepower and Scotland will fade in the second half. England to win by 15 points or more.
Teams:
Scotland: 15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Tommy Seymour, 13 Alex Dunbar, 12 Matt Scott, 11 Sean Lamont, 10 Duncan Weir, 9 Greig Laidlaw (Captain) 8 David Denton, 7 Chris Fusaro, 6 Ryan Wilson, 5 Jim Hamilton, 4 Tim Swinson, 3 Moray Low, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Ryan Grant
Replacements: 16 Scott Lawson, 17 Alasdair Dickinson, 18 Geoff Cross, 19 Jonny Gray, 20 Johnnie Beattie, 21 Chris Cusiter, 22 Duncan Taylor, 23 Max Evans.
England: 15 Mike Brown, 14 Jack Nowell, 13 Luther Burrell, 12 Billy Twelvetrees, 11 Jonny May, 10 Owen Farrell, 9 Danny Care, 8 Billy Vunipola, 7 Chris Robshaw (Captain), 6 Tom Wood, 5 Courtney Lawes, 4 Joe Launchbury, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Dylan Hartley, 1 Joe Marler
Replacements: 16 Tom Youngs, 17 Mako Vunipola, 18 Henry Thomas, 19 Dave Attwood, 20 Ben Morgan, 21 Lee Dickson, 22 Brad Barritt, 23 Alex Goode.
Date: Saturday 8 February
Venue: Murrayfield, Edinburgh
Kick-off: 19:00 SA Time (17:00 GMT)
Expected weather: Overnight rain clearing in Edinburgh, then becoming heavier by evening. Winds easing. High of 6 C and a low of 4 C
Referee: Jérôme Garcès (France)
Assistant Referees: George Clancy (Ireland), Mike Fraser (New Zealand)
TMO: Eric Gauzins (France)
France / Italy:
Rugby365 continues that France have already warned that they should not take Italy lightly when they meet at Stade de France on Sunday. Nor should they.
In the opening round of the Six Nations Wales battled against Italy. Each side scored two tries but Wales’s first try was a gross error by a defender. For the rest the Italians defended efficiently, save only for the forced break by big Jamie Roberts that gave Wales their second try. Italy’s second try was from an intercept. That was at Millennium Stadium.
France scored three tries against England at Stade de France, the first from a fortuitous bounce, but they did play a good England side.
The two (full) teams first met in 1937 and France have dominated, winning 32 of 35 encounters but Italy have won two of the last three meeting – in Italy, it’s true, but enough to make the whole of France wary lest there be a new Caesar crossing the helps to bash Gauls.
The teams play for the Garibaldi Cup. Joseph Marie Garibaldi, usually called Giuseppe, the Italian version of Joseph, was born in France (in Nice) and became the most effective fighter for Italian unity in the 19th century. Italy are the holders of the Garibaldi Cup.
France must be confident after their win over England last week but that confidence should be tempered by the memory of their defeat in Rome last year.
It is unlikely that they will find Italy a push-over, not with the new resolve and willingness to get down and dirty that began when Nick Mallett coached and the greater creativity that has come with Jacques Brunel.
France are also unlikely to be able to rely on flair against revolute tackling and the creativity of fast young players, amongst whom Michele Campagnaro was outstanding with his two tries against England and his toughness of defence.
The packs should more or less even themselves out – two strong front rows, two ordinary sets of locks and two lively sets of strong loose forwards where France will miss Thierry Dusautoir of the enormous work rate.
France have more dominant halfbacks, though both sides have relative novices, internationally speaking, at flyhalf in Jules Plisson and Tommaso Allan, a nephew of John Allan who played for Scotland and South Africa.
Allan has a Scottish father and an Italian mother.
The centres could have a right old dingdong with France possessing the stronger players though the Italians, despite that slip that let Jamie Roberts through, coped with the tough Welsh pairing and Michele Campagnaro burst on the scene like a new star.
It is the French back three that should have a telling edge, especially if Yoann Huguet can replicate the form – and good fortune – that brought him the tries that killed off England’s hopes of a Grand Slam.
Goal-kicking is always important and here the French scrumhalves Maxime Machenaud and Jean-Marc Doussain are more accurate then Tommy Allan and Luke McLean.
Players to Watch:
For France: Outside backs Wesley Fofana, Gaël Fickou, Yoann Huguet, Hugo Bonneval and Brice Dulin. And then there is Jules Plisson, the young flyhalf of so much attacking promise.
For Italy: You would like to see if Michele Campagnaro can do again what he did to England and in fact build on it. Of course, the world’s eyes will be again on Sergio Parisse, a player of great skill who always manages to be in the right place at the right time. And then there is aging Martín Castrogiovanni with his facial expressions and tumbling hair – a man who delights in scrummaging.
Head to Head: Gaël Fickou vs Michele Campagnaro in the backs; Jules Plisson vs Tommaso Alan at flyhalf, which could be crucial; Thomas Domingo vs Martín Castrogiovanni, two proud scrummagers. The biggest contest may well be at No.8 – Louis Picamoles vs Sergio Parisse – the strong ball-carrier against the forward who can do everything.
Recent results:
2013: Italy won 23-18, Rome
2012: France won 30-12, Paris
2011: Italy won 22-21, Rome
2010: France won 46-20, Paris
2009: France won 50-8, Rome
2008: France won 25-13, Paris
2007: France won 39-3, Rome
2006: France won 37-12, Paris
2005: France won 56-13, Rome
2004: France won 25-0, Paris
Rugby365 Prediction: Playing in France will not be strange to the Italians but still, after beating England, French tails are up, the cock is crowing, the dreams of the Grand Chelem are excitingly possible. And so, despite the determination and courage of the Azzurri, we believe that Les Bleus will win by 10 points or so.
Teams:
France: 15 Brice Dulin, 14 Yoann Huget, 13 Mathieu Bastareaud, 12 Wesley Fofana, 11 Hugo Bonneval, 10 Jules Plisson, 9 Jean-Marc Doussain, 8 Louis Picamoles, 7 Bernard Leroux, 6 Yannick Nyanga, 5 Yoann Maestri 4 Pascal Pape (Captain), 3 Nicolas Mas, 2 Dimitri Szarzewski, 1 Thomas Domingo
Replacements: 16 Benjamin Kayser, 17 Yannick Forestier, 18 Rabah Slimani, 19 Sebastien Vahaamahina, 20 Damien Chouly, 21 Maxime Machenaud, 22 Francois Trinh-Duc, 23 Gael Fickou.
Italy: 15 Luke McLean, 14 Tommaso Iannone, 13 Michele Campagnaro, 12 Gonzalo Garcia, 11 Leonardo Sarto, 10 Tommaso Allan, 9 Edoardo Gori, 8 Sergio Parisse (Captain), 7 Mauro Bergamasco, 6 Francesco Minto, 5 Joshua Furno, 4 Quintin Geldenhuys, 3 Martín Castrogiovanni, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 1 Alberto De Marchi.
Replacements: 16 Davide Giazzon, 17 Michele Rizzo, 18 Lorenzo Cittadini, 19 Marco Bortolami, 20 Alessandro Zanni, 21 Tobias Botes, 22 Luciano Orquera, 23 Angelo Esposito
Date: Sunday 9 February
Kick-off: 17:00 SA Time (16:00 France Time, 15:00 GMT)
Venue: Stade de France, Paris
Expected weather: This winter has not been gentle in the Northern Hemisphere and Paris looks a tough place to be on Sunday after two days of rain – a chance of thunderstorms with a 50 percent chance of rain, a high of 8 C, dropping to 2 C.
Referee: Jaco Peyper (South Africa)
Assistant Referees: Craig Joubert (South Africa), Francisco Pastrana (Argentina)
TMO: Gareth Simmonds (Wales)