On to week two in the Six Nations, with a fun weekend culminating into the big match in Dublin on Sunday. It’s time to separate the contenders from the pretenders.
SCOTLAND vs ITALY
Saturday, February 9, 14:30 GMT, Edinburgh
Despite suffering a comprehensive defeat at the hands of England, Scotland have retained the same side apart from two injury enforced changes as Ross Ford and Robert Harley replace Dougie Hall and Alasdair Strokosch respectively. Glasgow hooker Pat MacArthur is promoted to bench duty and looks set to win his first senior cap. Similarly Italy have made only one change, as Gonalo Canale comes in for injured Alberto Sgarbi, with Gonzalo Garcia taking the vacant reserve spot.
On form this appears to be an easy pick as Italy have looked a far more cohesive side in recent months, and there is no reason to think that their performance should drop noticeably from their excellent performance in Rome. That said Scotland will be hell bent on restoring national pride in their home stadium, though given historically lacklustre crowd support one could hardly consider it Fortress Murrayfield. This will be a close match, but the Azzurri have too much self belief at the moment and should edge their way to their third successive Six Nations victory for the first time in their history. Italy by 5.
SCOTLAND
Stuart Hogg; Sean Maitland, Sean Lamont, Matt Scott, Tim Visser; Ruaridh Jackson, Greig Laidlaw; Ryan Grant, Ross Ford, Euan Murray; Richie Gray, Jim Hamilton; Robert Harley, Kelly Brown (capt.), Johnnie Beattie. RES: Pat MacArthur, Moray Low, Geoff Cross, Alastair Kellock, David Denton, Henry Pyrgos, Duncan Weir, Max Evans.
ITALY
Andrea Masi; Giovanbattista Venditti, Tommaso Benvenuti, Gonzalo Canale, Luke McLean; Luciano Orquera, Tobias Botes; Andrea Lo Cicero, Leonardo Ghiraldini, Martin Castrogiovanni; Quintin Geldenhuys, Francesco Minto; Alessandro Zanni, Simone Favaro, Sergio Parisse (capt.). RES: Davide Giazzon, Alberto de Marchi, Lorenzo Cittadini, Antonio Pavanello, Paul Derbyshire, Edoardo Gori, Kris Burton, Gonzalo Garcia.
FRANCE vs WALES
Saturday, February 9, 17:00 GMT, Paris
After being bested by Italy in Rome, Philippe Saint-Andre has showed faith in his team and made only two changes. Jocelino Suta replaces injured captain Pascal Pape, while Florian Fritz swaps place with the even more direct Mathieu Bastareaud who earns his first test start since March of 2010. Wales have replaced Matthew Rees with Richard Hibbard at hooker, while Ryan Jones assumes the captaincy again in place of Sam Warburton, whose injury absence means Justin Tipuric starts at openside flank.
Rob Howley’s men have now lost eight matches on the trot, and looked in total disarray during the first half against Ireland. While they managed to fight back and save face, Paris is never a welcoming place at the best of times. The French players will know that two subpar performances in a row will likely cost them their spot, so expect them to come out with all guns blazing early on. The power running of Bastareaud and Louis Picamoles should get them over the gainline, and the prospect of Wesley Fofana and Benjamin Fall running into space is one Wales will see with frightening frequency. France by 12.
FRANCE
Yoann Huget; Wesley Fofana, Mathieu Bastareaud, Maxime Mermoz, Benjamin Fall; Frederic Michalak, Maxime Machenaud; Yannick Forestier, Dimitri Szarzewski, Nicolas Mas; Jocelino Suta, Yoann Maestri; Thierry Dusautoir (capt.), Fulgence Ouedraogo, Louis Picamoles. RES: Benjamin Kayser, Vincent Debaty, Luc Ducalcon, Romain Taofifenua, Damien Chouly, Morgan Parra, Francois Trinh-Duc, Florian Fritz.
WALES
Leigh Halfpenny; Alex Cuthbert, Jonathan Davies, Jamie Roberts, George North; Dan Biggar, Mike Phillips; Gethin Jenkins, Richard Hibbard, Adam Jones; Andrew Coombs, Ian Evans; Ryan Jones (capt.), Justin Tipuric, Toby Faletau. RES: Ken Owens, Paul James, Craig Mitchell, Lou Reed, Aaron Shingler, Lloyd Williams, James Hook, Scott Williams.
IRELAND vs ENGLAND
Sunday, February 10, 15:00 GMT, Dublin
Brian O’Driscoll & Co. looked highly impressive during the first forty minutes in Cardiff, but seemed to take the foot off the pedal in the second stanza. Declan Kidney will be banking on a full eighty minute effort at home against a very threatening English side who were rampant against Scotland. James Haskell comes in for injured Ben Morgan with Tom Wood slotting into the no8 spot, while the midfield pairing of Brad Barritt and Billy Twelvetrees continues despite the return to fitness of Leicester powerhouse Manu Tuilagi, who must be content with a bench spot for now.
This one has the makings of a real classic, and should prove the turning point in the championship as both sides have designs for winning. Add in the huge implications towards Lions selection and we could see some tremendous individual performances. England will miss Morgan’s go-forward and may be forced to bring Tuilagi on sooner than later, but their form and confidence suggest that they will little issue at playing in front of a highly partisan crowd in Dublin. Another tight match, but England earn the hard hards and march on towards Six Nations glory with a 6 point victory.
IRELAND
Rob Kearney; Craig Gilroy, Brian O’Driscoll, Gordon D’Arcy, Simon Zebo; Jonathan Sexton, Conor Murray; Cian Healy, Rory Best, Mike Ross; Mike McCarthy, Donnacha Ryan; Peter O’Mahony, Sean O’Brien, Jamie Heaslip (capt.). RES: Sean Cronin, David Kilcoyne, Declan Fitzpatrick, Donncha O’Callaghan, Chris Henry, Eoin Reddan, Ronan O’Gara, Keith Earls.
ENGLAND
Alex Goode; Chris Ashton, Brad Barritt, Billy Twelvetrees, Mike Brown; Owen Farrell, Ben Youngs; Joe Marler, Tom Youngs, Dan Cole; Joe Launchbury, Geoff Parling; James Haskell, Chris Robshaw (capt.), Tom Wood. RES: Dylan Hartley, Mako Vunipola, David Wilson, Courtney Lawes, Thomas Waldrom, Danny Care, Toby Flood, Manu Tuilagi.
