Really interesting 6 nations coming up.
Even if there is no interest I will be posting thoughts here. I really cannot wait, the 6 nations is probably my favourite sport tournament.

Wales vs Scotland, Wales are obvious favourites for the whole thing and for Sunday aswell. On the bright side for Scotland they have a pack that can contend with Wales and a few backs that can cause some hassle.. Its in Scotland so maybe they could muster up a shock. Wales are playing great and always entertaining to watch. I'm still bitter over them taking the Grand Slam from us so I hope Wales get pelted. I reckon they will win by 20 putting the match in the bag in the second half.


England vs Italy. Willhill has Italy at 6-1 for a victory, this is pretty shocking even if England are at home. They have been abismal of late and Italy has one of the best packs out there with their captain Parisse a world class player. They have a new fly-half coming up aswell.
I think an England victory by 6-9 points but I would definitely put some money on 6-1 Italy as this is a close match and its not a big suprise if Italy win.


Ireland France. For some reason we are being pipped as 2nd favourites. If Kidney can bring back all the confidence we have lost and if O'Driscol can start breaking some lines we have a good chance. His defence is unquestionable and hes obviously world class but its been a while since hes had a game changing moment for us. France have beaten us the last 7(i think) times we played so despite all the reports I am not optimistic.
The French manager is bringing a lot of youth and changing his team in a bizarre way so hopefully we can capitalise on it. Plus its in Croker so the atmosphere will be great.

Heres to spending every weekend in February in the pub!

You know I'm not even sure which sport this is about. I could google it, but I'll just guess....

Rugby? Maybe cricket?

First one. Rugby. I wish I was home for this, but an Irish bar will have to suffice.

I'll be watching it all.

Predicting:

No grand slam this year. England are rebuilding (to put it politely). Ireland aren't great, but with O'Driscoll are always dangerous. France are still struggling to find their best team after the WC. Scotland suck but will take heart from decent performances in the autumn and Italy are no good either. Wales will probably win it again but I hear there are doubts over the squad they have selected.

Wales
Ireland
France
England
Scotland
Italy

I don't follow rugby much, but do watch some of the 6 nations matches.


Seems like England are being written off, so I predict England to win. That's just what they need, probably, for motivation.

I hope you're uncanny predictions are only stuck to football.


It would be terrible if England beat us in Croke Park. A lot of the people on the fence in the GAA persauded the hard liners to let us play in their Stadium. If England beat us there, it would be unfair to the guys who stuck their neck out on the line to get us in there.
Brittish soldiers drove into Croke Park and opened fired into the crowd killing 13 and at the players(killing one of the players) during a GAA match in retaliation to 14 assasinations by the rebels in 1920 for those of you who were not aware what the fuss was about.

Any English sport and the Union jack have been banned since as the GAA is an appreciate Ireland and no foreign influences kind of group.

I'm 100% confident they won't win the whole thing and not even too sure about them against Italy. Everybody should be worried about playing Italy.

excellent thread! my thoughts on the games:

England v Italy:

Italy will be sticking to a very simple game plan - ruck, maul, ruck, maul and basic one out rugby - as they have got very little to work with outside their pack, so much so they've picked Mauro Bergamasco (a flanker) at scrum half. The english front five will need to be on their game and ready for some attritional battles up front. I expect the score to be within 7 after 60 minutes but then the english sub backs (Geraghty and Tait) will come on and tear the tired legs of the italians apart with the final score probably england by 18-25.

Wales v Scotland:

Wales are the form team in the championship, are well prepared and comfortable playing in the big games. They remind me of England in the years leading up to the 2003 world cup, except they have a little more flair out wide. Lee Byrne is probably the best player in the tournament and could be a good bet for top try scorer. Scotland have seemingly been rebuilding for 10 years and theyve left out their probably their best players in Chris Paterson and the Evans brothers (i played with Thom in a few 7s comps a couple of years ago and he might be the quickest player i have seen over half a pitch) but they have a decent tight five so could keep it close for a while. I dont see Wales losing this one though and should be good by 12-19.

Ireland v France:

French rugby is going through a low point right now with just one team in the Heineken cup quarters, and some boring, stale rugby being played in their domestic leagues (i watched the Stade/Perpignan game in Paris last week and it was the dullest game i have ever been too). Sadly, Ireland havent been a whole lot better recently but the provinces have been exception in Europe, particular Munster and particular their pack and Ronan O'Gara. I expect this one to be dominated by territorial kicking and if the irish lineout thrives they should have enough to win it. A tight one, ireland by 1-5.

Overall:

I really dont see anyone in Wales class again this year and i expect another Grand Slam. Ireland should ride the good form of their domestic teams into second place though if France's Mr Hyde side turns up they could well flipflop. England are rebuilding and are just too inexperienced/lacking in class to cope with the better teams over 80 minutes. Scotland really havent progressed much recently but will be looking to this year as a springboard for future seasons. Italy will just be hoping to keep closing the gap between themselves and the others.

1.Wales
2.Ireland
3.France
4.England
5.Scotland
6.Italy

Agree with nearly all of the above. I'm pretty sure France will beat us though, I've just come to expect it. I'll never forgive Geordan Murphy for missing that tackle in the last minutes 2 years ago when France scored a later winner.

Best part of this tournament is you never have a clue what can happen. Every year it never fails.

LOL, i nearly got sacked from my job at the time because of this.

I was working in a call centre at the time (yawn) and was watching the game on the bbc site which was obviously banned. Anyways, France score and i shout 'dick head' forgetting where i am - my dad's from Clare so i had a rooting interest in the Irish. My manager appears from no where and reprimands me giving me all this guff about final warnings and what not. I left soon after.

Devasting blow though, pretty much the best chance the Irish had of winning the 6 nations.

Just watched the Scotland game, what a load of rubbish! wooden spoon here we come!

Not really. Wales are very, very good remember. Byrne and Williams are the best backs in world rugby right now, this was always going to be a pretty heavy pasting for us.

Ireland and France both looked pretty good in their game so I think one of them will still be challenging.

But Italy and England were dire. Granted Italy had a flanker at scrum-half, and boy could you tell but England could only get points when he made mistakes. So I can't see how they'll penetrate the Welsh, Irish or French. If Italy's old no9 was still around (bald fella, name escapes me) then things could have been different.

England are going to get thumped in Cardiff. Except Cueto, who I've always liked but can't put a reason on it...

england were awful. against any other team they would have been destroyed but italy left themselves with too much to do in the second half. bergamasco's performance was one of the worst i have ever seen by a scrum half, huge misstep by the management not to bring him off earlier.

ireland and france both looked very good and that was easily the best game of the 3. o'driscoll had his best game in an ireland shirt since maybe the last lions tour and that has to put the fear into the other teams. the french were counter-attacking brilliantly but looked a bit less impressive from first phase ball.

wales did enough against scotland but never really got out of 3rd gear against a scotland team who need to start the evans brother next time out. when max came on they looked much more dangerous and offered an attacking threat for the 1st time. wales scored some good tries but it wasnt an exceptional performance by any means.

I'm still in shock. France have ruined nearly every one of our last six nations when we had a good team. I can't believe we beat them.


There was a lot of positives for us.
We never let our heads drop, whenever France scored we got another one quickly after.
After our terrible kicking in the first half allowing them to run at us, we stopped doing it so much in the second, something that didn't happen with O'Sullivan.
With O'Sullivan, Leamy would have been brought into the team, Heaslip got his chance and took man of the match.
Even as good as O'Driscol was he wasn't even in our top 3 players on the night so it was great.
It was about time we beat them, trust me when we lead by 6 in the last 10 minutes not one Irish person was confident.
Gordon Darcy came back after a year out froma broken arm in 7 places and bagged a try, great news.


Wales toughest challenge will have to be going to Paris and then who knows with Ireland in Cardiff.
They look very impressive and can definitely make more scores then the french did running through our lines. Its Wales to lose at the moment.

England looked pretty bad and it was depressing how bad Italy were. England need a proper performance against Wales or they are going to get stuffed by France and Ireland too.

I'm not looking forward to going to Murrayfield, things will be a lot of clearer of everyones form after the 2nd match.

Its hard to make any crazy predictions for these matches.

Wales England: Will be a tough encounter with England playing it up front, I think if England can hold on for the first 30 minutes it can be a close match but they will lose. I reckon Wales will be too much and win by 16-19 points. I hope England give them a good test, check out how their pack holds up.

France Scotland: Will probably be a depressing match with Scotland making mistakes and France punishing them. I hope not but most likely it will be. France by 20-25

Ireland Italy: Will be a very tough match, Bergomasco is back in as flanker and Griffen is a good fly-half. If our pack play like it did last week we can win it well. I'm pretty afraid of the Italians but we should win. Its going to be ugly rugby. Ireland by 6 points

Alessandro Troncon. Great player

Grazie. That was doing my head in!

I'm dissapointed Williams is injured for the game against England, if both he and Byrne were fit the English would get caned.

Of course we'll get trounced tomorrow. Although the French squad confuses me, I barely recognise anyone and I'm a Stade fan (casual obviously). So maybewe have a tiny chance.

And Ireland will beat Italy handsomly but thats a given isn't it?

my thoughts on this weeks games:

Wales/England:

Martin Johnson has very much named a defensive team designed to stifle the Welsh by cutting off quick ball and clog up the midfield. Worsley and Tindall will bring experience and presence to the English team and i think we'll see a marked improvement from last weeks debacle, especially in the first half where i wouldnt be surprised if it was within a point or two either way or possibly a draw. The English kicking game will also be key as the Welsh back three, even without Williams, are extremely dangerous and can counter attack from anywhere. IF they find their touches and put pressure on the lineout, they may be able to keep in within 7 points but i am gonna go for a Welsh victory by 8-15 points with the wide men scoring the tries.

France/Scotland:

For the last 20 minutes last week Scotland where able to compete with Wales upfront and laid a platform for the backs to get good quick ball which they exploited with a Max Evans try. This French pack isnt as strong as the Welsh and if the Scots can keep this intensity up for 80 minutes there is certainly the chance of an upset here. The French played some great stuff against the Irish but still came away with a 9 point loss which indicates to me that they dont quite have the class of years previous. They are still very dangerous in broken play but Scotland have recalled Thom Evans who is lightening fast will light up the championship if given the chance, and he provides a counter threat to the French themselves. I see this one being the closest of all the games this weekend with the French just eeking out a 1-5 point win IF the Scottish pack fronts up.

Italy/Ireland:

Ireland are the only team that have named an unchanged team since last week but, sadly for them, the Italians have actually put a scrum half at scrum half - tactical genius duh! Italy were actually pretty good in the second half last week, albeit against a very poor England but i dont see them being able to put the Irish pack under any pressure which could lead to a bit of a bloodbath in the backs as BO'D looks like being close to his old self and Italy really dont have much class in the midfield. I see a 20-27 point victory for the Irish and top spot at the end of week 2.

Rinswun has teh knowledge.

heh just educated guesses my man.

i was lucky enough to play a pretty high standard of rugby for a long while and got to play with or against quite a few of the current guys in and around the international squads. the fact england are struggling so badly and i never made it probably tells you all you need to know there lol.

Quality predictions rinswun even if France did grab a bit more.

The only thing I see from all these matches is that it is bad news for Ireland.

Prediction time.

Wales vs France: who the hell knows what France are up to. Baby playing out-half for the first time ever. I really can't wait for this one. Wales looked vunerable at times against England but a team can't force the play for the whole game, they are a class act and have become pretty ruthless.
I think Wales by 12 points in a tough match. I basically despise wales since they (deservedly) took our Grandslam away from us and Scotland is the only Brittish team I would officially cheer for( I was rooting for England in Cardiff sssshhhhhh) so I want France to win. Wales pack and backs are just so solid if someone could point out some weaknesses that would be nice.
Hoping for a good game but I think Wales will just be too professional and when they take a lead will close it out.
Whats the views about the Friday Night match in your respective countries Brits? I'm in Israel so I don't get to hear much of the banter except for my dads updates on his failure to get a ticket t Croke Park.



Ireland England. Anyone who thinks Ireland are clear favourites are blind or trying to build us up so we bottle it AGAIN.
England will cause us a lot of trouble at the breakdown. If we don't have fast ball they will neuter us. I like how our front 3 is consistently targeted but always holds up. The talk of targeting the 10-12 channel is funny and I don't think it will be a problem for us. They are rugby players after all, if they were weak tacklers they wouldn't be playing.
Hopefully Paddy Wallace can finally get his chance at centre and justify Kidneys faith in him. We've been calling him Paddy Balboa, both eyes 18 sticthes in 2 games.
I have no idea why Easter is still there(Guscott certainly is not happy about it). Our backrow 3 are in excellent form and Johnson should have made some changes to combat that.If Flood plays the ball like he is expected to we could have a cracker of a game.I'm not optimistic but I say Ireland by 10. The Croker affect will help us a lot. Playing England in Croke Park is all the motivation the players need.


Italy Scotland. 90% chance that the best way to describe this game afterwards will be "Ugh". I hope its a good game and have no idea who will win. If the Evans brothers are playing maybe the spark in the backs can be the deciding factor, as good as Italys pack are ,the backs offered barely anything in attack against Ireland.


cool article about rugby in America: http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/sport/...9722117665.html

damn, this weekend snuck up real quick and now i have to head out and wont have any time to do my proper predictions.

france/wales: i agree almost completely with what you said slapstick and think wales will take it by 10-15. i have no idea what lievermont is thinking in his team selection and i think it will backfire. wales are too professional to let a little thing like the parisian crowd intimidate them.

ireland/england: i think ireland will win this one by 10-15. england have improved - not difficult - but are still too negative in their approach to beat the irish at what will essentially be their own game, tough work in tight and then spread it wide. i expect england to take less penalties but to have far less possession and eventually conceed a couple of late scores.

scotland/italy: blah, the wooden spoon decider shouldnt really be much of a contest at all. scotland have been a much better team in the tournament so far and the only chance italy have of keeping this close is by illegally battering the scottish as they did to the irish last week in the first half. scotland by 20-25.

fwiw, i HATE the fact there is a friday night game this week. i dont know who's decision it is or why theyve made it, but its crap - stick with the 3rd game on a sunday or have all of them on the same day. friday night is for drinks after work, not six nations rugby. urgh.

If Ireland bottle it today I plan on renouncing my citizenship and moving to Africa,

With that being said, from this 6nations England have seemed utterly flat and unimaginative with the exception of maybe Sackey,

Looking for O'Gara to completely outclass Flood and give Ireland direction and get the back line moving like they can for once.

Well Rin we were wrong about Wales.

I think Martin Johnson is lucky. Lucky that Ronan O'gara brought his clown shoes instead of his rugby boots so now he can say sin bins cost him the match and the media can agree with him. If O'Gara knocked over those easy(for him) kicks the match would have been out of reach and exposed his unimaginative not one risk taking selection.

It was a worrying performance for Ireland and a lot to be talked about but for Johnson to happily blame the sin bins and have his many flaws not highlighted is ridiculous.

Vickery was a clear sending off as the ref told them the next one to foul in the red area will see yellow. The Care one was wreckless but Im ok with those bits of aggression in the heat of the moment and it was a scrum half on a prop. Kind of meh but if the ref calls...ok.

Oh and a classic rugby ref comment in the Scottish Match when Danielli went down after being "blocked" by a player.."Anymore of that and you'll be off to Drama School"

i missed 2 of the games this week - the friday game due to a work function and the scotland game because i was off watching brentford/bury.

from what i hear france deserved the win and it looked like wales were complacent. maybe theyre starting to believe their own hype and thinking they only have to turn up to win? i pity poor italy because i imagine they will be on the end of a wales backlash if that is the case, as the coaching staff will have beasted them in training. i was shocked to hear of the loss though for sure.

ireland/england was a pretty poor advert for the game. both teams pretty much cancelled each other out and england's negativity is really ruining their games as a spectacle - one tait burst and 1 decent tindall break are about all the positive points i can remember. i totally agree that johnson will keep fixating on the sin-binnings and not focussing on the short-comings of his side. until they change tact and start spreading it wide they are going to continue losing tight games, as they are predictable and easy to defend by just defending in tight and clogging up the middle.

looking forward to wales/ireland for the championship now - come on ireland!

Weeeeeeeee!

Come on Ireland! If we don't win a Grand Slam this year, we will never win one ever again!

It's obviously the best oppurtunity we've had at a championship in yonks. From a neutral standpoint, I would say Ireland winning the six nations would be about as likely as United winning the Premiership, so, more or less, it's a lock. However, being an Irish fan, I'm more pessimistic. I'm looking at how we can fook it up, more than how we'll win it! Two trips to Murrayfield and Cardiff won't be easy, but still, I really do think we're going to do it!

The Irish pack is the biggest it's been in ages. Very solid front row, Horan and Flannery do their job very well and Hayes is an absolute legend. O'Connell is obviously a monster, not enough superlatives to describe this guy. O'Callaghan, although I'd like to see somebody really push him for his place he's still a great player. He did beat the likes of O'Driscoll and O'Kelly to get the shirt, so I guess he can't be slacking off too much!
The back-row is what I'm really pleased with. Ferris, Wallace and Heaslip have all been awesome. Everyone's always known how good Wallace is, but the performances from Ferris and Heaslip, especially being relatively young, have been excellent. And of course the physicality of the back row. When David Wallace is your smallest and lightest back-row, you know you must have one strong team! I wouldn't be surprised to see all three of them tour with Lions this summer.

The backs have been good aswell. New guys like Kearney and Fitzgerald have really added vitality to the back. It's great to be able to pick from the experience of guys like Horgan, D'Arcy and Murphy, and the youthfulness of guys like Kearney, Fitz and Bowe. O'Driscoll has been great too, esp against England! I've always said (this coming from a Munster man!), he really does add that spark to the Irish team.

Anyway, here's to Ireland winning a grand-slam!!!

Wow England are stuffing France. Every turnover is a try...

Scotland were appalling once again on Saturday. Thankfully Italy are in the group otherwise it would a wooden spoon every year.

Italy France is turning out to be a good game with Italy really gunning for it and France showing some lovely hands. Chabal just scored as I type, strong bastard, never consider him tackled. Such a good take by their 12 he fumbled the high ball and caught around his thighs in full sprint.

The referee is pretty terrible and hurting Italy(hes Irish). Funny part was that he can speak French and Italian so he is doing so, then the Italian out half walks up and he switches back to English. Hes Australian, I found that fairly amusing.


Scotland England. England can still claim 2nd if Wales lose and they beat Scotland. Fortunately for the new English friends I have made at the bar I think Scotland is going to be a lot tougher than they think. France just turned out perfect for them, with turnovers and every attack being a score. If Scotland hold on for the first 20 and hold down the errors it could be a cracker.


France just scored again, so much for a good game.

Ireland Wales: 0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0ooo0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o
0o00o0o00o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o00o0o0o0o0

I really have no idea how this will go. PLEASE JUST LET IT HAPPEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 61 YEARS, LET O'DRISCOL AND CO BECOME LEGENDS IN IRELAND, THEY DESERVE IT

COME ON IRELAND!!!!

my dad is from Clare so i've always liked the Irish as much as the English - plastic paddy syndrome and all that. There is a very short window for Ireland to win a grand slam so its pretty much now or never.

In other news, best wishes to Harry Ellis who looks like he may have sustained a very nasty neck injury. Reminded me very much of this hit - obv minus the helmets and pads - Kevin Everett

Come the day, and come the hour, come the power, and the glory!

holy shit. seriously Im still in shock and almost had a heart attack twice. Jones taking that kick in the last seconds was just another familiar Ireland losing after working so hard and then he was a yard short. Its sad but watching the smile on Brian O'Driscols face is one of my happiest memories ever, these group of animals deserved a Grand Slam and after so many close attempts they got it.

History

So i figured we may as well turn this into the Official Rugby thread now - maybe a title change could be added . I am still on a high after the Irish win yesterday, especially as that was one of the most intense games i have ever seen. The ending was almost unbearable.

Anyhow, gotta look forward now to the Lions and thought we might as well make some predictions for the squad and 1st XV. From what i've ready, Geech is taking 35 players though i dont know how he'll be splitting each position. Thought it could make for some lively banter. My squad (first 15 bolded):

Full Backs

Lee Byrne (Wal)
Rob Kearney (Ire)
Delon Armitage (Eng) - provides cover for the wing and outside centre

Wing

Shane Williams (Wal)
Tommy Bowe (Ire)
Thom Evans (Sco)

Outside Centre

Brian O'Driscoll (Ire)
Tom Shanklin (Wal)

Inside Centre

Gavin Henson (Wal) - provides cover for full back, outside centre and fly half
Jamie Roberts (Wal)

Fly Half

Johnny Wilkinson (Eng)
Ronan O'Gara (Ire)
Stephen Jones (Wal)

Scrum Half

Mike Phillips (Wal)
Harry Ellis (Eng)
Mike Blair (Sco)

Props

Euan Murray (Sco)
Gethin Jenkins (Wal)
Adam Jones (Wal)
Phil Vickery (Eng)
Marcus Horan (Ire)

Hookers

Jerry Flannery (Ire)
Dylan Hartley (Eng)
Ross Ford (Sco)

Locks

Paul O'Connell (Ire), Captain
Alan Wynne-Jones (Wal)
Simon Shaw (Eng)
Donnacha O'Callaghan (Ire)

Blindsides

Tom Croft (Eng)
Alasdair Strokosch (Sco)

Opensides

David Wallace (Ire) - provides cover for the blindside and number 8.
Martyn Williams (Wal)

Number 8

Ryan Jones (Wal) - provides cover for the blindside
James Haskell (Eng) - provides cover for the blindside
Jamie Heaslip (Ire)

Near misses - Chris Paterson, Paul Sackey, Mike Tindall, Ricky Flutey, Danny Cipriani, Duane Peel, Andrew Sheridan, John Hayes, Ian Gough, Andy Powell, Tom Rees.

Its pretty tough to whittle the selection down to 35 but i think we'll see the majority of the party made up of the Irish and Welsh, with the same in the test team. Wilkinson is contraversial choice but if he is fit, he has to be the man at 10 purely for his defensive game which gives him the significant advantage over the other two. In the pack i think they'll go for the power of Haskell over the speed of Croft as the back row for SA are all very big ball carriers so we'll need big hitters in defence.

Will give this a proper look over as I dont have much time. Stephen Ferris not getting a mention? His name is basically already pencilled in at No. 6. Hes the only Bok like flanker we have out of all teams.

I dont think he has the necessary experience at International or European level to warrant a Lions place as yet though he did well in the championship this year. The fact he went off very early in the Grand Slam game will go against him i think.

I disagree that we have no Bok-like flankers, i think Haskell, Jones and Wallace have the necessary power, size and ball skills to compete with Smith and Burger - the first 2 are good strike runners who are as big as the SA big guns and Wallace is outstanding in and around the tackle area - as is Williams. Storokosh is super aggressive in contact and in tight which is pretty key against the Boks, and Heaslip and Croft offer something a bit different with their speed and rangey running styles. Its real tough to whittle a squad down to 35, lots of players that you feel should get in but cant squeeze in there!

I'd be willing to wager that Ferris starts at least one test match. I agree with Wallace and Jones and Heaslip, but Ferris is something else altogether.

LIONS XV

1. Genkins (WAL)--1. Flannery (IRE)--3. Hayes (IRE)

---4. Alwyn-Jones (WAL)---5.O'Connell (IRE)

--6. Ferris (IRE)---8. Heaslip (IRE)---7. Wallace (IRE)


9.Blair (SCO)----10.O'Gara (IRE)/Jones(WAL)

11.Williams (WAL)---12.Flutey (ENG)---13.O'Driscoll (IRE)---14.Bowe (IRE)

------------------15.Byrne (WAL)/Kearney(IRE)----------------


That's my Irish biased 15. Realistically, that probably won't be the team. I think a case can be made for any Irish player to start, but due to the coaching staff and the fact there is some pretty stiff competition, I don't think there'll be that many Irish players.

NON-IRISH DOMINATED LIONS XV

1. Genkins (WAL)--2. Rees (WAL)--3. Vickery (ENG)

---4. Alwyn-Jones (WAL)---5.O'Connell (IRE)

--6. Ferris (IRE)---8. Heaslip (IRE)---7. M.Williams(IRE)


9.Blair (SCO)----10.Jones(WAL)

11.Williams (WAL)---12.Flutey (ENG)---13.O'Driscoll (IRE)---14.Sackey (ENG)

------------------------------15.Byrne (WAL)----------------

Some combination between those two teams is the team that will be picked imo.
Debatable positions:

Tight-head - Not sure who to pick here. Vickery is probably the best available, but I would love if Hayes got to start.
Back-Row - I personally think the strongest backrow is one of 6. Ferris, 7. Wallace, 8. Heaslip. The Irish back-row was immense during the 6N and I see no reason why these 3 shouldn't start.
10. - It's either Jones or O'Gara imo. This is probably the closest call imo. I think O'Gara showed an improvement in his running and his physicality during the 6N. It's a toss-up, but obviously in any 50-50 call, I'll choose the Irish guy, so O'Gara (but I don't think the Lions coaching staff will share my sentiments!)
Inside-Centre - Bleh, don't know who to pick here. Henson, Shanklin, D'Arcy all could be picked. Don't really like Henson, so he's not picked. Shanklin is usually a 13 so he's not picked. D'arcy isn't good enough so he's not picked. Instead I went with a guy who scored 4 tries in the 6N, Riki Flutey. Yeah, it's obviously not a standard pick but who cares.
14. - Sackey or Bowe. My preference goes to Bowe
Full-Back - Kearney had a great 6N and I am sure he will be putting Byrne under huge pressure for his starting place. Hopefully Kearney will start.


So, if I HAD to choose my XV right now, it would be...
1. Genkins
2. Flannery
3. Vickery
4. Alwyn-Jones
5. O'Connell
6. Ferris
7. Wallace
8. Heaslip

9. Blair
10. O'Gara
11. Williams
12. Flutey
13. O'Driscoll
14. Bowe
15. Byrne

I like Ferris a lot, and i am not trying to slight him or his performances in any way but i just dont think he'll make the Lions test squad. 10 dollar/pound/euro wager that he doesnt start in the tests? Obviously a injury clause would be included.

booked for sure. Yea I know you're not saying hes shit or anything. I just think he is the ideal blindside for this tour.


And Jam Fly I'd be willing to book a lot of money on Vickery not starting a test and a smaller amount that he doesn't get on the tour

lol Ferris out for the Ulster games

nah, not very confident in Vickery tbh! There's also a good chance the Scottish prop Murray could start as opposed to Vickery or Hayes

Lions Squad

Fullback
Lee Byrne (Wales)
Rob Kearney (Ireland)

Wing
Shane Williams (Wales)
Leigh Halfpenny (Wales)
Ugo Moyne (England)
Luke Fitzgerald (Ireland)
Tommy Bowe (Ireland)

Centre
Tom Shanklin (Wales)
Jamie Roberts (Wales)
Brian O'Driscoll (Ireland)
Keith Earls (Ireland)
Riki Flutey (England)

Fly Half
Ronan O'Gara (Ireland)
Stephen Jones (Wales)

Scrum Half
Mike Phillips (Wales)
Harry Ellis (England)
Tomas O'Leary (Ireland)

No 8
Jamie Heaslip (Ireland)
Andy Powell (Wales)

Flanker
David Wallace (Ireland)
Stephen Ferris (Ireland)
Alan Quainlan (Ireland)
Joe Worsley (England)
Martyn Williams (Wales)

Lock
Alun-Wyn Jones (Wales)
Paul O'Connell (Ireland) Captain
Donncha O'Callaghan (Ireland)
Simon Shaw (England)
Nathan Hines (Scotland)

Prop
Gethin Jenkins (Wales)
Adam Jones (Wales)
Andrew Sheridan (England)
Phil Vickery (England)
Euan Murray (Scotland)

Hooker
Jerry Flannery (Ireland)
Lee Mears (England)
Matthew Rees (Wales)


Really happy with the centres selected, great to see Flutey and Earls included.
Thrilled with the back-rows. Four Irish back-rows is unbelievable!
Little surprised neither Horan or Hayes were included, would've been cool if they got selected.

By the looks of things, we could easily see 2/3 of the starting 15 being Irish. Possibly as high as 13 starters being Irish!
Happy enough O'Connell got the captaincy, although I wouldn't've been opposed to BOD getting it (this coming from a Munster man! )

Overall, very happy

Munster minus Mafi, Hayes and Howlett for the Test team?!

Only 2 Scottish players, no-one is surprised.

My bet for Ferris is going nicely as predicted.

I was reading the BBC's 606 and one Scottish guy complained and said it was obvious that there was a Scottish bias and he would be supporting the lions because of it. It was then pointed out to him that the Lions manager is Scottish. I laughed a lot at that one.

"Munster minus Mafi, Hayes and Howlett for the Test team"

I can't really see how you can complain about any of the Irish players selected. Hayes Horan Best and Darcy will still feel hard done by.

i'm definitely not complaining, i am a big Munster fan - i would be keen to see that lol! Heaslip could be looking good for the 6 journey now too :S. what amount did we settle on?

pretty sure it was small like 10. Its on the first page. Yea I knew you like munster but from reading 606 I've become a bit defensive:)

Ferris ruled out with injury so bet off. You saved yourself 10, if you've been following the tour it was pretty obvious he was impressing and would start at least one test. He won man of the match against the Cheetahs too.

i feel for him, he was looking good for at least a place on the bench in the first test.

at this stage my test team would be:

15. Byrne
14. Bowe
13. O'Driscoll
12. Roberts
11. Monye
10. O'Gara
9. Phillips
1. Jenkins
2. Mears
3. Sheridan
4. O'Connell
5. Wynn Jones
6. Croft
7. Wallace
8. Powell

Subs: Vickery, Ford, Hines, Williams, Ellis, Hook, Fitzgerald

You were losing that bet for sure. Last night proved how much more important he is than Croft.

I like your team, except wtf at Powell? Heaslip owns that jersey. Powell hasnt been that impressive and has no intelligence. Heaslip has been doing the grunt work and has the ability to spark at any moment.

That backrow would get destroyed against south africa, Croft isn't a no6 for a team like South Africa. Hes amazing but not what we need, we are already in trouble at the breakdown. Heaslip will need to be there to cover up for what croft is lacking.

I think I'd put Jones in for the first test even though I have a man crush on ROG.

The 11 is a tough one but yea I like Moynes physicality, I think Fitzgerald is the best winger there but he only had one game on the wing and doesnt deserve a test spot on one performance.

Byrne is an animal, if you keep Kearney out of a team especially with his performance against the Golden Lions, you have to be world class and Byrne is amazing.