Six Nations
Ireland captain Paul O’Connell was passed fit on Thursday to lead the team against Wales in the Six Nations on Saturday following his dramatic withdrawal last weekend.
The veteran lock pulled out of last week’s 28 / 6 win at home to Scotland just hours before kick-off with a chest infection.
Scotland have made three changes to their starting XV and three more changes to their bench for Saturday’s RBS 6 Nations Championship match against England at Murrayfield.
There’s a new cap at openside flanker where Chris Fusaro, the 24-year-old Glasgow Warrior, a product of Bell Baxter High School and the Howe of Fife club, who has graduated from Scotland 7’s and Scotland A, replaces Kelly Brown. Fusaro will be Scotland’s 1052nd cap.
Scotland wing Sean Maitland is to miss the remainder of the Six Nations Championship, officials have announced on Wednesday.
The 25-year-old New Zealand-born back limped off midway through the first half of Scotland’s tournament opening 28 / 6 defeat by Ireland in Dublin on Sunday, suffering both concussion and leg injuries.
England head coach Stuart Lancaster has on Tuesday announced an unchanged 23-man squad for his side’s second Six Nations fixture against Scotland at Murrayfield on Saturday.
Lancaster has kept faith with the same players who were narrowly beaten 26 / 24 by France in their opening match in Paris last weekend.
Sam Warburton will lead Wales against Ireland in Saturday’s Six Nations match in Dublin. The Cardiff Blues flanker is named at open-side, with Ospreys’ Justin Tipuric dropping to the bench.
Round 2 of the RBS Six Nations tournament follows this weekend, after an eventfull Round 1 this past weekend.
Out of the England camp, it appears that winger Jonny May, who broke his nose against France hs been passed fit to play on the weekend.
France news is that Antoine Burban will miss Sunday’s Test against Italy with a hamstring injury and is replaced in the squad by Ibrahim Diarra.
Scotland’s Sean Maitland will miss the clash against England, suffering from concussion and a right leg injury.
Ireland’s inspirational captain, Paul O’Connell, is set to return against Wales after he withdrew from the team last weekend due to a chest infection.
Ireland (11) 28 / 6 (3) Scotland (Final Score)
Ireland and Scotland did battle in the Six Nations tournament at
Aviva Stadium, Dublin at 17:00 SA Time (15:00 GMT).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1 & SHD on TV in SA.
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France (16) 26 / 24 (8) England (Final Score)
France and England did battle in the Six Nations tournamnt at
Stade de France, Paris at 19:00 SA Time (18:00 France Time, 17:00 GMT).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1 & SHD on TV in SA.
*******************
Wales (17) 23 / 15 (3) Italy (Final Score)
Wales and Italy did battle in the Six Nations tournament at
Millennium Stadium, Cardiff at 16:30 SA Time (14:30 GMT, 15:30 Italian Time).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1 & SHD on TV in SA.
*******************
Three games are played on the weekend of 1 & 2 February 2014 in the start of the 2014 RBS Six Nations tournament.
On Saturday it’s Wales vs Italy at 16:30 SA Time (14:30 GMT) at Millennium Stadium in Cardiff and thereafter it’s France vs England at 19:00 SA Time (18:00 Fr Time, 17:00 GMT) at Stade de France, Paris.
On Sunday it’s Ireland vs Scotland at 17:00 SA Time (15:00 GMT) at the Aviva Stadium, Dublin.
ALL THREE MATCHES are broadcast on TV in South Africa and ALL THREE matches will have their LIVE GAME ARTICLES here on Rugby-Talk.
The Six Nations is the prime International Test tournament in the Northern Hemisphere and is a short and powerful competition where each team plays the other 5 sides only once. The winner of the tournament is decided on Log Points at the end of the tournament.
Wales are defending champions, in fact they are double defending champions and will try to make 2014 their hat trick season.
In 2013 France had a nighmare season, ending with the wooden spoon.
It is 2 weeks prior to the kick off of 2 brand new Rugby Tournaments and just less than a month away from kick off of the 3rd Tournament – Super Rugby.
We will have SuperBru Widgets up in the Righthand sidebar for these 3 Pools, for easy access to make your PICKS, go to the POOLS and see an abbreviated version of the LOG in each pool (Top 10).
Rugby-Talk SuperBru pools are open to all REGISTERED RUGBY-TALK SUBSCRIBERS, so if you are not yet registered, get clicking man!
As is the custom and the excitement, Rugby-Talk will be taking part in rugby competitions on SuperBru in 2014 again, but at the end of last year we took it a step further, we also formed our own SuperBru Club, the Rugby-Talk.com Club. The Club gives us an added and combined interface, where messages are posted in the “Social Room”, where the current Rugby-Talk Bru Pools are detailed in the “Games Room”, where members are tabled in the “Members Wall” and where medal standings and tables are displayed in the “Trophy Room”.
So, firstly, join up to the 3 NEW POOLS and also join up at the Rugby-Talk.com Club!
The details are as follows:
Treviso winger Angelo Esposito will make his international debut when Italy begins their Six Nations campaign with a daunting trip to Cardiff to take on holders Wales on Saturday.
Mention of the fact France have won the Five or Six Nations every year after a British and Irish Lions tour in the professional era can elicit deep consideration, confusion or shrugs, depending on who you mention it to.
That’s the thing about history, it can be interpreted in different ways. Or ignored. Or forgotten. Or remembered and its significance disregarded.
England will take on France in Paris on Saturday with a backline featuring two debutants and a one-cap winger after coach Stuart Lancaster named his starting line-up for the Six Nations opener.
As expected, 20-year-old Jack Nowell has been rewarded for his promising displays for Exeter with the starting berth on the right wing – with regular No 14 Chris Ashton dropped from the squad – with Jonny May winning his second cap on the left.
Luther Burrell is the latest in a long line of centres and will link up with Billy Twelvetrees outside Owen Farrell and recalled scrumhalf Danny Care.
Flyhalf Jules Plisson was named to start against England in France’s Six Nations opening game on Saturday as manager Philippe Saint-Andre continues his experiment with the Les Bleus’ halfback pairing.
The 22-year-old Stade Francais player will be alongside scrumhalf Jean-Marc Doussain as Saint-Andre will try out his 10th different halfback pairing since he took over from Marc Lievremont after the 2011 World Cup.
Scotland have made four changes to their starting XV and a further positional switch in their team to open the 2014 RBS 6 Nations Championship away to Ireland on Sunday.
The Super Rugby warm-up match between the Vodacom Bulls and DHL Stormers on Saturday in Polokwane won’t be broadcast on TV, as confirmed by SuperSport.
The 2014 RBS Six Nations tournament kicks off this weekend with current holders Wales hosting Italy on Saturday, while England travel to Paris to play France on the same day. The final fixture of the weekend sees Scotland playing against Ireland in Dublin.
The senior mens Six Nations tournament attracts most of the attention but let us not forget that the women and juniors (under 20s) also take part in their section of the competition. Ireland won the womens tournament last year while England are the current holders of the U20s title.
Wing Chris Ashton and scrum-half Ben Youngs have been left out of England’s opening Six Nations match in France. Uncapped Exeter wing Jack Nowell is in a 26-man squad along with Gloucester’s Jonny May, who has one cap.
Alun Wyn Jones will captain defending champions Wales in their Six Nations opener against Italy on Saturday, with Sam Warburton on the bench, the Welsh Rugby Union announced on Tuesday.
Experienced flyhalf Francois Trinh-Duc was on Saturday called into the France squad for next weekend’s Six Nations opener against England after Remi Tales was forced to withdraw with an arm injury.
Wales captain Sam Warburton has ended speculation about his future by signing a national contract with the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU).
Warburton’s salary will be paid by the WRU but he will continue to play for Cardiff Blues and will be released for games outside his Wales duties at no cost to the region.
The 2014 RBS 6 Nations launched in London today as coaches and captains convened at the Hurlingham Club. Wales, led by victorious British & Irish Lions captain Sam Warburton and coach Warren Gatland, will seek to make history by becoming the first side to win a third successive RBS 6 Nations title.
The Scotland squad came together yesterday with head coach Scott Johnson’s first task being to re-focus minds away from Heineken Cup disappointments and on to a Six Nations Championship.
Ryan Jones has been ruled out of Wales’ Six Nations campaign because of a hamstring injury. The 32-year-old back-row forward led Wales in three of their matches in the 2013 tournament as they retained the Championship title.
Hi,
After an Off-season which certainly drove me slightly more batty than I already was, the new Rugby Season is now close at hand.
The coming weekend sees some of Super Rugby’s warm-up matches, with the Lions playing the Leopards on Friday evening 24 January, the Cheetahs playing against NMMU and again against the Kings on Saturday and of course the Sharks playing Saracens on Saturday 25 January in London. In addition there is the HSBC Sevens World Series Las Vegas tournament on the weekend, Saturday and Sunday and slightly into Monday very early morning.
France have suffered a major blow for the Six Nations as Top 14 Rugby club Toulouse have announced that their captain Thierry Dusautoir has been ruled out of the championship.
The 32-year-old flanker – capped 65 times and world player of the year in 2011 – will be out for four months after he tore a tendon in his right biceps, Toulouse head coach Guy Noves said.
Chris Robshaw will continue as England captain in this year’s Six Nations, the Rugby Football Union said on Friday.
Kelly Brown has been told the Scotland captaincy is his to keep – if he proves himself as their best openside flanker. Head coach Scott Johnson has named the 31-year-old Saracens skipper every time he has played.
Uncapped 23-year-old Edinburgh wing Dougie Fife was named in a senior Scotland squad for the first time – ahead of the Six Nations next month.
Fife, a product of Edinburgh’s development system and also nurtured by the Currie club, has been in prolific form for the capital pro-club, scoring five tries in his last seven outings.
The Ireland coaching staff have announced an extended squad of 44 players for the forthcoming RBS 6 Nations Championship and the O2 Ireland Wolfhounds fixture against England Saxons. Ulster’s uncapped former South African duo Robbie Diack and Rob Herring have been included in the squad.
Gethin Jenkins has been included in a 32-man Wales squad for the Six Nations despite concerns over his damaged knee. The 33-year-old prop had a scan on Monday after he was injured in Cardiff Blues’ Heineken Cup defeat by Toulon.
Scottish Rugby continues to monitor carefully the international pitch at Murrayfield Stadium. The playing surface at the home of Scottish Rugby has been regarded with justifiable pride for many years; therefore its current condition is a matter of understandable concern.
Versatile back Mirco Bergamasco was named in Italy’s pre-Six Nations 30-man squad by coach Jacques Brunel Thursday, for the first time in more than a year.
The 30-year-old has not played for Italy since November 2012 when he broke his knee against Australia in Florence.
opean RugbyUncapped Bath fly-half George Ford has replaced Toby Flood in England’s elite squad (EPS) ahead of the Six Nations.
The dropped Flood, 28, has won 60 caps for his country but is leaving Leicester at the end of the season for an as-yet unspecified French club.