Wales
Gloucester No 8 Ben Morgan was the one injury-enforced change to England’s starting line-up announced by coach Stuart Lancaster on Friday for their Six Nations international against Wales at Twickenham this weekend.
Morgan replaces Billy Vunipola, the man he came on for during England’s 13-10 win over Ireland at Twickenham last time out, after his fellow back-row forward was ruled out of the final two rounds of the Six Nations with an ankle injury.
Wales have named their team to play England on Sunday in the Six Nations at Twickenham with Lions duo Jonathan Davies and Alun Wyn Jones returning to the starting team.
British and Irish Lion Davies returns from injury to reunite Wales’ most capped centre pairing as he lines up alongside Jamie Roberts.
The fourth round of the 2014 RBS 6 Nation Championship takes place this weekend with the first match kicking off in Dublin on Saturday where Ireland host Italy. Scotland are hosts to France shortly after this, while the final game of the weekend takes place on Sunday with England hosting Wales at Twickenham.
There has been a bit of a gap in Six Nations action with no games played last weekend and so the thinking has been that this may be a good time to share an article to remind us of the action from the previous round.
Top-level sport is often decided by small margins. Take the events in Rome’s Stadio Olimpico on Saturday.
Scotland trailed Italy 20-18 with the clock showing that 79 minutes had elapsed. Scotland had one chance to snatch a desperately-needed win.
Wales (20) 27 / 6 (6) France (Final Score)
Wales and France did battle in the Six Nations tournament at
Millennium Stadium, Cardiff at 22:00 SA Time (20:00 GMT, 21:00 French Time).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1 & SHD on TV in SA.
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Racing Matro flank Wenceslas Lauret returns to the French lineup for the Six Nations match against Wales in the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff on Friday night.
Wales scrumhalf Mike Phillips has been demoted to the bench for Friday’s crunch Six Nations international against unbeaten France in Cardiff.
Kick-off is at 22:00 SA Time (20:00 GMT).
Injured Wales centre Jonathan Davies has been ruled out of the Six Nations Championship match against France in Cardiff on Friday.
Wales centre Scott Williams is set to miss the rest of the Six Nations Championship because of a shoulder injury, the Welsh Rugby Union have announced on Wednesday.
The 23-year-old Scarlets back is set to undergo an operation on Thursday and could be out of action for as long as three months.
The Welsh Rugby Union is pleased at the progress made at today’s Six Nations meeting in Paris towards agreement for the European competition structure from next season.
Ireland (13) 26 / 3 (0) Wales (Final Score)
Ireland and Wales did battle in the Six Nations tournament at
Aviva Stadium, Dublin at 16:30 SA Time (14:30 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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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 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.
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.
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.
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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.
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.
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.
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.
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 Springbok Sevens’ defence of their Las Vegas Sevens title started off on a powerful note as they ended day one without conceding a point.
Placed in a tricky pool alongside Wales, Canada and Kenya, the Blitzbokke placed their marker early on as they smashed Wales 43-0 in the opening game of the tournament and then followed it up with a comprehensive 29-0 win over Canada in the second game of their pool fixtures.
British and Irish Lion fullback Leigh Halfpenny has signed for European champions Toulon with the deal expected to be made official later on Thursday, the Daily Telegraph reported.
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.
A lot of rugby will be played this weekend, with the much awaited friendly between Saracens and the Cell C Sharks, the HSBC Sevens World Series tournament in Las Vegas and the LV Cup, amongst others, happening.
The Referees & Match Officials have been named.
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.
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.
Injury concerns are threatening to overshadow Wales coach Warren Gatland’s Six Nations squad announcement on Tuesday.
Wales are bidding to win a third outright title in succession, something never achieved before in the tournament’s history.
The crisis in Wales deepened on Saturday as both the Welsh Rugby Union and the regional teams issued statements in the long-standing and nasty public spat.
The Welsh Rugby Union has made a dramatic about-turn in their stand-off with the four regions.
Just a day after the WRU hinting it could set up new franchises to play in European competitions and the Pro12, the national body said it would return to the boardroom with a new agreement for the current regional teams.
Wales looks set to be without Jonathan Davies for most, if not all, of the Six Nations.
As we bid farewell to 2013 and move into 2014, the European rugby circuit is still active, albeit less active than normal.
We take a brief look at the appointment of referees and match officials till 5 January 2014.
Cardiff Blues have been accused of not making an official approach for Pontypridd head coach Dale McIntosh and captain Chris Dicomidis. Stephen Reardon, Pontypridd’s chief executive officer, made the allegations on the club website.
Welsh rugby seems set to reach a new crisis point next week as the four regions are not expected to sign a new participation agreement. The Welsh Rugby Union had set a deadline of 31 December to sign a new agreement, replacing the current five-year deal that expires in June 2014.