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BoD talking about this probably being his last 6Ns. He's my favourite player but it will probably be the right time to step aside once his contract is up in the summer and allow a new centre partnership to develop for the next WC. I hope he goes out on a high and we see some of the old magic...

As far as I can see Wales haven't announced their team to play us, but it should be along in the next few hours. The main news that's come out so far is that Andrew Coombs is expected to start in the 2nd row. It's still a toss up who'll start at 10 between Biggar and Hook, over the whole 6Ns I'd...

Here's the England team to play Scotland. Billy Twelvetrees makes his at 12 with Brad Barritt pushed out to 13 to cover Manu. Dylan Hartley is on the bench so that people hatred can be more effectively directed solely towards Chris Ashton for the first 60 minutes or so. I'm really looking...

Scotland team to play England, big news is Sean Maitland making his debut: Scotland team to play England: Stuart Hogg (Glasgow Warriors), Sean Maitland (Glasgow Warriors), Sean Lamont (Glasgow Warriors), Matt Scott (Edinburgh), Tim Visser (Edinburgh), Ruaridh Jackson (Glasgow Warriors)...

The Aussie conference should definitely be competitive this year, what I'm also interested to see is if that competitiveness will drive the Aus franchises to perform better against the SA & NZ teams.

I'd love to see a Super Rugby II as a tier below S15. This could include teams from the proposed countries with the option of the SANZAR member unions adding franchises to it. They could have ring fencing so there's no promotion/relegation for a set number of years to protect the existing...

On Sexton if people are knocking him are doing so on international form then fair enough. But on club form there's no one to touch Sexton in the NH and I'd only put Can Carter above him over the last few years with Sexton ahead for last season as Carter wasn't at his best through the S15 season...

I'm expecting a lot from the Tahs in 2013, not necessarily the finals. But definitely a big improvement on last season in terms of attacking intent from the start of the season and improvements in accuracy and fitness throughout the season. Finals is asking a bit much but I certainly expect the...

Although it's sad to see someone of Sexton's talent leave Leinster I think the move will be good in the long run. There's quite a queue forming at Leinster with Maddigan already at the stage where he would expect to be starting more often. I think the move will make Sexton a better player...

I also think the new style really suits Keith Earls and he's looked better at outside centre this year than any other year since his breakthrough season.

I'd put their inclusion on par with Argentina joining the rugby championship. Should go a long way to improving rugby standards of the national squad while raising rugby's profile domestically. Something that should have happened long ago. It's also great to see Samoa getting to mix it with...

I'm optimistic about Ireland's chances this year. Some of the young players coming through have really come of age this season. There isn't the old stale feel about the squad that there was during the RWC and last years 6Ns. Still the grand slam will be a tough ask. France were the form NH team...

Normally it's a 3-1 split in favour of the home sides in the Quarter Final but this year I'd only have Clermont as firm favourites for their game against Montpellier. Gutted that Leinster didn't make the QFs but truthfully we didn't deserve it on our performances earlier in the pool. Also it's...

That's going to be some ding dong battle in that one, 6 Heineken Cups between them and neither team knows when they are beaten. Whoever goes through this year will see one of the strongest quarter final line ups in years.

Leinster got their try bonus point win against Exeter who really made us work for the result. That we didn't score more tries will probably cost us a quarter final place. Expect Munster to get their bonus point win tomorrow against a 2nd string side and pip Leinster by 1 or more tries scored. If...

Quins looked good last night. This year is the first one in a long time where the English clubs enmasse look like a threat in the quarter finals. Starting to get nervous about Leinster's game later today, but lots of rugby to enjoy before then.

It's good to see Keatley getting a run in an important HEC even if the circumstances are not ideal. Have to say I'm also excited about the prospect of Hanrahan getting some game time too. Also it's good to see you posting on here again paddy.

Rotation up here is a must as there are so many more games. There was definitely rotation at Leinster under Cheika and it continues under Joe Schmidt but it was and is carefully managed. I think Leinster are in a better position than the Tahs in that they can rotate players in the RaboDirect...

My view on Tom Carter is that although he's not the flashiest player, nor do I agree with his antics, he's a solid player and you know what you'll get with him. He's someone who often doesn't stand out in games, again this points to a lack of "X-factor" but it also means he's can't be making...

Just on the reshuffling in the backs, based on Cheika's time up here at Leinster, I would expect to see less reshuffling than we saw last year at the Tahs. Cheika seems to prefer to have a settled side with players in their preferred positions and in case of injuries 1 or 2 guys may move. Isa...