Keith here, you’re stuck with me again for the round 3 review.
My predictable round 2 was far from it with the Soap Dodgers doing their best to sabotage the championship plans of Les Bleus. Ireland did enough to beat the Jocks at Murrayfield and keep their bid for a third straight championship on track. And meanwhile, Wales went from bad to worse. Enough preamble, let’s crack on.
Wales
Having received a good number of shoeings in south Wales in my rugby playing days it’s difficult to sympathise with their plight but, crikey, they’re having a rough time both on and off the field. 14 straight defeats is the longest that I can recall, and I have a very long memory. Gatland was on borrowed time but all respect to him for departing on his terms, not leaving a stink behind like Eddie did when the SDs gave him the boot. Can’t say that I know anything about their interim coach Matt Sherratt so it’ll be interesting to see his team selection.
Team : 1 Smith, 2 Dee, 3 John, 4 Rowlands, 5 Jenkins, 6 Reffell, 7 Morgan, 8 Faletau, 9 Tomos Williams, 10 Anscombe, 11 Mee, 12 B Thomas, 13 Llewellyn, 14 Rogers, 15 Murray
Replacements : 16 Lloyd 17 G Thomas, 18 H Thomas, 19 Teddy Williams, 20 Wainright, 21 R Williams, 22 Evans, 23 Roberts.
Well stone me, talk about a new broom sweeping clean. New man, Sherratt, has changed nearly half the side that lost to Italy. The Welsh have a new front row, Anscombe is back in the 10 jersey with Ben Thomas moving to his preferred position at centre. 21 yr old Ellis Mee makes his debut on the wing, Llewellyn of Gloucester joins his teammate Anscombe at 13 and Murray takes over from the injured Liam Williams at fullback.
Ireland
Not a bad start for Simon Easterby with Ireland well on track to win three championships on the bounce with a Grand Slam to boot. As has been said elsewhere, their high standard has slipped a notch or two but they’re still a good team.
Team: 1 Porter, 2 Sheehan, 3 Clarkson, 4 J McCarthy, 5 Beirne, 6 O’Mahony, 7 van der Flier, 8 Conan, 9 Gibson-Park, 10 S Prendergast, 11 Lowe, 12 Ringrose, 13 Henshaw, 14 Hansen, 15 Osborne
Replacements: 16 G McCarthy, 17 Boyle, 18 Bealham,19 Ryan, 20 C Prendergast, 21 Murray, 22 Crowley, 23 Aki
A changed side for this clash with players dropping out and injured players returning. Up front, with Kelleher and Conan injured Sheehan and Conan return. Sheehan takes the captain’s armband. Clarkson is a straight swap for Bealham at tight head and Joe McCarthy returns to the engine room. In the backs, Osborne makes his debut at fullback, Hansen returns having recovered from his injury and Ringrose replaces Bundee Aki who is benched. There’re a couple of new faces on the bench with Gus McCarthy and Cian Prendergast, Sam’s brother, making their debuts.
Fearless prediction – a goodish number of changes for both sides but such is the current strength of Irish rugby those changes shouldn’t affect the outcome. Wales will be hoping for a strong performance to stabilise a ship that’s badly listing. Can’t see anything other than a win for the men in green as they march inexorably towards another championship.
England
Quelle surprise; my prediction for a comfortable French win went out of the window. Forget all the crap posted elsewhere about Les Bleus butchering scoring opportunities, that’s rugby. The SDs applied pressure up front and it worked a treat. For the first time in a good while they put in an 80 min performance, winning the game in the 79th minute with a beautifully worked try that was simplicity in itself. Maybe fitness isn’t the issue after all. Borthers got his selection and use of replacements just about right.
Team: 1 Genge, 2 Cowan-Dickie, 3 Stuart, 4 Itoje, 5 Chessum, 6 Earl, 7 T Curry, 8 Willis, 9 Mitchell, 10 F Smith, 11 Sleightholme, 12 Slade, 13 Lawrence, 14 Freeman, 15 M Smith
Replacements: 16 George, 17 Baxter, 18 Heyes, 19 Hill, 20 Cunningham-Smith, 21 B Curry, 22 Randall, 23 Daly
Well that’s new, virtually an unchanged team. Chessum comes in at lock for the injured Martin, who having been dropped to the bench has succumbed to injury and is replaced by young tyro Ted Hill. Having played a full game maybe MS will move on from rocks and diamonds, he’ll be sorely tested by Russell’s kicking and van der McMerwe breathing down his neck.
Scotland
I must admit I was hoping for the Scots to pull off a home win against the Irish but, alas, it wasn’t to be. Townsend will be less than chuffed with the performances of some of his star players, notably Finn Russell, who had one of those games he’ll want to forget. Both he and Darcy Graham suffered a clash of heads and went off for HIAs not to return. Whether they’ll be available for this game is open to conjecture. If they’re not, it’ll be a major blow for the Jocks. Needless to say this is a must win game for the Scots to keep their Championship hopes on track and put one over the Auld Enemy.
Team: 1 Schoeman, 2 Cherry, 3 Z Fagerson, 4 Gray, 5 Gilchrist, 6 Ritchie, 7 Darge, 8 Dempsey, 9 White, 10 Russell, 11 van der Merwe, 12 Jordan, 13 Jones, 14 Rowe, 15 Kinghorn
Replacements: 16 Ashman, 17 Sutherland, 18 Hurd, 19 Skinner, 20 Brown, 21 M Fagerson, 22 Dobie, 23 McDowell
Stop the press! Finn Russell passed fit to face the dreaded English. Like that wasn’t going to happen. Darcy Graham wasn’t so lucky and is replaced by Kyle Rowe. Other than that, it’s just a case of players swapping places, Schoeman comes in for Sutherland and Ritchie for Matt Fagerson. The Jocks do have a talented side and Townsend will be looking for a big improvement after the home defeat against the Irish.
Fearless prediction – Twickers has been a happy hunting ground for the men in skirts for a number of years and they’ll be hoping to continue that winning run. The SDs will have something to say about that and after a stirring victory against the Frogs they’ll be looking for another 80 min performance to get them over the line. Will it be Bannockburn or Culloden? One thing’s certain: it’ll be close, and no quarter will be asked or given.
Italy
Queseda the coach will be happy with the way the tournament has gone so far. It’s a pity the weather for both their games was pretty ordinary as I’d been looking forward to seeing their talented backline running the ball. Go the Azzuri!
Team: 1 Fischetti, 2 Lucchesi, 3 Ferrari, 4 N Cannone, 5 Ruzza, 6 Negri, 7 Lamaro, 8 L Cannone, 9 Page-Relo, 10 P Garbisi, 11 Gesi, 12 Menoncello, 13 Brex, 14 Capuozzo, 15 Allan
Replacements: 16 Nicotera, 17 Spagnolo,18 Riccioni,19 Lamb,20 Zuliani, 21 Vintcent, 22 A Garbisi, 23 Trulla
Italy have made just two changes to the side that defeated Wales with Simone Gesi coming in on the wing for the injured Monty Ioane and hooker Gianmarco Lucchesi replacing Giacomo Nicotera, who drops to the bench.
France
Galthie’s men will be smarting after that one point loss to England, a defeat that’ll put their Championship hopes in jeopardy with a difficult away trip to Dublin to come. The Italians might just find themselves on the receiving end of a thumping.
Team : 1 Gros, 2 Mauvaka, 3 Atonio, 4 Guillard, 5 Flament, 6 Cros, 7 Boudehent, 8 Alldritt, 9 Dupont, 10 Ramos, 11 Bielle-Biarrey, 12 Moefana, 13 Barassi, 14 Attissogbe , 15 Barre
Replacements: 16 Marchand, 17 Baille, 18 Aldegheri, 19 Taofifenua, 20 Roumat, 21 Jegou, 22 Jelonch, 23 Lucu.
Galthie has made a swag of changes to the CESMs. Flyhalf Jalibert and wing Penaud have been dropped with Ramos moving to #10, replaced by Barre at fullback, and Attissogbe on one wing alongside try machine, Bielle-Biarrey. Up front, Flament makes his first appearance of the tournament alongside Guillard in the second row. Galthie has opted for a 7-1 split on the bench, with scrumhalf Maxime Lucu the only recognised back among the replacements.
Fearless prediction- the weather forecast for Rome is bright sunshine so no excuses, let’s hope for an entertaining game. Both teams have a strong set of forwards but the French have the better set of replacements which will be vital in the later stages of the game. Classy backs on both sides as well. I want to see Capuozzo and LBB with ball in hand in space. As my old mate Jean Luc would say, “Make It So”. Odds on a French win to set them up for Dublin.
