Nick Wright previews this weekend's clash between York City Knights and Hull FC
Alex Reid looks at whether the once ever-present appearance of English clubs in the later stages of the Champions League is set to become a thing of the past
Craig Dobson looks at QPR's decision to sack Neil Warnock and replace him with Mark Hughes
James Tompkinson reviews an excellent pre-season victory for the York City Knights against Yorkshire rivals Leeds Rhinos
Hopefully England will be able to smash Wales as they did last year; however they will be playing on Wales’ turf this time. England has quite a lot of new players this season, so it will be interesting to see who they put on from the start. I’ll be keeping an eye on the half-backs this year as Ben Youngs has been identified as a player to watch. At only 21 he’s spotted as being the young, fast-paced player that the England team has been looking for. England are also looking very strong on the wing this year. Regular Mark Cueto is met with three relatively new faces, Strettle, Banaham and Ashton – hopefully they’ll be knocking out a few good runs.
The Welsh team also has a lot of new faces this year but have clung onto some big scorers on the wings. Shane Williams and Leigh Halfpenny are set to continue their success and get in some good runs this year – I’d keep an eye on them this weekend. England will do well from kick-off but, if they’re up to their usual tricks, Wales are set to play fantastically in the second half.
Prediction - England Win
Also this weekend we have Italy and Ireland. This match will be mainly one-sided toward Ireland with a repeat of last year. Doubt Italy will get very far past the front line Ireland are providing this year. There are quite a lot of new front liners, but held together by regulars such as Marcus Horan and John Hayes. Italy will have to be quick with the runs to get past these big lads.
Ireland are also looking good on the wing this year, Kearney, Bowe and Horgan are set to have some strong runs, so keep an eye on them. However, Italy’s loss last year might have been the jump-start they needed to get a bit more together as a team – I see it as quite unlikely though.
Prediction – Ireland Win
The last game of this weekend is France v Scotland. Last year both teams were quite strong on the front line and this showed when they played each other. France won 18–9 but not many tries were scored in the game though. I think this game is set to be quite heavily reliant on kicking, continuing the strong performance given by Fly-Half Dan Parks last year for Scotland. Scotland maintained Chris Paterson this year, with 50 Caps and 372 Points under his belt. He is set to keep the French defence on their toes.
There is a challenge over the French No. 10 jersey this year, which means both Skrela and Mermoz will be making their best efforts this first weekend in hope of securing the Fly-Half role.
Prediction – French win, just
Why not print off the fixture list so you don’t miss any games this season?
Week 1, Fri 4th Feb 11, 19:45, Wales v England
Sat 5th Feb 11, 14:30, Italy v Ireland
Sat 5th Feb 11, 17:00, France, v Scotland
Week 2, Sat 12th Feb 11, 14:30, England v Italy
Sat 12th Feb 11, 17:00, Scotland v Wales
Sun 13th Feb 11, 15:00, Ireland v France
Week 3, Rest
Week 4, Sat 26th Feb 11, 14:30, Italy v Wales
Sat 26th Feb 11, 17:00, England v France
Sun 27th Feb 11, 15:00, Scotland v Ireland
Week 5, Rest
Week 6, Sat 12th Mar 11, 14:30, Italy v France
Sat 12th Mar 11, 17:00, Wales v Ireland
Sun 13th Mar 11, 15:00 England v Scotland
Week 7, Sat 19th Mar 11, 14:30, Scotland v Italy
Sat 19th Mar 11 17:00, Ireland v England
Sat 19th Mar 11, 19:45, France v Wales
I'm not even interested in rugby, as a rule, but maybe I'll pay attention this year.
Leigh Halfpenny is injured. Great to see you're doing your research.
To be fair, the injury was only in the news yesterday afternoon. If the article was written before then, I don't think too much can be made of the development.
Wrote the article before then, sorry. But at least now there will be less cheeky tries from Wales! Come on England!!
And to watch Italy get trampled as they do every year, with maybe a token victory against the scots or welsh. Forza Azzurri!
One down. Predifction correct! Well done England. Now for Ireland to smash Italy
Italy did better than predicted. But congrats to Ireland for winning! Would've been helpful for England if Italy had somehow won.
I'm so gutted. Thought we'd won it
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