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
You’d think there’d be rather little going on in the first of two weekends this tournament with no games. But this coming weekend is where the tournament will really get into its stride. Soon enough we’ll have a clearer picture of who’s going for the win and who’s competing for the wooden spoon. Here’s some of the highlights from the period of rest and some predictions for the upcoming matches.
To start, I am confused by the amount of criticism Jonny Wilkinson has been getting from the media this week. The man is NOT a god. He isn’t perfect and is allowed an off-day (although I hope he doesn’t have too many!). The people calling for him to be dropped from the England side are quite simply wrong. England are always much better when he’s involved. I’m glad that Martin Johnson has selected an unchanged team to play this weekend. Continuity is important if England hope to develop as a rugby side.
Scotland were seriously hit by injuries when they last played. I really hope Thom Evans is going to be all right as he approaches the second operation on his neck. Furthermore, Chris Patterson and Rory Lamont have been ruled out of the rest of Scotland’s Six Nations campaign. I can’t help but see this as a bad omen for the Scots (they’ve had to make four changes for this weekend’s game). Injuries are always a terrible side-effect of the sport becoming more physical and Ireland have also suffered, losing Rob Kearney to a medial ligament strain. The most significant change to their team is that Jonathan Sexton has been given the fly-half shirt over Ronan O’Gara.
Andy Powell really embarrassed himself after Wales’s last match. I was shocked at just how stupid you have to be to decide to drive a golf buggy along the M4. It’s totally unsurprising that he’s been dropped from the Wales squad. Wales have made a couple of much-needed changes ahead of their game against France; whilst the French have been forced to make two changes to their side due to injury. However, with many key players retained, France can remain positive in their Grand Slam bid.
The first of this weekend’s games is Wales vs. France. The two sides face off on Friday evening (I know, what’s up with that!?). I see this one as a no-brainer to predict. France will win it - I doubt it will even be close. The Welsh have shown determination so far, although they’re yet to impress otherwise. In contrast, the French displayed a masterclass of skill the last time they took to the field. Italy play Scotland this week, and whilst this game traditionally is for the wooden spoon, I think it’ll be one to watch. It’s hard to predict, and despite my love for the Scottish style of play recently, I see Italy coming away with a close win in Rome. The final game of this weekend is perhaps the hardest to predict, and I’m more than prepared to be wrong here. Ireland, on their current form, seem a marginally better side than England, but with the English playing at Twickenham and with an unchanged side, I think they might just win it (just).
johnny should deffinately be there, the fact that a dip in his performance leads to a dip in the teams shows how important he is to england. scotland are missing too many of their playmakers and with italy on form it'll be tough but if italy play like they did in the first weekend we might stand a chance. andy powell was completely unprofessional and completely awesome, sounds like one hell of a party, however i think they were right to celebrate when they had the chance with france playing as good as they are i don't think it'll change the outcome. England's performance is unpredictable at the moment which means that they could come out with something special, we don't loose to italy but we never play well against them, hopefully with a different style of play we can shine against ireland.
come on england...
I think Flood should be given a start at 10, mainly to give Wilko a kick up the backside so that he doesn't think - at the moment correctly - that his place is always going to be 100% secure. Plus Flood is on fire at the moment for Tigers, so it's a good chance for him to show if he can cut it at fly-half at international level. Admittedly though, it might be better to try the switch against Scotland rather than against Ireland.
I also reckon it's not as certain as Simon makes out that France will trash Wales. Wales are always entertaining and their players are still damn skillful individuals - it was mainly their teamwork that let them down against Scotland. That and their inability to catch kicks, and no doubt both of those will have been worked during the week off. While they won't pull off another comeback quite like last game's, if it's still close with twenty minutes to go I wouldn't like to call it.
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