Six Nations 2017
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Wales unchanged for the France match. Unsurprisingly considering the performance against Ireland and the WC seeding on the line.
WALES XV
Halfpenny, North, Davies, S Williams, L Williams, Biggar, Webb
Evans, Owens, Francis, Ball, AW Jones (capt), Warburton, Tipuric, MoriartyReplacements:
Baldwin, Smith, Lee, Charteris, Faletau
G Davies, S Davies, Roberts -
Two changes for England in the Dublin game. Watson in for Nowell and Billy Vunipola in for Hughes. A pity for Nowell who has done nothing wrong and has been very busy as well as providing a lot of go forward, but Watson has that extra pace and is a proven finisher. Vunipola for Hughes is less of a surprise as you sort of got the feeling that Hughes was only keeping the bed warm for Vunipola. Billy V is fast becoming one of Eddie's first names on the team sheet together with Farrell (which reminds me of an old football commentary that may be urban myth. Talking about England selection in the 1990s "It's always good to see Seaman on the sheet first thing"), anyway I Lee Grant.
England team to face Ireland in Dublin:
Brown, Watson, Joseph, Farrell, Daly, Ford, Youngs, Marler, Hartley (c), Cole, Launchbury, Lawes, Itoje, Vunipola, Haskell.
Bench: George, Vinipola, Sinckler, Wood, Hughes, Care, Teo, Nowell.
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@Sapetyvi said in Six Nations 2017:
Must be disappointing for Nowell, as he is striking tries at a similar level to Watson (Nowell 11 in 21 games, Watson 13 in 25)
Imo they should both be playing, Watson @15 instead of Brown.Yeah, I think thats a far better back 3, and I think Eddie would have wanted to try that but injury & England not firing haven't helped.
Issue is Brown wont be with the lions either & he'll probably end up captaining that team
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@gollum Hadn't thought of Brown as captaining the touring side. That is a possibility although I'm sure we can all think of better candidates that are unlikely to go to NZ.
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@Catogrande said in Six Nations 2017:
@gollum Hadn't thought of Brown as captaining the touring side. That is a possibility although I'm sure we can all think of better candidates that are unlikely to go to NZ.
Hartley....
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@Bones said in Six Nations 2017:
@Catogrande said in Six Nations 2017:
@gollum Hadn't thought of Brown as captaining the touring side. That is a possibility although I'm sure we can all think of better candidates that are unlikely to go to NZ.
Hartley....
Beat me to it!
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@Catogrande said in Six Nations 2017:
Two changes for England in the Dublin game. Watson in for Nowell and Billy Vunipola in for Hughes. A pity for Nowell who has done nothing wrong and has been very busy as well as providing a lot of go forward, but Watson has that extra pace and is a proven finisher. Vunipola for Hughes is less of a surprise as you sort of got the feeling that Hughes was only keeping the bed warm for Vunipola. Billy V is fast becoming one of Eddie's first names on the team sheet together with Farrell (which reminds me of an old football commentary that may be urban myth. Talking about England selection in the 1990s "It's always good to see Seaman on the sheet first thing"), anyway I Lee Grant.
England team to face Ireland in Dublin:
Brown, Watson, Joseph, Farrell, Daly, Ford, Youngs, Marler, Hartley (c), Cole, Launchbury, Lawes, Itoje, Vunipola, Haskell.
Bench: George, Vinipola, Sinckler, Wood, Hughes, Care, Teo, Nowell.
Any chance you poms can move on from the 1950s and start listing your players from 1-15 like the modern world? You seem to not have noticed that the numbers on the jerseys have changed.
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@Bones said in Six Nations 2017:
Hartley....
Given the shortness of the tour & the fact the English locks are all going, and most of their loosies it'd be brave not to take him, purely on a "can we win our lineouts 100% guarenteed?" point of view. He's a good all round hooker & its probably easier to teach AW-Jones & Warburton the English lineout calls than teach Launchberry, Itoje, Kruis & Vunipola a whole new made up set
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@Bones said in Six Nations 2017:
@gollum I'd like to think it's not very hard at all for an international rugby player whose bread and butter is lineouts to learn lineout calls.
Pretty sure 2005 Lions tour they got utterly raped in the lineouts....
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Behind The Lions
For over 130 years the British & Irish Lions have stood out as a symbol of the ethics, values and romance at the heart of rugby union. To represent the Lions is the pinnacle for every international player in Britain and Ireland, and the dream of tens of thousands of avid fans who fol-low them. A...
Simon Shaw talking about how no one had a fricking clue what the Lineout calls were
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@Crucial Mate, when 30% of your club sides used letters and some others didn't use the number 13 because it was unlucky, you have to admit we're probably doing the best we can.
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@gollum said in Six Nations 2017:
For over 130 years the British & Irish Lions have stood out as a symbol of the ethics, values and romance at the heart of rugby union. To represent the Lions is the pinnacle for every international player in Britain and Ireland, and the dream of tens of thousands of avid fans who fol-low them. A...
Simon Shaw talking about how no one had a fricking clue what the Lineout calls were
There's some interesting commentary in that article.
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I'm sure Gatland has taken those past experiences into account along with his own ones from Australia.
What will add intrigue is how he deals with the schedule without forming two camps.
On the last tour the schedule went along with a lot of easy midweek games meaning a bit of mixing and matching could happen before the tests. This time around there are no real easy games which may dictate a split. It also make sit difficult when injuries arise and players have to shift up which could mean that even the reserves for the top 23 are protected.
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Yeah, I've just wasted an hour reading random bits about Lions tours
