6 Nations 2019
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As an initial stab, here’s my guess for Ireland squad with a couple of options in 2-3 positions - all coming from Connacht who have improved greatly this season.
With Luke McGrath definitely out, and a question mark over when Kieran Marmion can return, his understudy, Caolin Blade at Connacht should be a deserved shout. Blade and outhalf Jack Carty have been the best form halfback pairing of the Irish teams this season in my view. And if we lose a 10 between now and Japan, Carty is well-worth considering as a back-up. Ultan Dillane has recovered some of his earlier career form and could oust his Connacht team-mate Quinn Roux to get a lock spot. Ditto Finlay Bealham instead of Munster’s Kilcoyne. One other Connacht player who might be considered is midfielder, Tom Farrell, who partners Aki in the Westerners first team.
Hookers: Best, Cronin, Scannell.
LH: Healy, McGrath, Kilcoyne/Bealham,
TH: Furlong, Porter, John Ryan.
Locks: James Ryan, Toner, Beirne, Henderson, Dillane/Roux.
Back-rowers: SOB, POM, Stander, vdF, Conan, Murphy, Leavy, Ruddock.
Scumhalves: Murray, Cooney, Marmion/Blade.
Outhalves: Sexton, Carbery, Byrne/Carty.
Centres: Henshaw, Aki, Ringrose, Chris Farrell/Tom Farrell
Back three: Conway, Stockdale, Earls, R Kearney, Larmour, Addison. -
SCOTLAND SQUAD:
FORWARDS (22)
Alex Allan (Glasgow Warriors) – 7 caps
Adam Ashe (Glasgow Warriors) – 6 caps
Simon Berghan (Edinburgh) – 14 caps
Jamie Bhatti (Glasgow Warriors) – 11 caps
David Cherry (Edinburgh) – uncapped
Allan Dell (Edinburgh) – 17 caps
Grant Gilchrist (Edinburgh) – 28 caps
Gary Graham (Newcastle Falcons) – uncapped
Jonny Gray (Glasgow Warriors) – 47 caps
John Hardie (Newcastle Falcons) – 16 caps
Jake Kerr (Leicester Tigers) – uncapped
Stuart McInally (Edinburgh) – 22 caps
Willem Nel (Edinburgh) – 26 caps
D’Arcy Rae (Glasgow Warriors) - uncapped
Jamie Ritchie (Edinburgh) – 6 caps
Sam Skinner (Exeter Chiefs) – 3 caps
Grant Stewart (Glasgow Warriors) – uncapped
Josh Strauss (Sale Sharks) – 17 caps
Tim Swinson (Glasgow Warriors) – 38 caps
Ben Toolis (Edinburgh) – 14 caps
Hamish Watson (Edinburgh) – 23 caps
Ryan Wilson (Glasgow Warriors) – 41 capsBACKS (17)
Chris Dean (Edinburgh) – uncapped
Darcy Graham (Edinburgh) – 1 cap
Nick Grigg (Glasgow Warriors) – 6 caps
Sam Johnson (Glasgow Warriors) – uncapped
Chris Harris (Newcastle Falcons) – 6 caps
Adam Hastings (Glasgow Warriors) – 7 caps
Stuart Hogg (Glasgow Warriors) – 65 caps
George Horne (Glasgow Warriors) – 4 caps
Pete Horne (Glasgow Warriors) – 38 caps
Huw Jones (Glasgow Warriors) – 19 caps
Lee Jones (Glasgow Warriors) – 10 caps
Blair Kinghorn (Edinburgh) – 7 caps
Greig Laidlaw CAPTAIN (Clermont Auvergne) – 66 caps
Sean Maitland (Saracens) – 37 caps
Ali Price (Glasgow Warriors) – 19 caps
Finn Russell (Racing 92) – 40 caps
Tommy Seymour (Glasgow Warriors) – 46 capsUnavailable through injury:
John Barclay (Edinburgh), Mark Bennett (Edinburgh), Magnus Bradbury (Edinburgh), Fraser Brown (Glasgow Warriors), Lewis Carmichael (Edinburgh), David Denton (Leicester Tigers), Cornell Du Preez (Worcester Warriors), Zander Fagerson (Glasgow Warriors), Matt Fagerson (Glasgow Warriors), Richie Gray (Toulouse), Luke Hamilton (Edinburgh), Damien Hoyland (Edinburgh), Byron McGuigan (Sale Sharks), Matt Scott (Edinburgh), Rory Sutherland (Edinburgh), Duncan Taylor (Saracens), Blade Thomson (Scarlets), George Turner (Glasgow Warriors), Jon Welsh (Newcastle Falcons). -
Ireland squad named for 6N rounds 1&2 and as I’d hoped Connacht form players rewarded with inclusion - Dillane back in favour and newbies Blade/Carty - halfbacks and Tom Farrell midfielder.:
Hookers
Rory Best (Ulster/Banbridge) 113 caps Captain
Sean Cronin (Leinster/St Mary's College) 65 caps
Niall Scannell (Munster/Dolphin) 11 capsLH/TH
Cian Healy (Leinster/Clontarf) 84 caps
Dave Kilcoyne (Munster/UL Bohemians) 24 caps
Jack McGrath (Leinster/St Marys College) 53 caps
Tadhg Furlong (Leinster/Clontarf) 28 caps
Andrew Porter (Leinster/UCD) 11 caps
John Ryan (Munster/Cork Constitution) 16 capsLocks
Tadhg Beirne (Munster/Lansdowne) 4 caps
Ultan Dillane (Connacht/Corinthians) 11 caps
Iain Henderson (Ulster/Queens University) 42 caps
James Ryan (Leinster/UCD) 13 caps
Devin Toner (Leinster/Lansdowne) 63 capsBackrowers
Jack Conan (Leinster/Old Belvedere) 11 caps
Jordi Murphy (Ulster/Lansdowne) 26 caps
Sean O'Brien (Leinster/UCD) 52 caps
Peter O'Mahony (Munster/Cork Constitution) 52 caps (vc)
Rhys Ruddock (Leinster/St Mary's College) 21 caps
CJ Stander (Munster/Shannon) 28 caps
Josh van der Flier (Leinster/UCD) 13 capsScrum-halves
Caolin Blade (Connacht/Galwegians) 0 caps
John Cooney (Ulster/Terenure College) 4 caps
Conor Murray (Munster/Garryowen) 67 caps10s
Joey Carbery (Munster/Clontarf) 16 caps
Jack Carty (Connacht/Buccaneers) 0 caps
Jonathan Sexton (Leinster/St Marys College) 78 caps (vc)Centres
Bundee Aki (Connacht/Galwegians) 12 caps
Chris Farrell (Munster/Young Munster) 3 caps
Tom Farrell (Connacht/TBC) 0 caps
Robbie Henshaw (Leinster/Buccaneers) 36 caps
Garry Ringrose (Leinster/UCD) 17 capsBack-three
Will Addison (Ulster/Enniskillen) 3 caps
Andrew Conway (Munster/Garryowen) 10 caps
Keith Earls (Munster/Young Munster) 72 caps
Rob Kearney (Leinster/UCD) 87 caps
Jordan Larmour (Leinster/St Mary's College) 9 caps
Jacob Stockdale (Ulster/Ballynahinch) 14 caps -
@Derm-McCrum said in 6 Nations 2019:
As an initial stab, here’s my guess for Ireland squad with a couple of options in 2-3 positions - all coming from Connacht who have improved greatly this season.
With Luke McGrath definitely out, and a question mark over when Kieran Marmion can return, his understudy, Caolin Blade at Connacht should be a deserved shout. Blade and outhalf Jack Carty have been the best form halfback pairing of the Irish teams this season in my view. And if we lose a 10 between now and Japan, Carty is well-worth considering as a back-up. Ultan Dillane has recovered some of his earlier career form and could oust his Connacht team-mate Quinn Roux to get a lock spot. Ditto Finlay Bealham instead of Munster’s Kilcoyne. One other Connacht player who might be considered is midfielder, Tom Farrell, who partners Aki in the Westerners first team.
Hookers: Best, Cronin, Scannell.
LH: Healy, McGrath, Kilcoyne/Bealham,
TH: Furlong, Porter, John Ryan.
Locks: James Ryan, Toner, Beirne, Henderson, Dillane/Roux.
Back-rowers: SOB, POM, Stander, vdF, Conan, Murphy, Leavy, Ruddock.
Scumhalves: Murray, Cooney, Marmion/Blade.
Outhalves: Sexton, Carbery, Byrne/Carty.
Centres: Henshaw, Aki, Ringrose, Chris Farrell/Tom Farrell
Back three: Conway, Stockdale, Earls, R Kearney, Larmour, Addison.Not a bad initial stab!
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True - I've been shouting T Farrell's name since last season - partnering with Aki has done him a power of good, but he's really come into his own this season even with Aki out. Carty has been near faultless in his 16 appearances so far in 2018/19, and Blade and himself have a very good partnership. Whether Schmidt selects them is another matter, but I'd hope the Italian game at least might give them some time on the pitch.
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@Bones said in 6 Nations 2019:
These seem like bloody massive squads. Is this typical? Do they get trimmed before the competition?
Schmidt likes to involve new players in the squad camp environment even if they just have oppo roles to give them a taste. Some players are let back to provinces if there's a PRO14 game coming up and they're not in game plans so the provinces aren't short-handed unnecessarily. He may still lose one or two with a European final round this weekend, and another PRO14 game before the 6N starts.
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@Derm-McCrum So if Ireland smash England, do they take top in the world rankings? Either way they'll have it by the end of the tournament
Edit. No where near, I thought incorrectly the opening game is in England.
1 New Zealand 92.54
2 Ireland 91.48 (+0.31)
3 Wales 87.24
4 England 85.91 (-0.31) -
@Machpants said in 6 Nations 2019:
@Derm-McCrum So if Ireland smash England, do they take top in the world rankings? Either way they'll have it by the end of the tournament
Edit. No where near, I thought incorrectly the opening game is in England.
1 New Zealand 92.54
2 Ireland 91.48 (+0.31)
3 Wales 87.24
4 England 85.91 (-0.31)No. Ireland beating Eng by over 15 still has them over a point behind NZ.
England can overtake Ireland with a 15+ win
If Ireland win all their games they may top the rankings but it is hard to calc that without guessing other outcomes.
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Uuum Eddie had been partying with Beale, I think
Eddie Jones says Jack Nowell could be an England flanker
Eddie Jones believes converting Jack Nowell from wing to openside flanker is an option if England are to succeed in World Cup year.
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@Crucial said in 6 Nations 2019:
@Machpants said in 6 Nations 2019:
@Derm-McCrum So if Ireland smash England, do they take top in the world rankings? Either way they'll have it by the end of the tournament
Edit. No where near, I thought incorrectly the opening game is in England.
1 New Zealand 92.54
2 Ireland 91.48 (+0.31)
3 Wales 87.24
4 England 85.91 (-0.31)No. Ireland beating Eng by over 15 still has them over a point behind NZ.
England can overtake Ireland with a 15+ win
If Ireland win all their games they may top the rankings but it is hard to calc that without guessing other outcomes.
Do I detect some nervousness amongst the Fern brethren?
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@Derm-McCrum I'm married, being on top in everything is getting boring. A change in position would be nice actually.
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@mariner4life said in 6 Nations 2019:
@Derm-McCrum I'm married, being on top in everything is getting boring. A change in position would be nice actually.
Welcome to the Fern Mrs mariner4life. I hope you enjoy your stay.
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@Virgil said in 6 Nations 2019:
@mariner4life said in 6 Nations 2019:
@Derm-McCrum I'm married, being on top in everything is getting boring. A change in position would be nice actually.
Welcome to the Fern Mrs mariner4life. I hope you enjoy your stay.
That's pretty good for you. Did your wife's boyfriend type it?
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@mariner4life said in 6 Nations 2019:
@Virgil said in 6 Nations 2019:
@mariner4life said in 6 Nations 2019:
@Derm-McCrum I'm married, being on top in everything is getting boring. A change in position would be nice actually.
Welcome to the Fern Mrs mariner4life. I hope you enjoy your stay.
That's pretty good for you. Did your wife's boyfriend type it?
And he’s back..
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@Machpants said in 6 Nations 2019:
Uuum Eddie had been partying with Beale, I think
Eddie Jones believes converting Jack Nowell from wing to openside flanker is an option if England are to succeed in World Cup year.
Lancaster and Burgess must be having a right old chuckle.
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Interesting stats https://www.rugbypass.com/news/discarded-the-sobering-six-nations-4-year-attrition-rate-laid-bare
I'd love to see a rugby champ squads equivalent when they are announced
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@Machpants An amazing turnover in the squads which isn't all that surprising for such an attritional collision sport, but I wonder what the stats will be for the starting teams.
Just goes to highlight why there are so few centurions in the sport. Not playing test rugby must add a couple of years to your earning capacity.
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@Machpants said in 6 Nations 2019:
I'd love to see a rugby champ squads equivalent when they are announced
Haven't calc'd it but pretty sure the ABs 2014 to 2018 EOYT comparison would be similar.
Misleading stats IMO. They are taking reference points at key times in the RWC cycle when 'refreshing' is done.
Only very key standout players (relative to team strength) survive through multiple cycles. Look at the RWC record books and the names of those at the top of the appearance list. (McCaw, Mealamu, Leonard, Gregan, Burger....) -
I’d only comment on the Ireland selection but it’s skewed in that he used the wider 46-man squad which included players for a Wolfhounds match vs Saxons that was reduced to 38 for start of Six Nations.
As for players changed since 2015 well players like Ross, O’Connell, Reddan, Boss, White, Strauss, Ryan were all in their early 30s so they retired - certainly from test arena. Some weren’t good enough - Cave, Dom Ryan, Keatley - and some left - Madigan, Zebo, Moore.
It’s not exactly a picture of attrition.
