Six Nations 2018

[LivingTheDream]

Who's excited?

Sporting highlight of the winter for me (particularly after this winters Ashes!) - and when it's over Spring can officially start.

Predictions?

England fan here so sort of expecting a win but will be fascinating to see the challenge from Ireland and in particular, the Scots - expecting good things from them this year.

If I was to put my neck on the line now:

England
Ireland
Scotland
Wales
France
Italy

Big shock if Wales are down there but who knows....

Lots of missing players at the start from what I've seen in the last couple of days...

Bigger
Liam Williams - whose upset?
Slide
Sinckler
Robshaw
Mike Brown
Nowell
Billy Vunipola
Nathan Hughes

Who set up the Fantasy league last year? Fancy doing another one?

[LivingTheDream]

Yep - knee

Just read Wales missing list for first game ..
Webb
Warburton
Lydiate
J Davies
J Ball
Faletau
Biggar
Priestland
Williams

Could be a tough game for them against the Scots

[LivingTheDream]

Mike Brown, Chris Robshaw and Maro Itoje all now fit and available

[LivingTheDream]

WALES TEAM TO PLAY SCOTLAND (SATURDAY FEBRUARY 3 KO 14.15)

15. Leigh Halfpenny (Scarlets) (74 Caps)
14. Josh Adams (Worcester) (*UNCAPPED)
13. Scott Williams (Scarlets) (51 Caps)
12. Hadleigh Parkes (Scarlets) (1 Cap)
11. Steff Evans (Scarlets) (5 Caps)
10. Rhys Patchell (Scarlets) (5 Caps)
9. Gareth Davies (Scarlets) (27 Caps)
1. Rob Evans (Scarlets) (20 Caps)
2. Ken Owens (Scarlets) (52 Caps)
3. Samson Lee (Scarlets) (34 Caps)
4. Cory Hill (Dragons) (10 Caps)
5. Alun Wyn Jones (Ospreys) (113 Caps) CAPT
6. Aaron Shingler (Scarlets) (13 Caps)
7. Josh Navidi (Cardiff Blues) (7 Caps)
8. Ross Moriarty (Gloucester) (17 Caps)

Replacements:
16. Elliot Dee (Dragons) (2 Caps)
17. Wyn Jones (Scarlets) (5 Caps)
18. Tomas Francis (Exeter Chiefs) (26 Caps)
19. Bradley Davies (Ospreys) (57 Caps)
20. Justin Tipuric (Ospreys) (52 Caps)
21. Aled Davies (Scarlets) (5 Caps)
22. Gareth Anscombe (Cardiff Blues) (11 Caps)
23. Owen Watkin (Ospreys) (2 Caps)

[LivingTheDream]

SCOTLAND TEAM TO PLAY WALES (SATURDAY FEBRUARY 3 KO 14.15)

15. Stuart Hogg (Glasgow Warriors) – 55 caps - VCAPT
14. Tommy Seymour (Glasgow Warriors) – 39 caps
13. Chris Harris (Newcastle Falcons) – 1 cap
12. Huw Jones (Glasgow Warriors) – 11 caps
11. Byron McGuigan (Sale Sharks) – 2 caps
10. Finn Russell (Glasgow Warriors) – 32 caps
9. Ali Price (Glasgow Warriors) – 11 caps
1. Gordon Reid (London Irish) – 27 caps
2. Stuart McInally (Edinburgh Rugby) – 12 caps
3. Jon Welsh (Newcastle Falcons) – 11 caps
4. Ben Toolis (Edinburgh Rugby) – 7 caps
5. Jonny Gray (Glasgow Warriors) – 38 caps - VCAPT
6. John Barclay (Scarlets) – 66 caps - CAPT
7. Hamish Watson (Edinburgh Rugby) – 15 caps
8. Cornell du Preez (Edinburgh Rugby) – 5 caps

Substitutes
16. Scott Lawson (Newcastle Falcons) – 46 caps
17. Jamie Bhatti (Glasgow Warriors) – 3 caps
18. Murray McCallum (Edinburgh Rugby) – (UNCAPPED)
19. Grant Gilchrist (Edinburgh Rugby) – 18 caps
20. Ryan Wilson (Glasgow Warriors) – 32 caps
21. Greig Laidlaw (ASM Clermont Auvergne) – 58 caps
22. Pete Horne (Glasgow Warriors) – 28 caps
23. Sean Maitland (Saracens) – 29 caps

[LivingTheDream]

France team to face Ireland:
15. Geoffrey Palis (Castres)
14. Teddy Thomas (Racing 92)
13. Rémi Lamerat (Clermont Auvergne)
12. Henry Chavancy (Racing 92)
11. Virimi Vakatawa (Racing 92)
10. Matthieu Jalibert (Bordeaux-Bègles)
9. Maxime Machenaud (Racing 92)
1. Jefferson Poirot (Bordeaux-Bègles)
2. Guilhem Guirado (Toulon) (c)
3. Rabah Slimani (Clermont Auvergne)
4. Sébastien Vahaamahina (Clermont Auvergne)
5. Arthur Iturria (Clermont Auvergne)
6. Wenceslas Lauret (Racing 92)
7. Yacouba Camara (Montpellier)
8. Kévin Gourdon (La Rochelle)

Replacements:
16. Adrien Pelissié (Bordeaux-Bègles)
17. Dany Priso (La Rochelle)
18. Cedate Gomes Sa (Racing 92)
19. Paul Gabrillagues (La Rochelle)
20. Marco Tauleigne (Bordeaux-Bègles)
21. Antoine Dupont (Toulouse)
22. Anthony Belleau (Toulon)
23. Benjamin Fall (Montpellier)

[LivingTheDream]

Ireland team to face France:
15. Rob Kearney (Leinster)
14. Keith Earls (Munster)
13. Robbie Henshaw (Leinster)
12. Bundee Aki (Connacht)
11. Jacob Stockdale (Ulster)
10. Johnny Sexton (Leinster)
9. Conor Murray (Munster)

1. Cian Healy (Leinster)
2. Rory Best (Ulster) (c)
3. Tadhg Furlong (Leinster)
4. Iain Henderson (Ulster)
5. James Ryan (Leinster)
6. Peter O'Mahony (Munster)
7. Josh van der Flier (Leinster)
8. CJ Stander (Munster)

Replacements
16. Sean Cronin (Leinster)
17. Jack McGrath (Leinster)
18. John Ryan (Munster)
19. Devin Toner (Leinster)
20. Dan Leavy (Leinster)
21. Luke McGrath (Leinster)
22. Joey Carbery (Leinster)
23. Fergus McFadden (Leinster)

[LivingTheDream]

TheGreatSoprendo said:

Kermit power said:

As nobody else seems to have created one....

Come play Six Nations Fantasy with me on Superbru! It's free and loads of fun. Just click here:

https://www.superbru.com/sixnationsfantasy/pool.ph...

Pool name: Pistonheads

Pool code: gladrota

Nice one, I'm in

good work - I was going to set it up but simply haven't had time

[LivingTheDream]

No real surprises in this one

England team to face Italy
15 Mike Brown (Harlequins 64 caps)
14 Anthony Watson (Bath Rugby 28 caps)
13 Ben Te’o (Worcester Warriors 8 caps)
12 Owen Farrell (Saracens 53 caps)
11 Jonny May (Leicester Tigers 29 caps)
10 George Ford (Leicester Tigers 40 caps)
9 Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers 73 caps)
1 Mako Vunipola (Saracens 44 caps)
2 Dylan Hartley (Northampton Saints 89 caps)
3 Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers 77 caps)
4 Joe Launchbury (Wasps 47 caps)
5 Maro Itoje (Saracens 14 caps)
6 Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints 61 caps)
7 Chris Robshaw (Harlequins 59 caps)
8 Sam Simmonds (Exeter Chiefs 3 caps)

Replacements
16 Jamie George (Saracens 20 caps)
17 Alec Hepburn (Exeter Chiefs uncapped)
18 Harry Williams (Exeter Chiefs 5 caps)
19 George Kruis (Saracens 21 caps)
20 Sam Underhill (Bath Rugby 3 caps)
21 Danny Care (Harlequins 76 caps)
22 Jonathan Joseph (Bath Rugby 35 caps)
23 Jack Nowell (Exeter Chiefs 23 caps)

[LivingTheDream]

And plenty of players with only a handful of caps for Italy

Italy team to face England:
15. Matteo Minozzi (3 caps)
14. Tommaso Benvenuti (45 caps)
13. Tommaso Boni (8 caps)
12. Tommaso Castello (5 caps)
11. Mattia Bellini (8 caps)
10 Tommaso Allan (33 caps)
9. Marcello Violi (8 caps)

1. Andrea Lovotti (20 caps)
2. Leonardo Ghiraldini (89 caps)
3. Simone Ferrari (8 caps)
4. Alessandro Zanni (99 caps)
5. Dean Budd (6 caps)
6. Sebastian Negri (2 caps)
7. Renato Giammarioli (1 caps)
8. Sergio Parisse (c) (129 caps)

Replacements:
16. Luca Bigi (6 caps)
17. Nicola Quaglio (2 cap)
18. Tiziano Pasquali (2 caps)
19. George Biagi (19 caps)
20. Maxime Mbanda (11 caps)
21. Edoardo Gori (65 caps)
22. Carlo Canna (25 caps)
23. Jayden Hayward (3 caps)

[LivingTheDream]

Indeed - strong England side against relatively inexperienced Italy suggests a tough day for the Italians in Rome. Particularly with the tactics of last year now outlawed.

However - the Italians can be tough competitors

In the fantasy league, I’ve really struggled with Stockdale - I can’t justify putting him in this week but I do think he may be something special.

[LivingTheDream]

Kermit power said:

Six hours to go for anyone else who fancies joining the four of us so far in the fantasy league if you want to make the first round cut off!

And if last year is anything to go by you’d have a good chance of topping the table.

I don’t think our predictions were that good early on from memory

[LivingTheDream]

is it too early for a beer?

[LivingTheDream]

dom9 said:

LivingTheDream said:

is it too early for a beer?

I just popped to the shop... Get on it!

Missus is visiting family, Labrador has a cruciate ligament injury (like a proper athlete) so is resting, which means it's booze o'clock!

Roll on a good afternoon of rugby!

Done - started with a Boondoggle

Cheers

[LivingTheDream]

Atmosphere sounds fab in Cardiff!!

[LivingTheDream]

Bonefish Blues said:

What's going on with the picture quality? Anyone else think it looks odd?

Looks fine on BBC1 HD


well,,,,apart from the sea of red

[LivingTheDream]

Bonefish Blues said:

I'm on that too, but the motion looks slightly staccato. Odd.

I'm watching through the Sky box - if that makes a difference

[LivingTheDream]

Welshbeef said:

Are bonus points applicable in the 6N?

yes

Six Nations 2018 bonus points system

Win - four points

Loss - no points

Draw - two points

Scoring four or more tries - one point

Losing by seven points or fewer - one point

Winning a Grand Slam - three points

[LivingTheDream]

So much for Scotlands Autumn form then

[LivingTheDream]

BoRED S2upid said:

What a 4th try! Great win Wales!

What a non 4th try - forward pass