TEST RUGBY THIS WEEKEND

02.02.2013
Wales v Ireland in Cardiff (6 Nations International Championship)
Scotland v England at Twickenham (Calcutta Cup; 6 Nations Int. Champ.)
Romania v Portugal in Lisbon (WCQ Europe R5; ENC 1A)
Spain v Russia in Russia (WCQ Europe R5; ENC 1A)
Georgia v Belgium in Brussels (WCQ Europe R5; ENC 1A)

03.02.2013
France v Italy in Rome (6 Nations International Championship)

Briefly
This weekend sees the international test rugby European rugby scene underway after the December-January mid-winter break.

Two teams, England and France, look to be the 6 Nations favourites after great performances last November-England defeated New Zealand whilst France were impressive with a new-look team and undefeated November record.

Wales will be keen to regain their ‘Grand Slam’ glory after a dismal 2012 record. Ireland will want to improve and find their form whilst Scotland, under a new coach, will be hoping to erase the disaster of their November campaign.

Italy have always been bottom or near bottom of the 6 Nations championship. With an ageing pack and still lacking a backline with punch they could well struggle again.

The European Nations Cup Division 1A commences at the same time as the 6 Nations. Decided annually the promotion-relegation component is decided bi-annually. Also up for grabs are the two places at the 2015 Rugby World Finals. Those places are decided at the end of the second round in 2014.

Belgium replaces the Ukraine in the ENC 2012-14. That final position has been a bit of a rotating event without a team being able to cement a place. Belgium’s aim would be to still be there in May 2014.

6 NATIONS TEST RUGBY: Italians Travel to Paris

04.02.2012
Italy v France in Paris (6 Nations)

Venue: Stade de France

Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)

Preview
In June last year Italy exposed all the weaknesses and faults in the Lievremont-lead French side. The win was the highlight to date for Italy at the international test rugby level, whilst for France they reached an all-time low.

Just five months later the same French side came within a whisker of causing the major upset of all World Cup rugby history, pushing the All Blacks to within a point. A great high for French rugby.

So that about sums up French test rugby. Hot one minute cold the next. There is a favourite saying among commentators. ‘Which French side will turn up today?

The French go into this match as firm favourites. They have stuck with very much the side that came oh-so-close in the World Cup final in Auckland.

Italy has changed its backline considerably from that which played in the Rugby World Cup. The forward pack is much the same

Italy has never won in Paris against France. In fact before 2000 they rarely played in France, been given France ‘B matches in provincial areas.

New cap for France, African Malian heritage, Wesley Fofana.
Malzieu last played for France v Argentina, June 2010, Belgian born Vincent Debaty v Romania 2006.

New caps for Italy Giovanbattista Venditti.

I’d expect France to win comfortably.

Last Five Encounters
12.03.2011 Italy 22-21 in Rome (6 Nations)
14.03.2010 France 46-20 in Paris (6 Nations)
21.03.2009 France 50-8 in Rome (6 Nations)
09.03.2008 France 25-13 in Paris (6 Nations)
03.02.2007 France 39-3 in Rome (6 Nations)

GWC Rugby Rankings
World Table-France 4th, Italy 12th
Europe Table-France 1st, Italy 6th

IRB Ranking Points
France 84.70, Italy 73.99

Prediction: France by 27 points

Teams

FRANCE

15		Maxime Medard	Toulouse
14		Vincent Clerc	Toulouse
13		Aurelien Rougerie	Clermont Auvergne
12		Wesley Fofana	Clermont Auvergne
11		Julien Malzieu	Clermont Auvergne
10		François Trinh-Duc	Montpellier
9		Dimitri Yachvili	Biarritz
8		Louis Picamoles	Toulouse
7		Julien Bonnaire	Clermont Auvergne
6		Thierry Dusautoir (Capt.)	Toulouse
5		Lionel Nallet	Racing Metro
4		Pascal Pape	Stade Francais
3		Nicolas Mas	Perpignan
2		William Servat	Toulouse
1		Vincent Debaty	Clermont Auvergne
16		Dimitri Szarzewski	Stade Francais
17		Jean-Baptiste Poux	Toulouse
18		Yoann Maestri	Toulouse
19		Imanol Harinordoquy	Biarritz
20		Morgan Parra	Clermont Auvergne
21		Lionel Beauxis	Toulouse
22		Maxime Mermoz	Perpignan
		COACH: P. Saint-Andre

ITALY

15		Andrea Masi	Aironi
14		Giovanbattista Venditti	Aironi
13		Tommaso Benvenuti	Treviso
12		Alberto Sgarbi	Treviso
11		Luke McLean	Treviso
10		Kristopher Burton	Treviso
9		Edoardo Gori	Treviso
8		Sergio Parisse (Capt.)	Stade Francais, France
7		Robert Barbieri	Treviso
6		Alessandro Zanni	Treviso
5		Quintin Geldenhuys	Aironi
4		Cornelius van Zyl	Treviso
3		Martin Castrogiovanni	Leicester Tigers
2		Leonardo Ghiraldini	Treviso
1		Andrea Lo Cicero	Racing Metro, France
16		Tommaso D'Apice	Aironi
17		Lorenzo Cittadini	Treviso
18		Marco Bortolami	Aironi
19		Simone Favaro	Aironi
20		Fabio Semenzato	Treviso
21		Tobias Botes	Treviso
22		Gonzalo Canale	Clermont Auvergne
		COACH: Jacques Brunel

TEST RUGBY THIS WEEKEND: February 4-5

04.02.2012
Italy v France in Paris (6 Nations)
England v Scotland at Murrayfield (6 Nations; Calcutta Cup)
Portugal v Romania in Bucharest (ENC 1A)
Georgia v Ukraine (ENC 1A) postponed due to weather.

05.02.2012
Wales v Ireland in Dublin (6 Nations)

Briefly
I’ve had a nice long break away from the blog and web site although I have spent some time updating data.

-22C in Bucharest last night so the chances of the ENC 1A game going ahead looks unlikely.

INTERNATIONAL RUGBY TESTS AHEAD: 4 and 5 February 2011

04.02.2011
England v Wales in Cardiff (Six Nations)

05.02.2011
Ireland v Italy in Rome (Six Nations)
Scotland v France in Paris (Six Nations)
Russia v Spain in Madrid (ENC 1A)
Romania v Portugal in Lisbon (ENC 1A)
Georgia v Ukraine in Tblissi (ENC 1A)

6 NATIONS TEST RUGBY: Calcutta Cup

13.03.2010
England v Scotland at Murrayfield (6 Nations)

Referee: Marius Jonker (South Africa)

Preview
One of the feature matches in the 6 Nations International rugby championship is the Calcutta Cup match between England and Scotland. This always a ding-dong of a match with style far less important than winning. England has found winning at Murrayfield lately a difficult task whilst Scotland sharpen the knives and the wooden pikes as soon as the rose on white jersey appears over the border.

England have been...well...just a little boring and predictible. They have also been unlucky in their results which on paper has not been too bad. But the fans and the media are, as per usual, losing patience with their boys in white. It's probably too close the thre Rugby World Cup finals to change coach but Johnson's position remains uncomfortable.

Scotland have been up to their usual tricks. They lost to Italy two weeks ago, a painful loss indeed. But here we have another team that has lost out on paper and in luck. A few vital moments lost against all teams and you end up with a loss. Scotland appear on the right path and could well upset England if the later just plod along. It will be a most interesting match.

Last Five Encounters
21.03.2009 England 26-12 at Twickenham (6 Nations; Calcutta Cup)
08.03.2008 Scotland 15-9 at Murrayfield (6 Nations; Calcutta Cup)
07.02.2007 England 42-20 at Twickenham (6 Nations; Calcutta Cup)
25.02.2006 Scotland 18-12 at Murrayfield (6 Nations; Calcutta Cup)
19.03.2005 England 43-22 at Twickenham (6 Nations; Calcutta Cup)

England last defeated Scotland at Murrayfield in 2004. Of recent England has struggled to win at Murrayfield, whilst Scotland has struggled at Twickenham.

GWC Rugby Rankings
World Table-Scotland 7th, England 9th
Europe Table-England 2nd, Scotland 6th

Prediction: Scotland to pip the Poms. Scotland by 2 points.

Teams

Scotland
15 Hugo Southwell, 14 Sean Lamont, 13 Nicholas De Luca, 12 Graeme Morrison, 11 Max Evans, 10 Daniel Parks, 9 Christopher Cusiter, Capt.8 Johnnie Beattie, 7 John Barclay, 6 Kelly Brown, 5 Alistair Kellock, 4 James Hamilton, 3 Euan Murray, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Allan Jacobsen.
Replacements
16 Scott Lawson, 17 Geoffrey Cross, 18 Nathan Hines, 19 Alan MacDonald, 20 Rory Lawson, 21 Philip Godman, 22 Simon Danielli
Head Coach: Andy Robinson

England
15 Delon Armitage, 14 Mark Cueto, 13 Mathew Tait, 12 Riki Flutey, 11 Ugo Monye, 10 Jonny Wilkinson, 9 Daniel Care, 8 Nicholas Easter, 7 Joseph Worsley, 6 James Haskell, 5 Steven Borthwick, Capt. 4 Louis Deacon, 3 Daniel Cole, 2 Dylan Hartley, 1 Timothy Payne.
Replacements:
16 Steve Thompson, 17 David Wilson, 18 Courtney Lawes, 19 Lewis Moody, 20 Ben Youngs, 21 Toby Flood, 22 Ben Foden
Head Coach: Martin Johnson