Scrumbag

Six Nations Predictions: Wales to go down fighting in Ireland...

Whether you're watching the games in a stadium, in the pub, rugby club or plonked on your sofa... there's some mouth watering action coming our way. Here's my predictions for this weekend's action. Let me know if you think I've got it right, or if I'm (as ever) talking out of my hole...

Ireland v Wales,
Saturday, 08 March 2008, 13:15
No doubt the tie of the weekend. I actually fear that off the field rubbish might scupper the Welsh here. The Gatland Vs O'Sullivan sideshow might distract from the players and Shaun Edwards seems more worried about his English Wasps star Cipriani right now. All that added to the Croke roar, and the Irish actually having a few superb players, it might be too much to handle. I'm sure it'll be extremely close, but I just think Ireland might nick it. Sorry guys.

Scotland v England
Sunday, 09 March 2008, 15:15
Will Ashton live to regret this Cipriani mess. Against any side but Scotland, I'd probably say yes. But the Scottish really are poor right now. Can't see anything but a dull England win here.

France v Italy
Sunday, 09 March 2008, 15:00
Expect more French lunacy, but I'm sure no matter how bonkers the team they'll be too much for Italy in France. The question is, will anyone actually care?

So let me know what you think the scores will be...

Six Nations shit lookalikes: Naughty Danny Cipriani and a thatched cottage

Never mind all that stuff he's been up to in night clubs, what's going on with his hair? Such a bouffant barnet is usrley excuse enough to boot him out of the Six Nations? What ever happened to rugby players having either a number one or (if they're feeling dandy) a number two all over?

Wilkinson Vs Cipriani - at last we get to see who is better...

After what seems like centuries of bickering about who should play for England - Wilko or Cipriani - at last they genuinely go head to head tonight.

Under the floodlights, the Guinness Premiership clash between Newcastle Falcons and London Wasps at Kingston Park is going to be fantastic. All eyes will be on who takes control Falcon Wilko or Waspriani. Presumably both will get injured and neither will be available for England on March 8.

Cipriani claims he's more than happy in the shadows right now. Honest. "I watch Jonny training," he's harped recently, "commentating on what's happening, the way he calls the moves, his organisation of players around him. We talk after training, during kicking practice, at the hotel. I want to learn from his experience. He was once in the position I'm in now, a young player trying to break into the national side.”

It'll be interesting to see just how hard the pair are pushing to out do each other tonight...

What do you think of The BBC's new Six Nations trailer?

I'd best describe it as... expensive, predictable and a bit daft (Chabal's diving around despite the fact France have dumped him). However, I'd love to know what you think about the trail which will be rammed down every rugby fans throat from this week onwards. Does it get you all excited or make you want to take up snooker?

Will "chunkiness" be the key to Vainikolo's England success?

Great things come in chunky packages. Hummers, Real McCoy crisps, that Scottish Widow lady from that Place In The Sun show - all chunky / all great. And it seems chunkiness might be the key to England's newest star's success.

According to prop legend Jason Leonard, Vainikolo's bulk will be the key to him becoming an England hero following his switch from rugby league.

He said to The Sun, "I think's it's fantastic Vainikolo is in the squad. Out of our rugby league converts it has been a bit 50-50. Some have been great and some haven't. The advantage he has over the others though is pretty obvious — an extra two stones! From what I've seen at Gloucester, he looks a great player.

And Leonard doesn't even care that the chunky Volcano (chunkano? No...) isn't even English. "OK, he wasn't born in England," he chirped, whilst polishing his big shiny face, "but when the anthem is being sung, I don't see it being weird. He qualifies through residency and he's stated that this is the country he wants to play for, so as far I'm concerned he's OK by me."

Brilliant. But is it okay by you too? Should yet another rugby league player be getting a shot for England? Should someone from overseas be getting a shot? As ever, let me know with your comments...

World Cup Warm-up: Wales Take France Acid Test

Where England trod last weekend, Wales tread this. France have limbered up nicely for a their Rugby World Cup campaign on home soil with two efficient wins over the Saes and Bernard Laporte will be wanting to get his last combinations right before France retreat to their Marcoussis training base and wait for Argentina to enter the arena. They're confident and they're playing well.

You could hardly describe coach Gareth Jenkins or his Wales side of oozing confidence at the moment; with the public on his back, one heavy loss to England and an unconvincing win over Argentina last weekend, Jenkins knows that the win is a minimum requirement on Sunday evening and that criticism will continue to dog his team unless they achieve parity up front and penetrate in the backs. The Grand Slam win in 2005 gave Wales a taste of what they can achieve; Jenkins has run out of time rebuilding to recapture that loving feeling.

And he's throwing virtually everything at this match to do it. Shane "Who?" Williams gets his first start of the summer after undergoing elbow surgery, and Welsh supporters will be holding a collective breath to see if he comes through unscathed. It's also a big game for Jamie Robinson at outside centre, where Jenkins will want to see him fill at least one of Tom Shanklin's boots. James Hook provides an air of confidence at fly half again, and it will be interesting to see what impact Ospreys scrum half, Mike Phillips, can have when he comes on; that should be for the final 30 minutes.

The Welsh pack regained a measure of pride last weekend against the Pumas' gritty hold-and-drive, and where Hook is the new darling of the public in the backs, Alun Wyn Jones can seem to do no wrong up front. Unlike at Twickenham a fortnight ago, he is surrounded by a bit more assurance with Duncan Jones starting at loosehead and Alix Popham behind him. The big question mark hanging over this Welsh eighth is whether they've got the grunt for an arm wrestle; Martyn Williams will be relying on the other seven to shift French bodies from around the ball so that he can do what he does best.

For the French, it's business as usual with a couple of tweaks. The largest and hairiest of these tweaks is, without a doubt, Sebastien Chabal; Laporte is expected to take the hit of the summer and play him at lock, mirroring Alun Wyn Jones' versatility. It's a calculated gamble, and the Welsh will be trying to belt him hard - as early, late and as often as possible - to remove the talisman from France's effort, as the Ospreys succeeded in doing when they played Sale Sharks at the Liberty Stadium earlier this season.

If the Welsh pack can neutralise Seabass, Jerome Thion is no slouch as a deputy and played an unsung role in the assured French victory in Marseilles. Put any of them behind a front row of Nicolas Mas, the excellent Dimitri Szarzewski and the returning Pieter de Villiers and you've got a block of granite that will be difficult to shift. Serge Betsen comes back in for the excellent Nyanga and it looks probable that Laporte and Jo Maso will take another look at Scrumbag's man of the match against the English, Thierry Dusautoir. He was pure energy last week against Tom Rees; this week, he's up against a ginger Obi Wan Kenobi. Scrumbag backs him to perform again.

Outside the eight, it's all change with Freddie Michalak given the week off and David Skrela back to marshall his troops. Skrela is fast becoming an excellent, classical 10 with the whole package; his duel with James Hook will be fascinating. Laporte must give third-choice fly half Lionel Beauxis a run at some point, but it could be too early for him to shine. Beauxis single-handedly saved Pau from relegation two seasons ago and earned himself a move to Stade Francais. More money, more splinters in the backside watching his international colleague Skrela. He'll have a point to prove if he gets on.

Watch out For: Vincent Clerc of Toulouse - if Wales have game-breaker in Shane Who, Clerc can do it all - ask Ireland

Scrumbag Prediction: It's a tough one to call, but Scrumbag fancies the French by 8 if Shaney gets his mojo back, otherwise France by 18

Wales: Morgan; M Jones, J Robinson, G Thomas (c), S Williams; Hook, Peel; D Jones, Rees, Horsman; Gough, AW Jones; J Thomas, M Williams, Popham
Bench: TR Thomas, G Jenkins, James, Charvis, Phillips, Sweeney, Parker

France (likely): Clerc; Dominici, Marty, Jauzion, Heymans; Skrela, Mignoni; Mas, Szarzewski, De Villiers; Nallet, Chabal; Betsen (c), Dusautoir, Harinordoquy
Bench: Bruno, Poux, Thion, Martin, Elissalde, Beauxis, Rougerie

KO: Millenium Stadium, Cardiff, Sun 26 August 13:45GMT

Ref: Wayne Barnes - the up-and-comer on the English referees' panel, sympathetic but does it by the book - blonde hair will make great target for snipers should he "do a Chris White" and rob Wales of victory in the last seconds

RWC 2007 Warm-up: France to Blow Hot and Leave England Gasping

With the hot Scirocco wind blowing in from the north African desert and the local garrison of the Foreign Legion on weekend leave, Marseilles feels like a city with a hard edge. The most famous marseillais of modern times, Zinedine Zidane, is a United Nations Goodwill Ambassador, but he wasn't afraid to stick the nut on a work colleague; and your correspondent was once mugged outside M&S, of all places. There are plenty of reasons to think that 15 hefty Englishmen will have their pockets picked at the Stade Vélodrome tonight.

France coach, Bernard Laporte, might be talking down the result and focusing on the need to get stuck in, but the next time la sélection play on home soil will be in a tricky opening match against Argentina; losing to England is not really an option, with places still up for grabs in nine of 15 positions.

Make no mistake, France screwéd le pooch last weekend, turning the ball over, kicking it away and putting themselves under huge pressure. They made a massive 201 tackles and had half as much possession as England. Crucially, they made the key tackles and scored two of their own tries through the forwards.

A key focus for the French tonight will be how the back row goes: Julien Bonnaire had a generous write-up after last weekend's game, but Seabass Chabal stole the show when he came on. Laporte has picked the athletic Thierry Dusautoir out of position this weekend, in the hope that the Toulouse loosie can provide some additional punch against an England trio who are welterweights compared the bruisers rolled out at Twickenham. And watch the heavyweights: Jean-Baptiste Poux has been given another shot at the tighthead title after being handed a beating by Andrew Sheridan. Can Perry Freshwater cut it at the top level?

All the press in the last fortnight has been about England's dysfunctional back line. Here at Scrumbag, we don't think it's down to personnel. The real problem has been painfully slow ball from the breakdown, and a fair amount of beef clogging up the midfield in case the speedsters do something mad like getting tackled. It all depends on Brian Ashton's appetite for risk; and we think that playing it safe in the warm-ups won't be much help when we're 10 points down to the 'Boks with 5 minutes to go. If the outside backs see some quick ball - in fact, if Dan Hipkiss gets the ball in 10 feet of space - Damien Traille could be clutching thin air and watching England's footballing back three piling through the gaps. It's a pressure game for Andy Farrell, the man who should be releasing the fast guys. Ashton will be hoping that naming Faz as his "defensive leader" in the backs isn't shown to be a fig leaf for the ex-Leaguie's terminal inability to break the opposing line in attack.

Watch out For: The battle between the two openside flankers, Tom Rees and Imanol Harinordoquy. Rees is the spiritual successor to Neil Back, compact, powerful and low to the floor; the Basque is a good stone heavier and four inches taller. Technique and agility versus power and size.

Scrumbag Prediction: England continue to stutter in midfield and fall victim to a fired-up French pack. France by 12.

France: Poitrenaud; Dominici, Traille, Jauzion, Heymans; Michalak, Elissalde; Milloud, Ibanez (c), Poux; Pelous, Thion; Nyanga, Harinordoquy, Dusautoir
Bench: Bruno, Mas, Nallet, Bonnaire, Mignoni, Skrela, Rougerie

England: Cueto; Lewsey, Hipkiss, Farrell, Robinson; Wilkinson, Perry; Freshwater, Regan, Vickery (c), Shaw, Borthwick, Corry, Rees, Easter
Bench: Mears, Stevens, Worsley, Dallaglio, Gomarsall, Barkley, Sackey

KO: Saturday 18 August, 21:00 CET

Ref: Alain Rolland - Irish guy with a French name, allegedly

Six Nations Final Weekend Preview: Wales vs England

By the time Eddie Butler has made his first playful barb at Brian Moore, their respective nations may already be playing in what is effectively a dead rubber.  England will be hoping that the first two games of this Super Saturday have either been close, or tremendous upsets, but should either of their rivals have posted a decent score, they'll be chasing a massive margin of victory against opponents who don't need to have been stung by a run of four straight Six Nations defeats to want to beat England.

Stung, though, they have been.  Last week's final-whistle controversy in Rome can only paper over a certain number of cracks, and there is more crack in Wales' rugby edifice than in "Whitney and Doherty:  The 2006 Chronicles".  The absence of certain key players (and Gavin Henson) has been mooted as a reason for Wales' hideous recent form, but in truth, the players who have played are talented enough.  Two short years ago, they were about to celebrate a Grand Slam.  This year, a whitewash awaits unless those players remember what they're capable of, and just get it done.  Gareth Thomas captains the Welsh, perhaps regretting his haste to get Mike Ruddock sacked, and hoping that he can win the battle of the veteran inside-centres with English captain Mike Catt.  Catt, for his part, will be hoping that the magic number is not far beyond the current 29.

Six Nations Final Weekend Preview: The permutations

Three games, three potential champions:  This weekend really couldn't have gone much better for the Six Nations schedulers.  Points difference is such that France are currently in the box seat, with a four-point gap to Ireland and twenty-nine to England.  All of which means that should France win, Ireland will need to have bettered their margin of victory by five, and/or England do so by thirty to lift the trophy.  Should Scotland spring a shock in Paris while Ireland win in Rome, England will need to better Ireland's margin by twenty-six, while if Ireland and France both come a cropper, any England win would secure Brian Ashton's men the title.  If points difference is equal between two or three teams, then the title will go to the team that has scored most tries getting there, with an honourable mention going to the statisticians.  The try count so far?  It goes thusly:  France 9, Ireland 9, England 8.

Anyone wondering how they can possibly keep track of all this need never fear - we're live-blogging tomorrow and will keep you posted of how each score affects the state of play in this year's Six Nations running.  Never let it be said we're not good to you.

Eddie O'Sullivan quells anti-England talk

It seems the rugby world can't stop talking about this weekend's Ireland vs. England game, and plenty of discussion time has been dedicated to the idea of the "colonizing bastards" England (quote from Deputy Editor Paul, there) playing at the halt of Irish national pride, Croke Park. It has even been said in some quarters (Scrumbag Towers) that Ireland should do all they can to beat England 19-16, just to push the national war that bit further.

However, a lone voice in the wilderness comes in the form of Eddie O'Sullivan, who has talked down an anti-English protest at the game by simply saying: "With regards to the anthems, they have always been respected at Lansdowne Road. Our anthem has been respected wherever we've gone, and we hope that will be reciprocated. God Save the Queen' was respected the last time it was played at Croke Park, at the Special Olympics three years ago, and I expect it to be the same on Saturday."

Personally, I reckon the chances of the Irish standing still and silent whilst 'God Save The Queen' is about as likely as Ireland winning the World Cup. So nil, then (England miaow!)

Wilkinson Vs Cipriani - at last we get to see who is better...

After what seems like centuries of bickering about who should play for England - Wilko or Cipriani - at last they genuinely go head to head tonight.

Under the floodlights, the Guinness Premiership clash between Newcastle Falcons and London Wasps at Kingston Park is going to be fantastic. All eyes will be on who takes control Falcon Wilko or Waspriani. Presumably both will get injured and neither will be available for England on March 8.

Cipriani claims he's more than happy in the shadows right now. Honest. "I watch Jonny training," he's harped recently, "commentating on what's happening, the way he calls the moves, his organisation of players around him. We talk after training, during kicking practice, at the hotel. I want to learn from his experience. He was once in the position I'm in now, a young player trying to break into the national side.”

It'll be interesting to see just how hard the pair are pushing to out do each other tonight...

What do you think of The BBC's new Six Nations trailer?

I'd best describe it as... expensive, predictable and a bit daft (Chabal's diving around despite the fact France have dumped him). However, I'd love to know what you think about the trail which will be rammed down every rugby fans throat from this week onwards. Does it get you all excited or make you want to take up snooker?

Will "chunkiness" be the key to Vainikolo's England success?

Great things come in chunky packages. Hummers, Real McCoy crisps, that Scottish Widow lady from that Place In The Sun show - all chunky / all great. And it seems chunkiness might be the key to England's newest star's success.

According to prop legend Jason Leonard, Vainikolo's bulk will be the key to him becoming an England hero following his switch from rugby league.

He said to The Sun, "I think's it's fantastic Vainikolo is in the squad. Out of our rugby league converts it has been a bit 50-50. Some have been great and some haven't. The advantage he has over the others though is pretty obvious — an extra two stones! From what I've seen at Gloucester, he looks a great player.

And Leonard doesn't even care that the chunky Volcano (chunkano? No...) isn't even English. "OK, he wasn't born in England," he chirped, whilst polishing his big shiny face, "but when the anthem is being sung, I don't see it being weird. He qualifies through residency and he's stated that this is the country he wants to play for, so as far I'm concerned he's OK by me."

Brilliant. But is it okay by you too? Should yet another rugby league player be getting a shot for England? Should someone from overseas be getting a shot? As ever, let me know with your comments...

World Cup Warm-up: Wales Take France Acid Test

Where England trod last weekend, Wales tread this. France have limbered up nicely for a their Rugby World Cup campaign on home soil with two efficient wins over the Saes and Bernard Laporte will be wanting to get his last combinations right before France retreat to their Marcoussis training base and wait for Argentina to enter the arena. They're confident and they're playing well.

You could hardly describe coach Gareth Jenkins or his Wales side of oozing confidence at the moment; with the public on his back, one heavy loss to England and an unconvincing win over Argentina last weekend, Jenkins knows that the win is a minimum requirement on Sunday evening and that criticism will continue to dog his team unless they achieve parity up front and penetrate in the backs. The Grand Slam win in 2005 gave Wales a taste of what they can achieve; Jenkins has run out of time rebuilding to recapture that loving feeling.

And he's throwing virtually everything at this match to do it. Shane "Who?" Williams gets his first start of the summer after undergoing elbow surgery, and Welsh supporters will be holding a collective breath to see if he comes through unscathed. It's also a big game for Jamie Robinson at outside centre, where Jenkins will want to see him fill at least one of Tom Shanklin's boots. James Hook provides an air of confidence at fly half again, and it will be interesting to see what impact Ospreys scrum half, Mike Phillips, can have when he comes on; that should be for the final 30 minutes.

The Welsh pack regained a measure of pride last weekend against the Pumas' gritty hold-and-drive, and where Hook is the new darling of the public in the backs, Alun Wyn Jones can seem to do no wrong up front. Unlike at Twickenham a fortnight ago, he is surrounded by a bit more assurance with Duncan Jones starting at loosehead and Alix Popham behind him. The big question mark hanging over this Welsh eighth is whether they've got the grunt for an arm wrestle; Martyn Williams will be relying on the other seven to shift French bodies from around the ball so that he can do what he does best.

For the French, it's business as usual with a couple of tweaks. The largest and hairiest of these tweaks is, without a doubt, Sebastien Chabal; Laporte is expected to take the hit of the summer and play him at lock, mirroring Alun Wyn Jones' versatility. It's a calculated gamble, and the Welsh will be trying to belt him hard - as early, late and as often as possible - to remove the talisman from France's effort, as the Ospreys succeeded in doing when they played Sale Sharks at the Liberty Stadium earlier this season.

If the Welsh pack can neutralise Seabass, Jerome Thion is no slouch as a deputy and played an unsung role in the assured French victory in Marseilles. Put any of them behind a front row of Nicolas Mas, the excellent Dimitri Szarzewski and the returning Pieter de Villiers and you've got a block of granite that will be difficult to shift. Serge Betsen comes back in for the excellent Nyanga and it looks probable that Laporte and Jo Maso will take another look at Scrumbag's man of the match against the English, Thierry Dusautoir. He was pure energy last week against Tom Rees; this week, he's up against a ginger Obi Wan Kenobi. Scrumbag backs him to perform again.

Outside the eight, it's all change with Freddie Michalak given the week off and David Skrela back to marshall his troops. Skrela is fast becoming an excellent, classical 10 with the whole package; his duel with James Hook will be fascinating. Laporte must give third-choice fly half Lionel Beauxis a run at some point, but it could be too early for him to shine. Beauxis single-handedly saved Pau from relegation two seasons ago and earned himself a move to Stade Francais. More money, more splinters in the backside watching his international colleague Skrela. He'll have a point to prove if he gets on.

Watch out For: Vincent Clerc of Toulouse - if Wales have game-breaker in Shane Who, Clerc can do it all - ask Ireland

Scrumbag Prediction: It's a tough one to call, but Scrumbag fancies the French by 8 if Shaney gets his mojo back, otherwise France by 18

Wales: Morgan; M Jones, J Robinson, G Thomas (c), S Williams; Hook, Peel; D Jones, Rees, Horsman; Gough, AW Jones; J Thomas, M Williams, Popham
Bench: TR Thomas, G Jenkins, James, Charvis, Phillips, Sweeney, Parker

France (likely): Clerc; Dominici, Marty, Jauzion, Heymans; Skrela, Mignoni; Mas, Szarzewski, De Villiers; Nallet, Chabal; Betsen (c), Dusautoir, Harinordoquy
Bench: Bruno, Poux, Thion, Martin, Elissalde, Beauxis, Rougerie

KO: Millenium Stadium, Cardiff, Sun 26 August 13:45GMT

Ref: Wayne Barnes - the up-and-comer on the English referees' panel, sympathetic but does it by the book - blonde hair will make great target for snipers should he "do a Chris White" and rob Wales of victory in the last seconds

RWC 2007 Warm-up: France to Blow Hot and Leave England Gasping

With the hot Scirocco wind blowing in from the north African desert and the local garrison of the Foreign Legion on weekend leave, Marseilles feels like a city with a hard edge. The most famous marseillais of modern times, Zinedine Zidane, is a United Nations Goodwill Ambassador, but he wasn't afraid to stick the nut on a work colleague; and your correspondent was once mugged outside M&S, of all places. There are plenty of reasons to think that 15 hefty Englishmen will have their pockets picked at the Stade Vélodrome tonight.

France coach, Bernard Laporte, might be talking down the result and focusing on the need to get stuck in, but the next time la sélection play on home soil will be in a tricky opening match against Argentina; losing to England is not really an option, with places still up for grabs in nine of 15 positions.

Make no mistake, France screwéd le pooch last weekend, turning the ball over, kicking it away and putting themselves under huge pressure. They made a massive 201 tackles and had half as much possession as England. Crucially, they made the key tackles and scored two of their own tries through the forwards.

A key focus for the French tonight will be how the back row goes: Julien Bonnaire had a generous write-up after last weekend's game, but Seabass Chabal stole the show when he came on. Laporte has picked the athletic Thierry Dusautoir out of position this weekend, in the hope that the Toulouse loosie can provide some additional punch against an England trio who are welterweights compared the bruisers rolled out at Twickenham. And watch the heavyweights: Jean-Baptiste Poux has been given another shot at the tighthead title after being handed a beating by Andrew Sheridan. Can Perry Freshwater cut it at the top level?

All the press in the last fortnight has been about England's dysfunctional back line. Here at Scrumbag, we don't think it's down to personnel. The real problem has been painfully slow ball from the breakdown, and a fair amount of beef clogging up the midfield in case the speedsters do something mad like getting tackled. It all depends on Brian Ashton's appetite for risk; and we think that playing it safe in the warm-ups won't be much help when we're 10 points down to the 'Boks with 5 minutes to go. If the outside backs see some quick ball - in fact, if Dan Hipkiss gets the ball in 10 feet of space - Damien Traille could be clutching thin air and watching England's footballing back three piling through the gaps. It's a pressure game for Andy Farrell, the man who should be releasing the fast guys. Ashton will be hoping that naming Faz as his "defensive leader" in the backs isn't shown to be a fig leaf for the ex-Leaguie's terminal inability to break the opposing line in attack.

Watch out For: The battle between the two openside flankers, Tom Rees and Imanol Harinordoquy. Rees is the spiritual successor to Neil Back, compact, powerful and low to the floor; the Basque is a good stone heavier and four inches taller. Technique and agility versus power and size.

Scrumbag Prediction: England continue to stutter in midfield and fall victim to a fired-up French pack. France by 12.

France: Poitrenaud; Dominici, Traille, Jauzion, Heymans; Michalak, Elissalde; Milloud, Ibanez (c), Poux; Pelous, Thion; Nyanga, Harinordoquy, Dusautoir
Bench: Bruno, Mas, Nallet, Bonnaire, Mignoni, Skrela, Rougerie

England: Cueto; Lewsey, Hipkiss, Farrell, Robinson; Wilkinson, Perry; Freshwater, Regan, Vickery (c), Shaw, Borthwick, Corry, Rees, Easter
Bench: Mears, Stevens, Worsley, Dallaglio, Gomarsall, Barkley, Sackey

KO: Saturday 18 August, 21:00 CET

Ref: Alain Rolland - Irish guy with a French name, allegedly

Six Nations Final Weekend Preview: Wales vs England

By the time Eddie Butler has made his first playful barb at Brian Moore, their respective nations may already be playing in what is effectively a dead rubber.  England will be hoping that the first two games of this Super Saturday have either been close, or tremendous upsets, but should either of their rivals have posted a decent score, they'll be chasing a massive margin of victory against opponents who don't need to have been stung by a run of four straight Six Nations defeats to want to beat England.

Stung, though, they have been.  Last week's final-whistle controversy in Rome can only paper over a certain number of cracks, and there is more crack in Wales' rugby edifice than in "Whitney and Doherty:  The 2006 Chronicles".  The absence of certain key players (and Gavin Henson) has been mooted as a reason for Wales' hideous recent form, but in truth, the players who have played are talented enough.  Two short years ago, they were about to celebrate a Grand Slam.  This year, a whitewash awaits unless those players remember what they're capable of, and just get it done.  Gareth Thomas captains the Welsh, perhaps regretting his haste to get Mike Ruddock sacked, and hoping that he can win the battle of the veteran inside-centres with English captain Mike Catt.  Catt, for his part, will be hoping that the magic number is not far beyond the current 29.

Six Nations Final Weekend Preview: The permutations

Three games, three potential champions:  This weekend really couldn't have gone much better for the Six Nations schedulers.  Points difference is such that France are currently in the box seat, with a four-point gap to Ireland and twenty-nine to England.  All of which means that should France win, Ireland will need to have bettered their margin of victory by five, and/or England do so by thirty to lift the trophy.  Should Scotland spring a shock in Paris while Ireland win in Rome, England will need to better Ireland's margin by twenty-six, while if Ireland and France both come a cropper, any England win would secure Brian Ashton's men the title.  If points difference is equal between two or three teams, then the title will go to the team that has scored most tries getting there, with an honourable mention going to the statisticians.  The try count so far?  It goes thusly:  France 9, Ireland 9, England 8.

Anyone wondering how they can possibly keep track of all this need never fear - we're live-blogging tomorrow and will keep you posted of how each score affects the state of play in this year's Six Nations running.  Never let it be said we're not good to you.

Eddie O'Sullivan quells anti-England talk

It seems the rugby world can't stop talking about this weekend's Ireland vs. England game, and plenty of discussion time has been dedicated to the idea of the "colonizing bastards" England (quote from Deputy Editor Paul, there) playing at the halt of Irish national pride, Croke Park. It has even been said in some quarters (Scrumbag Towers) that Ireland should do all they can to beat England 19-16, just to push the national war that bit further.

However, a lone voice in the wilderness comes in the form of Eddie O'Sullivan, who has talked down an anti-English protest at the game by simply saying: "With regards to the anthems, they have always been respected at Lansdowne Road. Our anthem has been respected wherever we've gone, and we hope that will be reciprocated. God Save the Queen' was respected the last time it was played at Croke Park, at the Special Olympics three years ago, and I expect it to be the same on Saturday."

Personally, I reckon the chances of the Irish standing still and silent whilst 'God Save The Queen' is about as likely as Ireland winning the World Cup. So nil, then (England miaow!)

Cardiff Blues vs Leicester Tigers

An interesting match is in prospect in Pool 5 this afternoon, as the Blues look to follow up their impressive away win in Bourgoin by beating a Leicester side whose campaign needs a kick-start after losing at home to Munster last week.  Munster having won last evening in Bourgoin, the home side will know that, to keep pace at the top of the group table, a victory is imperative.  For Tigers, the concern will be that starting the pool with two consecutive defeats, with a trip to Limerick on the last weekend, would be very nearly fatal.

For the home side Xavier Rush is fit enough to be named as a replacement, while Tom Shanklin and international team-mate Rob Sidoli are in from the start after injuries.  Tigers welcome Andy Goode back to the XV, after his impressive performance from the bench against Munster.  Leo Cullen's injury sees newly-Scottish lock Jim (formerly James) Hamilton take a starting place.  With a lot riding on this game for both sides, expect a nervy contest with a narrow margin.  I'll go with Tigers to win by four.

Heineken Cup: Friday Night Previews

Week Two of the Heineken Cup, and this is where we see if the teams who had a good opening weekend can sustain it in their follow-up fixture.  Tonight's stand-out game sees two teams who carved out surprise wins in Week One going head-to-head in a match which will give the winner a real chance of making a rare appearance in the knock-out stages.  Group Five leaders Llanelli Scarlets host Ulster, who last week hammered Toulouse by 30-3.  The Scarlets were equally impressive, picking up a bonus-point win on their trip to Reading, where they beat London Irish 32-25.

The teams have faced off once already this season, with Ulster carving out a convincing win on the opening weekend of the Magners League at Ravenhill.  Since then, though, a lot of rugby has been played, and this time it's the Scarlets who will play host.  The fascinating battle here will come in the half-backs, with experienced Irishman David Humphreys and young tyro Isaac Boss seeking to overcome Welsh international partnership Stephen Jones (this week named captain of his country) and Dwayne Peel.  There is a wealth of talent in both sets of backs, and quality and quantity of the ball they receive will be of paramount importance.  I see this one being a close-run thing, with a margin of five points either way.  The presence of Andrew Trimble in the Ulster line-up pushes me to favour Ulster.

Sale, surprisingly beaten at Swansea's Liberty Stadium last weekend, will be keen to make up for it with a bonus-point win at Edgeley Park against Calvisano.  Major changes are made to the side who lost in Wales last week, but playmaking talisman Charlie Hodgson is present.  The Calvisano XV features a number of Italian internationals, among them scrum-half Paul Griffen, but Sale should still have too much for them.  Give Calvisano a 15-point start to keep this one interesting.

In tonight's other game, Castres host Treviso.  The French side were narrow losers last weekend at Wasps, suggesting that they're up for this season's tournament.  They're at home this weekend, and should really be expecting to take five points tonight.