Pick your oppositions six nations team

Just watching impressive Irish performances in the euro cup on tv and dreading the opening match in Dublin for Wales.

Ireland have some cracking players coming through there ranks.

Thought it might be fun to show some respect to the opposition and pick their team that you would be impressed/intimidated to see play your own.

Opening six nations fixtures are as follows:

SATURDAY 6TH FEBRUARY 2016

14:25 France vs Italy

16:50 Scotland vs England


SUNDAY 7TH FEBRUARY 2016

15:00 Ireland vs Wales


It would be considered good conduct to name a team in your first post before you start to discuss other people's selections.

Ireland

1 P Dooley
2 R Best
3 T Furlong
4 R Maloney
5 I Henderson (injured) Ryan
6 P O'Mahony (injured) Ruddock
7 S O'Brien
8 J Heaslip
9 C Murray
10 J Sexton
11 S Zebo
12 R Henshall
13 G Ringrose
14 A Trimble
15 R Kearney (still injured ?) Payne

16 Cronin
17 J McGrath
18 Ross
19 Toner
20 Ruddock
21L McGrath
22 Madigan

Scottish posters may find this challenging

Gwlad wrote:Scottish posters may find this challenging

Would you mind editing your post and posting a team first before you comment mate?

Gwlad wrote:Scottish posters may find this challenging

Cheeky...

Scotland:

15- Hogg
14- Visser (injured, so Maitland instead)
13- Bennett
12- Dunbar
11- Seymour
10- Russell
9- Pyrgos
8- Strauss
7- Barclay
6- Hardie
5- J Gray
4- Gilchrist
3 - Nel
2- Brown
1- Grant

Welsh, Ford, Reid, R Gray, Denton, Laidlaw, Taylor, Maitland/Fife

England.

M.Vunipola, George, Cole, Kruis, Itoje, Robshaw, Kvesic, B. Vunipola - Youngs, Farrell, Watson, Hill, Joseph, Yarde, Brown. No idea on bench or captain, currently not knowledgabe enough. Same with Ireland next up.

McGrath, Best, Moore, Maloney, Ryan, Ruddock, O'Donnell, Murphy - Murray, Sexton, Zebo, McCloskey, Ringrose, Earls, Payne.

Ireland looking a bit light in the back 5 of their pack with the current injuries, however they're well stocked in the backs even without the Kearney brothers who have been injured and not playing that well (apart from Dave's game versus the Ospreys).

After today I'll have to go for Clifford at 7, and drop Yarde for Nowell (who I probably should have picked in the first place).

Clifford looked very good this afternoon

ChequeredJersey wrote:

Gwlad wrote:Scottish posters may find this challenging

Cheeky...

Scotland:

15- Hogg
14- Visser (injured, so Maitland instead)
13- Bennett
12- Dunbar
11- Seymour
10- Russell
9- Pyrgos
8- Strauss
7- Barclay
6- Hardie
5- J Gray
4- Gilchrist
3 - Nel
2- Brown
1- Grant

Welsh, Ford, Reid, R Gray, Denton, Laidlaw, Taylor, Maitland/Fife

That's a pretty decent team CJ.

Team that I would be most worried about for Scotland at full form is pretty similar to CJ

Dickinson, Ford, Nel, Gray, Gray, Cowan, Hardie, Denton, Laidlaw, Russell, Visser, Dunbar, Bennett, Seymour, Hogg

Brown, Reid, Cusack?, Gilchrist, Strauss, SHC, Jackson, Maitland

It’s a good idea for a thread, helps you get to know your opposition and some of the issues/ strengths that they have.

01. Jon Welsh (If fit)
02. Ross Ford
03. Gordon Reid
04. Jonny Gray
05. Richie Gray
06. Blair Cowan
07. John Hardie
08. Josh Strauss

09. Greg Laidlaw
10. Finn Russell

11. Tim Visser
12. Matt Scott
13. Mark Bennett
14. Sean Lamont
15. Stuart Hogg

16. Fraser Brown
17. Alasdair Dickinson
18. WP Nell
19. Tim Swinson
20. David Denton
21. Henry Pyrgos
22. Duncan Weir
23. Peter Horne

May as well do Ireland and Wales too

Wales:
Evans, Baldwin, Lee, AWJ, Charteris, Warburton, Tipuric, Faletau, Davies (Webb when fit), Biggar, North, Roberts, JD2, Halfpenny, Williams

Owens, Jenkins, Francis, Davies, Lydiate, Williams (Davies), Anscombe, Scott Williams

Ireland

McGrath, Best, Ross, Toner, Ryan, Ruddock, SOB, Heaslip, Murray, Sexton, Zebo, McCloskey, Henshaw, Trimble, Payne

Cronin, Healy, Moore, McCarthy?, Henry/Stander, Marmion, Madigan, Gilroy

Good thread. Tough one.

For England against Scotland, I would be unhappy to see the following England teamsheet (bear in mind I am not fully up to speed with who is injured and who isn't):

01 Mako Vunipola
02 Jamie George
03 Dan Cole/David Wilson (don't know who is in form here, really)
04 Maro Itoje
05 George Kruis
06 Chris Robshaw
07 Steffon Armitage (hey, you never know )
08 Billy Vunipola

09 Danny Care
10 George Ford
11 David Strettle (again, you never know with Eddie)
12 Manu Tuilagi
13 Jonathan Joseph
14 Marland Yarde
15 Mike Brown

16 Alex Waller
17 Dylan Hartley
18 Will Collier/Rob Webber
19 Courtney Lawes
20 Will Fraser
21 Ben Youngs
22 Owen Farrell
23 Andy Goode

Unlike my learned friend GC I am a bit more uptospeed with the goings on in Eddie Jones' squad  , and this is the team that worries me:

1.M Vunipola 2.George 3.Cole 4.Launchbury (c) 5.Kruis 6.Robshaw 7.Haskell 8.B Vunipola 9.Youngs 10.Ford 11.Nowell 12.S Hill 13.Joseph 14.Watson 15.Brown

16.Marler 17.Hartley 18.Thomas 19.Itoje 20.Clifford 21.Care 22.Farrell 23.Daly

Should Manu Tuilagi be fit he would go straight in at 12.

The mistake Eddie Jones could make is to put Farrell at 12. That would be a good outcome for Scotland as Farrell is a very good 10 but a poor 12, and certainly not an international outside centre.

Cumbrian wrote:It’s a good idea for a thread, helps you get to know your opposition and some of the issues/ strengths that they have.

01. Jon Welsh (If fit)
02. Ross Ford
03. Gordon Reid
04. Jonny Gray
05. Richie Gray
06. Blair Cowan
07. John Hardie
08. Josh Strauss

09. Greg Laidlaw
10. Finn Russell

11. Tim Visser
12. Matt Scott
13. Mark Bennett
14. Sean Lamont
15. Stuart Hogg

16. Fraser Brown
17. Alasdair Dickinson
18. WP Nell
19. Tim Swinson
20. David Denton
21. Henry Pyrgos
22. Duncan Weir
23. Peter Horne

This is a pretty good team. WP Nel is very much first choice tighthead though whereas Gordon Reid is a loosehead (and with Dickinson out injured will probably start at 1). Welsh is a tighthead albeit started his career at loosehead. I would expect him to bench.

The only other slot which looks wrong is right wing/23. Lamont is slower than the cogs in Donald Trump's brain and Peter Horne is more a 10/12 these days than cover for the back three. Expect Tommy Seymour (Glasgow) and Sean Maitland (London Irish) to feature in the 23, assuming both are fit.

Thanks for educating me, I wasn't entirely sure about the positions that the props played. As a Falcons supporter it was my bad not knowing Welsh's position though. With Lamont, I didn't realise quite how old he was! (Just looked it up). What sort of game do you think Scotland will set out to play against us? IS your approach generally conservative or a bit more open these days?

Turning the question on it's head for a second, who/ what do you fear from England? Where do you think that you can get at us?

I personally quite worried about facing John Hardie (I fear anybody who has a decent out-and-out seven these days), especially if England pick the back row we are rumoured to be going with.

I worry about the physicality of the England forwards. We have a pretty beefy 8 ourselves but the Vunipola brothers bring a level of power ball in hand that we could struggle with. When the Samoan ball carriers ran hard at the World Cup we fell apart, and those two could punch similar holes.

I also worry about George Ford. Our defence struggled at the World Cup and we leaked tries. Ford is the best playmaker England have had in my lifetime and his range of passing and kicking from hand makes him a real threat to our rather rigid and inflexible defence. I'd be far more comfortable with a Farrell/Barritt combination than the possibility of facing Ford/Hill or Ford/Tuilagi.

On the plus side there's a chance England could go into this with one or two inexperienced players, and a new coach trying to bed down new ideas. We are relatively settled as a team unless injuries shake things up, and in terms of our playing style we are now fairly comfortable giving the ball some air. I should also add that you're right to be worried about Hardie. He's an absolute menace.

Glad to see you guys enjoying this thread...

maestegmafia wrote:Glad to see you guys enjoying this thread...

funnyExiledScot wrote:I worry about the physicality of the England forwards. We have a pretty beefy 8 ourselves but the Vunipola brothers bring a level of power ball in hand that we could struggle with. When the Samoan ball carriers ran hard at the World Cup we fell apart, and those two could punch similar holes.

I also worry about George Ford. Our defence struggled at the World Cup and we leaked tries. Ford is the best playmaker England have had in my lifetime and his range of passing and kicking from hand makes him a real threat to our rather rigid and inflexible defence. I'd be far more comfortable with a Farrell/Barritt combination than the possibility of facing Ford/Hill or Ford/Tuilagi.

On the plus side there's a chance England could go into this with one or two inexperienced players, and a new coach trying to bed down new ideas. We are relatively settled as a team unless injuries shake things up, and in terms of our playing style we are now fairly comfortable giving the ball some air. I should also add that you're right to be worried about Hardie. He's an absolute menace.

As mentioned above young Clifford looks a very useful openside. Fast, strong at the breakdown, can find a gap and a good ball carrier.

Clifford does look the business and it'll be a great battle should he come up against John Hardie. Jones is talking about number 8 being the longer term destination for Clifford, whereas Hardie is an out and out 7, brutally physical and strong over the ball. Mouth watering prospect.

In general there are some potentially epic openside battles, Warburton or Tipuric vs SOB is a heavyweight title holders match up. Clifford Vs Hardie too

I haven't a clue who France or Italy will pick but they both have some tyros in their ranks too.

Cumbrian wrote: What sort of game do you think Scotland will set out to play against us?  IS your approach generally conservative or a bit more open these days?

Scotland will play fast and loose and will go for turnovers and interceptions. High tempo and lots of offloads. High risk high reward strategy. Pick and go of slow ball tho and try to avoid an arm wrestle.

TJ wrote:

Cumbrian wrote: What sort of game do you think Scotland will set out to play against us?  IS your approach generally conservative or a bit more open these days?

Scotland will play fast and loose and will go for turnovers and interceptions.  High tempo and lots of offloads.  High risk high reward strategy.  Pick and go of slow ball tho and try to avoid an arm wrestle.

And with a new highly rated breakdown coaches recently hired both Scotland and England are going to be tough in the tight stuff on the floor.

This will hopefully be a great game to launch the tournament.

To all non England fans...re the 7 spot. Clifford isn't an out and out 7. Kvesic is.
If we're talking of a real 7's battle it would be Kvesic v Hardie.

England a very strong team to be honest. Found myself Struggling a bit.

01 Vunipola
02 George
03 Cole
04 Launchberry
05 Lawes
06 Robshaw (C)
07 Kvesic
08 Morgan

09 Care
10 Ford
11 Watson
12 Burrelll
13 Joseph
14 Nowell
15 Brown

16 Waller
17 Youngs
18 Collier
19 Itoje
20 Fraser
21 Youngs
22 Farrell
23 Goode

I appreciate some of these guys are injured, and to be honest I would also have Johnny May in there too.

maestegmafia wrote:

TJ wrote:

Cumbrian wrote: What sort of game do you think Scotland will set out to play against us?  IS your approach generally conservative or a bit more open these days?

Scotland will play fast and loose and will go for turnovers and interceptions.  High tempo and lots of offloads.  High risk high reward strategy.  Pick and go of slow ball tho and try to avoid an arm wrestle.

And with a new highly rated breakdown coaches recently hired both Scotland and England are going to be tough in the tight stuff on the floor.

This will hopefully be a great game to launch the tournament.

France v Italy is the first game isn't it?

As I mistakenly thought the whole point of this thread originally was, this is the England team that I would like to see:

01 Elton John
02 Alan Carr
03 Jack Wiltshire
04 Harry Styles
05 Orlando Bloom
06 Judi Dench
07 Julie Andrews
08 Sharon Osbourne

09 Barbara Windsor
10 Christopher Lee
11 Tom Conti
12 Victoria Beckham  
13 Maggie Smith
14 Julie Walters
15 The jovial bloke with chronic arthritis who sold me coffee at Liverpool Street for 10 years

Front row a bunch of jessies, boiler house a bit soft and gangling, lots of chat and confusion amongst the loose forwards.

Yappy scrum half who is easily distracted with a gin and tonic, ageing 10, a mad midfield, wingers that will be too busy telling jokes and a feller at the back who literally cannot catch.

Scotland would just about stand a chance.

I think that you mean a 10 who is no longer with us!

Don't worry, GC is a bit behind the times. Amazed that Bowie and Rickman didn't feature.

No 7&1/2 wrote:I think that you mean a 10 who is no longer with us!

I would still pick him over Duncan Weir.

You'll be telling me next that Phil Vickery has retired.

Still a fair few years off that thankfully.

George Carlin wrote:As I mistakenly thought the whole point of this thread originally was, this is the England team that I would like to see:

01 Elton John
02 Alan Carr
03 Jack Wiltshire
04 Harry Styles
05 Orlando Bloom
06 Judi Dench
07 Julie Andrews
08 Sharon Osbourne

09 Barbara Windsor
10 Christopher Lee
11 Tom Conti
12 Victoria Beckham  
13 Maggie Smith
14 Julie Walters
15 The jovial bloke with chronic arthritis who sold me coffee at Liverpool Street for 10 years

Front row a bunch of jessies, boiler house a bit soft and gangling, lots of chat and confusion amongst the loose forwards.

Yappy scrum half who is easily distracted with a gin and tonic, ageing 10, a mad midfield, wingers that will be too busy telling jokes and a feller at the back who literally cannot catch.

Scotland would just about stand a chance.

Julie Walters brushing off Tim Visser's attempt at a tackle would be a sight to see.

Or watching Tom Conti burning Lamont on the outside...

Eddie Jones has just picked my England captain

munkian wrote:Eddie Jones has just picked my England captain

The captain you want to see or the best man for the job?

Biter being picked as Captain is Jones making a statement. His grunting on BBC 6 o'clock news was belligerent as hell.

He'll be a prickly customer on and off the field. Time will tell if he is the right man for the job.

Personally I'm happy. I don't think he's the best hooker England has at its disposal so it most likely means George will not be packing down against Ford, a good thing IMO

With our first game Ireland look to have some very talented players at their disposal. Wales have good depth at loosehead and Hooker, but tighthead we are a bit soft after Sampson.

No 7&1/2 wrote:I think that you mean a 10 who is no longer with us!

Oh he can still play but only if its an evening kick off

Very good

I would not like Scotland to have to play against a back division of Care, Ford, Burrell, Joseph, Watson, Nowell, Brown. fortunately I don't think we will have to

maestegmafia wrote:Ireland

1 P Dooley
2 R Best
3 T Furlong
4 R Maloney
5 I Henderson (injured) Ryan
6 P O'Mahony (injured) Ruddock
7 S O'Brien
8 J Heaslip
9 C Murray
10 J Sexton
11 S Zebo
12 R Henshall
13 G Ringrose
14 A Trimble
15 R Kearney (still injured ?) Payne

16 Cronin
17 J McGrath
18 Ross
19 Toner
20 Ruddock
21L McGrath
22 Madigan

Really interesting team Maes! Not many people would have considered Peter Dooley but he's come on in leaps and bounds recently. I didn't even thing he was going to make it as a pro at first but now he looks like a really good prospect.

My Wales team

1. Paul James
2. Ken Owens
3. Tomas Francis
4. Jake Ball
5. Alun Wyn Jones (c)
6. James King
7. Justin Tipuric
8. Toby Faletau
9. Gareth Davies
10. Dan Biggar
11. Hallam Amos
12. Jamie Roberts
13. Jonathon Davies
14. George North
15. Gareth Anscombe

That team is capable of winning a Slam this year.

TJ wrote:I would not like Scotland to have to play against a back division of Care, Ford, Burrell, Joseph, Watson, Nowell, Brown.  fortunately I don't think we will have to

TJ,
I think 6 out of the 7 will be on the pitch at some time (injury permitting for Nowell), Burrell is out of form & behind young Harry Mallinder for Saints at the moment.

Notch wrote:

maestegmafia wrote:Ireland

1 P Dooley
2 R Best
3 T Furlong
4 R Maloney
5 I Henderson (injured) Ryan
6 P O'Mahony (injured) Ruddock
7 S O'Brien
8 J Heaslip
9 C Murray
10 J Sexton
11 S Zebo
12 R Henshall
13 G Ringrose
14 A Trimble
15 R Kearney (still injured ?) Payne

16 Cronin
17 J McGrath
18 Ross
19 Toner
20 Ruddock
21L McGrath
22 Madigan

Really interesting team Maes! Not many people would have considered Peter Dooley but he's come on in leaps and bounds recently. I didn't even thing he was going to make it as a pro at first but now he looks like a really good prospect.

My Wales team

1. Paul James
2. Ken Owens
3. Tomas Francis
4. Jake Ball
5. Alun Wyn Jones (c)
6. James King
7. Justin Tipuric
8. Toby Faletau
9. Gareth Davies
10. Dan Biggar
11. Hallam Amos
12. Jamie Roberts
13. Jonathon Davies
14. George North
15. Gareth Anscombe

That team is capable of winning a Slam this year.

Am very jealous of the consistency that Welsh team has. Most of those guys have been together for years and attending training must be like putting on an old, comfortable shoe. I take Wales to win the tournament this year if they can topple Ireland.

Hopefully this Scotland side will be truly motoring in a couple of years as the team is still fairly embryonic in terms of their time together.

GC-

Thats the difference between Wales and Ireland at the moment. Of the players in the squad who are fully fit, we don't know who our best loose head is, we don't know who our best tight head is, we don't know who our best tight head lock is... and we are under pressure because we are the reigning champions. I'm not expecting much from us.

In fact there are only a handful of players everyone agrees will start for Ireland

2. Rory Best (captain)
4. Devin Toner
7. Sean O'Brien
9. Conor Murray
12. or 13. Robbie Henshaw

Every other position is up for debate after a very successful couple of years. This Six Nations is a new beginning for Ireland and we shouldn't be disappointed if we lose a couple of games; what is important is seeing that we evolve and play good rugby in the tournament regardless of who is selected. Schmidt will add Sexton, Heaslip and Payne to that mix for the first game because 5 experienced stalwarts is not enough to beat a Wales team who are more settled than any other in World Rugby. Those three guys I listed are very positive, intelligent rugby players who organise the men around them. Young and unproven players will miss out against Wales in favour of experience, which will cause a minor backlash from the fans- all adding to the pressure on the team!

You see, Declan Kidney came into a settled Ireland team full of Munster players as their former provincial coach and won a championship, Joe Schmidt came into a settled Ireland team full of Leinster players as their former provincial coach and won a championship. Now the form team is Ulster and the team is very unsettled. The Leinster team we built our side around just lost 5 out of 6 games in Europe including some humiliating beatings. Ulster did the best out of all the Irish provinces winning in France twice. But the established internationals are all Leinster and the young, unproven players are all Ulster- do you go with form or experience? It just adds to the pressure on Schmidt because he knows he will be criticised for his selection whatever happens. We need time to work out a new way of winning games and Ireland fans are very impatient. If Ireland actually WIN, that will be our best ever Championship win by a long way. Three in a row is practically unprecedented.

Of course Warren Gatland knows all of this so he is trying to add to the pressure on Schmidt even more by calling Ireland the tournament favourites at every opportunity.

If Ireland beat France, Italy and Scotland thats a good tournament for me under the circumstances. 4 wins would be outstanding. A Slam is a thing that you will not see happen.

The smartest selection Schmidt ever made was making Rory Best captain. If he picks Sexton over Jackson, Fitzgerald over Trimble etc. no-one can call Schmidt biased against Ulster. He's the first Irish coach to appoint an Ulster player as Captain on a full-time basis since 1989 since Paddy Johns got the job. Before that, Willie Anderson. If Rory shows half as much spirit and leadership as Anderson did when he faced down the Haka we are in with a chance even despite what I just said.

Also, if a young Ulster player does get left out of the team despite excellent form, they have a senior leadership figure with a familiar face to help them deal that disappointment. By the same token if Schmidt goes with lots of Ulster players, having their provincial Captain leading the team will help them settle into their roles very quickly which is essential at international level.

Schmidt is absolutely nobodies fool, thats for sure. He knows what he's doing.

Fair comment Notchy old socks although your team's problems are all relative.

I did read that Ireland had the most reliable line-out in the entire rugby world cup - including retaining on your own throw and stealing opposition ball. Not a bad place to start from.

George Carlin wrote:

Notch wrote:

maestegmafia wrote:Ireland

1 P Dooley
2 R Best
3 T Furlong
4 R Maloney
5 I Henderson (injured) Ryan
6 P O'Mahony (injured) Ruddock
7 S O'Brien
8 J Heaslip
9 C Murray
10 J Sexton
11 S Zebo
12 R Henshall
13 G Ringrose
14 A Trimble
15 R Kearney (still injured ?) Payne

16 Cronin
17 J McGrath
18 Ross
19 Toner
20 Ruddock
21L McGrath
22 Madigan

Really interesting team Maes! Not many people would have considered Peter Dooley but he's come on in leaps and bounds recently. I didn't even thing he was going to make it as a pro at first but now he looks like a really good prospect.

My Wales team

1. Paul James
2. Ken Owens
3. Tomas Francis
4. Jake Ball
5. Alun Wyn Jones (c)
6. James King
7. Justin Tipuric
8. Toby Faletau
9. Gareth Davies
10. Dan Biggar
11. Hallam Amos
12. Jamie Roberts
13. Jonathon Davies
14. George North
15. Gareth Anscombe

That team is capable of winning a Slam this year.

Am very jealous of the consistency that Welsh team has. Most of those guys have been together for years and attending training must be like putting on an old, comfortable shoe. I take Wales to win the tournament this year if they can topple Ireland.

Hopefully this Scotland side will be truly motoring in a couple of years as the team is still fairly embryonic in terms of their time together.

Cheers notch, I know there are a few lads in there that most of the lads on the Ireland squad page hadn't tipped but I rate some of the talent that's not being used.

Ringrose is the biggest ommision most have surprised me with. He looks a superb player to me.

GC

The scots look back to a decent quality throughout the team. Great centres, good halfbacks and a troublesome pack. I hope they get just rewards for their endeavour this year.

BigTrevsbigmac wrote:

TJ wrote:I would not like Scotland to have to play against a back division of Care, Ford, Burrell, Joseph, Watson, Nowell, Brown.  fortunately I don't think we will have to

TJ,
I think 6 out of the 7 will be on the pitch at some time (injury permitting for Nowell), Burrell is out of form & behind young Harry Mallinder for Saints at the moment.

Maybe - but surely Farrell will start and maybe youngs. If that back division is played they will score a lot of tries - some real speed and talent - run around people and create space not run thru them. I really rate Care but he seems to be out of favour

TJ wrote:

BigTrevsbigmac wrote:

TJ wrote:I would not like Scotland to have to play against a back division of Care, Ford, Burrell, Joseph, Watson, Nowell, Brown.  fortunately I don't think we will have to

TJ,
I think 6 out of the 7 will be on the pitch at some time (injury permitting for Nowell), Burrell is out of form & behind young Harry Mallinder for Saints at the moment.

Maybe - but surely Farrell will start and maybe youngs.  If that back division is played they will score a lot of tries - some real speed and talent - run around people and create space not run thru them.  I really rate Care but he seems to be out of favour

He was out of favour. Not enough to know where he stands with Jones. Both his and Youngs' form is very good. However, being very biased, I honestly believe Care is just a superior player to Youngs when they are both at a similar level of their best