Rugby reminders!

February 2, 2007

Six Nations and Super 14 start this weekend!

Rugby Planet also their test previews up this morning. Here are the details; click through the links to get the full reports...

Italy vs. France

Date: Saturday, 3 February
Kick-off: 14.30 (13.30 GMT)
Venue: Stadio Flaminio, Rome
Expected weather conditions: Scattered clouds with a high of 12°C, dropping to 5°C and a wind from the northeast veering northwest of 10 km/h, but freshening.
Referee: Wayne Barnes (England)
Touch judges: Dave Pearson (England), Rob Debney (England)
Television match official: Tim Hayes (Wales)
Assessor: Michel Lamoulie (France)

RP prediction: France by eight points.

Italy: 15 Roland de Marigny, 14 Denis Dallan, 13 Gonzalo Canale, 12 Mirco Bergamasco, 11 Andrea Masi, 10 Andrea Scanavacca, 9 Paul Griffen, 8 Sergio Parisse, 7 Mauro Bergamasco, 6 Josh Sole, 5 Marco Bortolami (captain), 4 Santiago Dellapè, 3 Carlos Nieto, 2 Fabio Ongaro, 1 Salvatore Perugini.
Replacements: 16 Carlo Festuccia, 17 Andrea Lo Cicero, 18 Martín Leandro Castrogiovanni, 19 Roberto Mandelli, 20 Alessandro Troncon, 21 Ramiro Pez, 22 Kaine Robertson.

France: 15 Clément Poitrenaud, 14 Christophe Dominici, 13 Florian Fritz, 12 Yannick Jauzion, 11 Cédric Heymans - 10 David Skréla, 9 Pierre Mignoni, 8 Sebastian Chabal, 7 Julien Bonnaire, 6 Serge Betsen, 5 Lionel Nallet, 4 Jérôme Thion, 3 Pieter de Villiers, 2 Raphaël Ibañez (captain), 1 Olivier Milloud.
Replacements: 16 Dimitri Szarzewski, 17 Sylvain Marconnet, 18 Pascal Papé, 19 Imañol Harinordoquy, 20 Dimitri Yachvili, 21 Lionel Beauxis, 22 Vincent Clerc.

England vs. Scotland

Date: Saturday, 3 January
Kick-off: 16.00 GMT
Venue: Twickenham
Weather: Hazy sunshine, cold, -1 - 5°C, no wind to speak of.
Referee: Marius Jonker (South Africa)
Touch judges: Alain Rolland (Ireland), Federico Cuesta (Argentina)
Television match official: Donal Courtney (Ireland)
Assessor: Paul Bridgman (England)

RP prediction: England by eighteen points.

England: 15 Iain Balshaw, 14 Josh Lewsey, 13 Mike Tindall, 12 Andy Farrell, 11 Jason Robinson, 10 Jonny Wilkinson, 9 Harry Ellis, 8 Martin Corry, 7 Magnus Lund, 6 Joe Worsley, 5 Danny Grewcock, 4 Louis Deacon, 3 Phil Vickery (captain), 2 George Chuter, 1 Perry Freshwater.
Replacements: 16 Lee Mears, 17 Julian White, 18 Tom Palmer, 19 Tom Rees, 20 Peter Richards, 21 Toby Flood, 22 Mathew Tait.

Scotland: 15 Hugo Southwell, 14 Sean Lamont, 13 Marcus Di Rollo, 12 Andrew Henderson, 11 Chris Paterson (captain), 10 Dan Parks, 9 Chris Cusiter, 8 David Callam, 7 Kelly Brown, 6 Simon Taylor, 5 James Hamilton, 4 Alastair Kellock, 3 Euan Murray, 2 Dougie Hall, 1 Gavin Kerr.
Replacements: 16 Ross Ford, 17 Allan Jacobsen, 18 Scott Murray, 19 Allister Hogg, 20 Rory Lawson, 21 Rob Dewey, 22 Rory Lamont.

Wales vs. Ireland

Date: Sunday 4th February 2007
Venue: Millennium Stadium, Cardiff
Kick-off: 15.00 (GMT)
Weather Forecast: Clear skies are forecast with some sunshine - perfect weather for running rugby.
Referee: Kelvin Deaker (New Zealand)
Touch judges: Steve Walsh (New Zealand), David Changleng (Scotland)
Television match official: TBA (England)
Assessor: Steve Hilditch (Ireland)

RP prediction: Ireland by eight points.

Wales: 15 Kevin Morgan, 14 Hal Luscombe, 13 Jamie Robinson, 12 James Hook, 11 Chris Czekaj, 10 Stephen Jones (captain), 9 Dwayne Peel, 8 Ryan Jones, 7 Martyn Williams, 6 Alix Popham, 5 Alun Wyn Jones, 4 Ian Gough, 3 Chris Horsman, 2 Rhys Thomas, 1 Gethin Jenkins.
Replacements: 16 Matthew Rees, 17 Duncan Jones, 18 Robert Sidoli, 19 Gavin Thomas, 20 Mike Phillips, 21 Ceri Sweeney, 22 Aled Brew.

Ireland: 15 Girvan Dempsey, 14 Andrew Trimble,13 Brian O'Driscoll (captain), 12 Gordon D'Arcy, 11 Denis Hickie, 10 Ronan O'Gara, 9 Peter Stringer, 8 Denis Leamy, 7 David Wallace, 6 Simon Easterby, 5 Paul O'Connell, 4 Donncha O'Callaghan, 3 John Hayes, 2 Rory Best, 1 Marcus Horan.
Replacements: 16 Jerry Flannery, 17 Simon Best, 19 Neil Best, 18 Mick O'Driscoll, 20 Isaac Boss, 21 Paddy Wallace, 22 Geordan Murphy.

Rugby Planet also has their previews of Round One of the SANZAR Super 14 competition.

Round One, Pt. 1.

Round One, Pt. 2.