6 Nations Team Selection - Round 5

Ireland: Ireland: 15 Jamie Osborne, 14 Rob Baloucoune, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Stuart McCloskey, 11 Tommy O’Brien, 10 Jack Crowley, 9 Jamison Gibson-Park, 8 Caelan Doris (captain), 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Jack Conan, 5 Tadhg Beirne, 4 Joe McCarthy, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Dan Sheehan, 1 Tom O’Toole.

Replacements: 16 Rónan Kelleher, 17 Michael Milne, 18 Finlay Bealham, 19 Darragh Murray, 20 Nick Timoney, 21 Craig Casey, 22 Ciaran Frawley, 23 Bundee Aki.

Scotland: 15 Blair Kinghorn, 14 Darcy Graham, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Sione Tuipulotu (captain), 11 Kyle Steyn, 10 Finn Russell (vice-captain), 9 Ben White, 8 Jack Dempsey, 7 Rory Darge (vice-captain), 6 Matt Fagerson, 5 Grant Gilchrist, 4 Max Williamson, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 George Turner, 1 Pierre Schoeman

Replacements: 16 Ewan Ashman, 17 Rory Sutherland, 18 D’arcy Rae, 19 Alex Craig, 20 Magnus Bradbury, 21 George Horne, 22 Kyle Rowe, 23 Tom Jordan,

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Wales: 15 Louis Rees-Zammit, 14 Ellis Mee, 13 Eddie James, 12 Joe Hawkins, 11 Josh Adams, 10 Dan Edwards, 9 Tomos Williams, 8 Aaron Wainwright, 7 James Botham, 6 Alex Mann, 5 Ben Carter, 4 Dafydd Jenkins, 3 Tomas Francis, 2 Dewi Lake (captain), 1 Rhys Carre.

Replacements: 16 Ryan Elias, 17 Nicky Smith, 18 Archie Griffin, 19 Adam Beard, 20 Olly Cracknell, 21 Kieran Hardy, 22 Jarrod Evans, 23 Blair Murray.

Italy: 15 Lorenzo Pani, 14 Louis Lynagh, 13 Juan Ignacio Brex, 12 Tommaso Menoncello, 11 Monty Ioane, 10 Paolo Garbisi, 9 Alessandro Fusco,, 8 Lorenzo Cannone, 7 Manuel Zuliani, 6 Michele Lamaro (c), 5 Federico Ruzza, 4 Niccolò Cannone, 3 Muhamed Hasa, 2 Giacomo Nicotera, 1 Danilo Fischetti,

Replacements: 16 Tommaso Di Bartolomeo, 17 Mirco Spagnolo, 18 Giosuè Zilocchi, 19 Riccardo Favretto, 20 David Odiase, 21 Stephen Varney, 22 Leonardo Marin, 23 Tommaso Allan

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France: 15 Thomas Ramos, 14 Theo Attissogbe, 13 Pierre-Louis Barassi, 12 Yoram Moefana, 11 Louis Bielle-Biarrey, 10 Matthieu Jalibert, 9 Antoine Dupont (captain), 8 Charles Ollivon, 7 Temo Matiu, 6 Francois Cros, 5 Emmanuel Meafou, 4 Thibaud Flament, 3 Dorian Aldegheri, 2 Julien Marchand, 1 Jean-Baptiste Gros

Replacements: 16 Peato Mauvaka, 17 Rodrigue Neti, 18 Demba Bamba, 19 Hugo Auradou, 20 Mickael Guillard, 21 Joshua Brennan, 22 Baptiste Serin, 23 Emilien Gailleton

England: 15 Elliot Daly, 14 Tommy Roebuck, 13 Tommy Freeman, 12 Seb Atkinson, 11 Cadan Murley, 10 Fin Smith, 9 Ben Spencer, 8 Ben Earl, 7 Guy Pepper, 6 Ollie Chessum, 5 Alex Coles, 4 Maro Itoje (captain), 3 Joe Heyes, 2 Jamie Georgie, 1 Ellis Genge

Replacements: 16 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 17 Bevan Rodd, 18 Trevor Davison, 19 Chandler Cunningham-South, 20 Sam Underhill, 21 Henry Pollock, 22 Jack van Poortvliet, 23 Marcus Smith

So looking forward to this Saturday…..:(

It’s going to be a crackerjack game, Becs. Both teams are coming off a loss and hungry for a win.

I would have thought that Borthwick would start Marcus, Pollock and Cunningham-South. And why isn’t Finn Baxter there?

Bore-thick burying his head in the sand.

Fin Baxter is still injured, Mpower.

After France thrash us, I can’t see any way Borthwick can survive, Rooinek.

I hope Finn Baxter will recover soon. He is a very good loosehead Prop. His debut performance against the AB was good.

In my opinion, a better option than Genge.

We’ve missed him, for sure. He’s an excellent prospect.

Borthwick is a Jake Whote kind of cpach - inthe end the teams disinegrate and he will be fired,

I see White is now advising England what to do - or is his comments aimed at getting appointed by England? ,

Nah, this 6nations has been topsy turvy & I predict an English revival

As far as I know, White has nothing to do with the team and hopefully never will, Mike.

There was a belter said on The Rugby Pod when discussing who could take over for Borthwick and Razor was mentioned, Goode said unlikely cos of agreements about him not coaching a tier 1 side and Big Jim replied that it wouldn't apply to England (not verbatim).

Becs, in your honest opinion, who is the next best man to take over the English reins?

I know you prefer a local guy, but maybe only an overseas coach can take English rugby to the next level.

I would pick Jamie Joseph for the job.

In my opinion Franco Smith coaching Glasgow Iss a far better option than any of the Eng land club coaches,

Well obviously Vesty and Dowson are the English coaches whose name keeps cropping up, Mpower. But I’d prefer them to stay at Northampton.

I’m honestly at a loss who I’d pick as a replacement……I know the preferred International Coaches would be Farrell and Edwards. Personally I’d love Edwards to be involved with us…..we need someone to toughen up the spoilt brats in the team !

There is talk of poaching John Mitchell from the women’s team as a caretaker coach.

It all comes down to money too…..who can the RFU afford ?

Jamie Joseph is a no for me.

Uncle Mike's idea is not bad at all, Becs. Franco Smith has created a winning culture at the Glasgow Warriors.

He is like Rassie, a motivator and very good in the one-on-one department with players.

Sam Vesty is highly regarded as an attack guru.

And Phil Dowson is known for building a great team culture at Northampton Saints.

His breakdown and forward defensive coaching, I read, is really good.

Those two might just be the right combo for the job, especially because they work well together.

I don’t think Saints want to lose them !

I would definitely want Shaun Edwards in the mix. He’s been overlooked for too long….our defence is woeful and he would certainly shore that up. There’s lots of rumours in France that they are thinking of letting him go, for some reason.

iMPi ... I think our becs wants an Englishman

I think you might well be right, blob :)

Yep, Bob… Becs has always made it quite clear she wants a local coach. She also doesn’t want any SA players in the ENG team :)

Well, do you want any English players in your team ?;)

Maybe The Sladester and Finn Baxter:)

I was going to suggest The Sladester ;)

I am really hoping Fin Baxter comes back soon and stays healthy !