Team Selection - Round 1 - 6-Nations 2020

Wales  vs   Italy

Wales

15   Leigh Halfpenny, 14   Johnny McNicholl, 13  George North, 12   Hadleigh Parkes, 11  Josh Adams, 10  Dan Biggar, 9  Tomos Williams, 8  Taulupe Faletau, 7  Justin Tipuric, 6  Aaron Wainwright, 5  Alun Wyn Jones (c), 4  Jake Ball, 3   Dillon Lewis, 2  Ken Owens, 1   Wyn Jones

Replacements  :  16  Ryan Elias, 17  Rob Evans, 18  Leon Brown, 19  Cory Hill, 20  Ross Moriarty, 21  Rhys Webb, 22  Jarrod Evans, 23  Nick Tompkins

Italy

 15  Matteo Minozzi, 14  Leonardo Sarto, 13  Luca Morisi, 12  Carlo Canna, 11  Mattia Bellini, 10  Tommaso Allan, 9  Callum Braley, 8  Abraham Steyn, 7  Jake Polledri, 6  Sebastian Negri, 5  Niccolò Cannone, 4  Alessandro Zanni, 3  Andrea Lovotti, 2  Luca Bigi (c), 1  Giosuè Zilocchi 

Replacements  :  16  Federico Zani, 17  Danilo Fischetti, 18  Marco Riccioni, 19  Marco Lazzaroni, 20  Dean Budd, 21  Giovanni Licata, 22   Guglielmo Palazzani, 23  Jayden Hayward

Ireland  vs  Scotland

Ireland

15  Jordan Larmour, 14  Andrew Conway, 13  Garry Ringrose, 12  Bundee Aki, 11  Jacob Stockdale, 10  Jonathan Sexton (c), 9  Conor Murray, 8  Caelan Doris, 7  Josh van der Flier, 6  CJ Stander, 5  James Ryan, 4  Iain Henderson, 3  Tadhg Furlong, 2  Rob Herring, 1  Cian Healy

Replacements  :  16  Ronan Kelleher, 17  Dave Kilcoyne, 18  Andrew Porter, 19  Devin Toner, 20  Peter O’Mahony, 21  John Cooney, 22  Ross Byrne, 23  Robbie Henshaw

Scotland

15  Stuart Hogg (c), 14  Sean Maitland, 13  Huw Jones, 12  Sam Johnson, 11  Blair Kinghorn, 10  Adam Hastings, 9  Ali Price, 8  Nick Haining, 7  Hamish Watson, 6 J amie Ritchie, 5  Jonny Gray, 4  Scott Cummings, 3  Zander Fagerson, 2  Fraser Brown, 1 Rory Sutherland

Replacements  : 16  Stuart McInally, 17  Allan Dell, 18  Simon Berghan, 19  Ben Toolis, 20  Cornell du Preez, 21  George Horne, 22  Rory Hutchinson, 23  Chris Harris

France  vs  England

France

15  Anthony Bouthier; 14  Teddy Thomas, 13  Virimi Vakatawa, 12  Gael Fickou, 11  Damian Penaud; 10  Romain Ntamack, 9  Antoine Dupont;     8 Gregory Alldritt, 7  Charles Ollivon (c), 6   Francois Cros; 5   Paul Willemse, 4   Bernard Le Roux; 3   Mohamed Haouas, 2   Julien Marchand, 1   Cyril Baille

Replacements   :  16  Peato Mauvaka, 17  Jefferson Poirot, 18  Demba Bamba, 19  Boris Palu, 20  Cameron Woki, 21  Baptiste Serin,  22  Mathieu Jalibert, 23  Vincent Rattez

England

  15  George Furbank, 14  Jonny May, 13  Manu Tuilagi, 12  Owen Farrell, 11  Elliot Daly, 10  George Ford, 9  Ben Youngs, 8  Tom Curry, 7  Sam Underhill, 6  Courtney Lawes, 5  Charlie Ewels, 4  Maro Itoje, 3  Kyle Sinckler, 2  Jamie George, 1  Joe Marler

Replacements  :  16  Luke Cowan-Dickie, 17  Ellis Genge, 18  Will Stuart, 19  George Kruis, 20  Lewis Ludlam, 21  Willi Heinz, 22  Ollie Devoto, 23  Jonathan Joseph

Ireland upda ted

The big talking point in Ireland is the decision to go with Conor Murray at 9 over John Cooney. Cooney has been the form scrum half in Ireland this season and for the last year Murray has some way of his best, though his form might have improved slightly recently, the public and pundits all believe Cooney's form warrants a starting place.

Some issues with Sexton being appointed as captain, while he's the obvious choice many are looking to the 2023 World Cup and few reckon he will still be around by then.

Ross Byrne is the obvious choice as back up fly half considering his form over Jack Carty and the fact that Joey Carberry can't catch a break with injuries.

Standers place is under pressure as well. His stats numbers are good but he's been view as off the pace for a while now and seen as pretty one dimensional as well.

Interesting to see how the new backline goes. The minimum target for Ireland in this 6 nations is 4 wins from 5. Win all their home games and at least 1 away. 

England are favorites going by World Cup form though.

Similar story for Peter O'Mahony.

Everyone is happy to see Devin Toner back after what was perceived as a terrible decision not to bring him to Japan. 

Stav 

Thanks for the comment,   I think that Sexton is near to retirement age.   Ireland did not cover themselves with glory in the WC and that is often the sign  that team renewal is needed.   At least Cooney is on the bench and the situation may change as the series goes on.  

The whole 2019 campaign was disappointing for us. While Joe Schimdt was Ireland's best ever manager there was a sense that his team selection was set in stone regardless of form. 

Andy Farrell's gone for a mixture of experience and youth here. I suppose you don't want to throw out all your experienced players away in one go though.  Which is exactly what France seem to be doing,,,but that can be explained by the French being French.

Thanks Rooinek

Scotland updated

Thanks Rooinek - Wales and France uodated,  

Yep, the same was stated about Willemse by many a blogger on this site over the past few tears.

But yet again another player has risen above harsh criticism and proven the experts wrong and found a home on the French national side.

Obviously the French selectors are not as knowledgable as out resident rugby experts.

Good for you Willemse.....show these folks that we have lost another talented star.

The list just keeps growing............  

Thanks - up dated

Thanks - up dated

Just by the way, if you're playing any of the 6N Fantasy games with restrictions on the number of players from each team and you're looking for an Italian player that might score some good points, look no further than Jake Polledri. An absolute wrecking ball of a loose forward.

...is there a forum 6 nations fantasy league for Rugby mag?

Will create one.

I have already started with a pool of 28 player selection.  Waiting for the England team selection to finalize round 1.    

Englan d Updated