Wales vs England

Wales host favourites England in Cardiff on Friday night.  Friday night football is always exciting and adds a bit of drama to the mud already being slung.  Wales coach Warren Gatland and England hot headed hooker Dylan Hartley have already exchanged pre-game verbal pleasantries.  Dylan Hartley for New Zealanders is one of those players we don't want to claim ownership of despite his New Zealand upbringing.  The forearm to Richie McCaw last year is evidence enough for this guy who explodes when he goes onto the field.

Wales have had to name an experimental lineup because of injuries with a heap of changes, while James Hook moves to fullback pushing Lee Byrne to the bench.  For England there is debate over why journeyman centre Mike Tindall is captain ahead of Number Eight Nick Easter.  Tom Wood and Louis Deacon get the call up to reinforce the pack after injuries.  Wood has hailed his New Zealand provincial experience for his rise to the top.  Who would have thought that Heartland Championship side North Otago would blood an international?

My pick is a narrow win to England assuming they play like they were playing in the Autumn Internationals.

Wales team to play England in the RBS 6 Nations Championship in Cardiff on Friday: 

J Hook (Ospreys); M Stoddart (Scarlets), J Roberts (Cardiff Blues), J Davies (Scarlets), S Williams (Ospreys); S Jones (Scarlets), M Phillips (Ospreys); P James (Ospreys), M Rees (Scarlets, capt), C Mitchell (Ospreys), B Davies (Cardiff Blues), A-W Jones (Ospreys), D Lydiate (Newport Gwent Dragons), S Warburton (Cardiff Blues), A Powell (Wasps). 

Replacements: R Hibbard (Ospreys), J Yapp (Cardiff Blues), R Jones (Ospreys), J Thomas (Ospreys), D Peel (Sale Sharks), R Priestland (Scarlets), L Byrne (Ospreys).

England team to play Wales in the RBS 6 Nations at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff on Friday, February 4 (kick-off 7.45pm): 

B Foden (Northampton Saints); C Ashton (Northampton Saints), M Tindall (Gloucester, capt), S Hape (Bath), M Cueto (Sale Sharks); T Flood (Leicester Tigers), B Youngs (Leicester Tigers); A Sheridan (Sale Sharks), D Hartley (Northampton Saints), D Cole (Leicester Tigers), L Deacon (Leicester Tigers), T Palmer (Stade Francais), T Wood (Northampton Saints), J Haskell (Stade Francais), N Easter (Harlequins).

Replacements: S Thompson (Leeds Carnegie), D Wilson (Bath), S Shaw (Wasps), J Worsley (Wasps), D Care (Harlequins), J Wilkinson (Toulon), M Banahan (Bath).

Ireland by 15 points.

Ireland: L Fitzgerald (Leinster); F McFadden (Leinster), B O’Driscoll (Leinster, capt), G D’Arcy (Leinster), K Earls (Munster); J Sexton (Leinster), T O’Leary (Munster); C Healy (Leinster), R Best (Ulster), M Ross (Leinster), D O’Callaghan (Munster), P O’Connell (Munster), D Leamy (Munster), D Wallace (Munster), S O’Brien (Leinster). Substitutes: S Cronin (Connacht), T Court (Ulster), L Cullen (Leinster), S Jennings (Leinster), E Reddan (Leinster), R O’Gara (Munster), P Wallace (Ulster).

I am picking France to win a nail biter by 5 points.

Scotland team to face France at the Stade de France, Paris on Saturday, Feb 5 (kick-off 5pm):

H Southwell (Stade Francais); N Walker (Ospreys), J Ansbro (Northampton Saints), N De Luca (Edinburgh), M Evans (Glasgow Warriors); D Parks (Cardiff Blues), R Lawson (Gloucester); A Jacobsen (Edinburgh), R Ford (Edinburgh), E Murray (Newcastle), R Gray (Glasgow Warriors), A Kellock (Glasgow Warriors, captain), N Hines (Leinster), K Brown (Saracens), J Barclay (Glasgow Warriors).

Replacements: D Hall (Glasgow Warriors), M Low (Glasgow Warriors), R Vernon (Glasgow Warriors), R Rennie (Edinburgh), M Blair (Edinburgh), R Jackson (Glasgow Warriors), S Lamont (Scarlets).

France (revised): 15 Damien Traille, 14 Yoann Huget, 13 Aurelien Rougerie, 12 Maxime Mermoz, 11 Maxime Medard, 10 Francois Thrinh-Duc, 9 Morgan Parra, 8 Imanol Harinordoquy, 7 Julien Bonnaire, 6 Thierry Dusautoir (c), 5 Lionel Nallet, 4 Julien Pierre, 3 Nicolas Mas, 2 William Servat, 1 Thomas Domingo.

Replacements: 16 Guilhem Guirado, 17 Luc Ducalcon, 18 Jerome Thion, 19 Sebastien Chabal, 20 Dimitri Yachvili, 21 Clement Poitrenaud, 22 Vincent Clerc.