The Phantom

Ah, another weekend of 6 Nations Action… I love it. For those wondering (probably no one) I did manage to get my hands on some tickets for the Wales vs. Scotland match tomorrow... I can’t wait!!

We’ve made 3 changes for tomorrows match, and I’m pleased with each of them. Shanklin should have started against England, and he had a good impact when he came onto the pitch on Saturday. Jamie Roberts makes his debut on the wing. I’m so pleased for the guy, he’s worked very hard to get where he is, and really deserves his chance. Long gone are the days when I was playing with him in the school side!! Were as Shane Williams gives us the glorious dancing and jinking, Roberts will provide the powerful running and ball carrying on the other wing.

Overall I wasn’t too impressed with Scotland against France. Yes they were on the end of some bad luck for 2 of the tries, but they just didn’t seem to function well as a team. Patterson is back, and with him in the team Wales need to be very disciplined. With his goal kicking prowess, any penalties given away within kicking distance will probably end up being turned into 3 points.

Although I foresee a tough game, I’m expecting the Welsh boys to put in a far better performance than last week, and I hope Scotland don’t turn up again!!

Game of the weekend has to be the clash between France and Ireland. Frances young guns looked okay in their win over Scotland, but they weren’t too impressive. They’ll probably grow together as a team throughout the tournament (Yikes we have them in the final game!). Rougerie and Skrela are back for France, and they’ll have big impacts on the game. Ireland meanwhile looked quite good during the opening 20mins of their game against Italy. I loved how the three-quarters were playing, and their opening try was brilliant. But after D’Arcy went off, Ireland seemed to lose their edge. If Ireland can’t hold it together for 60mins then I can see the French blitzing them, and heaping more pressure on Eddie O’Sullivan.

Last, and not least England need a big performance and a morale boosting win over Italy in Rome. Apart from 20mins of craziness at Twickenham England should have been going into this game with a victory behind them. Johnny Wilkinson is truly in his last chance saloon, as Danny Cipriani is breathing down his neck for a starting place in the England side. Vainikolo will probably score a couple of tires in this match and then I can see the media going way over the top – saying he’s Englands version of Lomu. All the Italian winger opposite him needs to remember if he is attacking and Vainikolo is charging towards him is that he needs to duck just like Mark Jones did!! Truly comical. England should win without much of a struggle after the initial first 20mins.

Predictions:

Wales 32 – 14 Scotland
France 42 – 12 Ireland
Italy 9 – 36 England