OH OH and almost forgot. a few days later a video is leaked on the internet about England being Grand Slam title winners....
Sry lads i had to bring it up...

cheers dude have registered just awaiting approval

DingbatMan - I reckon we could beat England, the expectancy will be ramped right up but then lose to one of the other 3. I actually can see Wales going into the last game with England where a win for Wales will help Ireland win the title, but the Welsh will still finish bottom. Of course this is all a bit of fun and we will just have to wait and see, but I just feel that Wales will struggle this season.

afternoon guys

2 changes for scotland

harley in for strokosch at 6

ford in for hall at hooker

DingBatMan - I don't think it's too early to be talking about the title as there's only five matches played by each side, and they only meet once. It certainly is a massive upper hand to who ever wins on Sunday.

Good news fir England. It looks like the Irish team will remain unchanged. There was a lot of concern for D'Arcy and Earls but it seems they are fighting fit again.

Earls is not an international quality center, and D'Arcy is walking wounded. So its good news because when not if but when D'Arcy is replaced by earls around about the 55 - 60 min mark, it means that the center partnership from a defensive point of view will break down. Earls and O'Driscoll are on different planets defensively. Earls doesn't have a clue what he is doing there. So I am in no doubt that given the quality of the English management, they will be looking to exploit this defensive weakness to its fullest. Last week just after Earls came on he shot up and out of the defensive line arms out and tackled precisely NOTHING but thin air, while the welsh center strolled through the massive hole left inside. That's simply would not have happened with D'Arcy. So fingers crossed Irish lads, 1st that D'Arcy makes to 80mins and 2nd that Earls if he does come on, that he comes onto the wing position where he is actually a really good finisher.

Dingbatman - I understand your concerns about Earls, but I guess we can only have so many replacements. There's also the option of putting Sexton at centre when the substitutions are made and O'Gara comes on.

What do you think of D'Arcy's general form? For me he's still a good player, but hasn't been quite at his best for a while now. I know he seems to be getting niggly injuries, and of course he's not exactly getting any younger, but he's not quite the same player for me.

Oh i totally agree mate. can't remember the last time i saw him storming up the middle with a few lads hanging out of him but its been a couple of years for sure. He has lost a few yards of pace also. But defensively he is top class and he and O'Driscoll have some sort of telepathic link LOL they always know where they should be in relation to each other. Its a very good partnership in defense. But attacking its not quite where it use to be. Drico used to put D'Arcy in space all the time in the past but these days its O'Brian or a flying winger or pretty much any other player running line off O'Driscoll's shoulders. D'Arcy just does a job as a really solid defender and a guy who clears out the ruck very well also.

McFadden for my money is an obvious choice as hes a very good defender in the center and indeed he can play FH and wing! A true utility back in every sense of the word. Don't understand at all why Earls is not either dropped or at the very least a winger and nothing more! He could have a great impact off the bench if replacing Gilroy on the left wing because Earls has wheels on him and a step. Hes a bloody winger plain and simple.

I remember when McFadden first burst on the Ireland scene and he looked an exciting prospect, but then I remember a few years ago thinking the same of Andrew Trimble, who has become a more solid squad player rather than anything spectacular. I actually quite like Earls, mainly as a winger where I think he is very effective, although he can cover at 15 also. Going back to D'Arcy, I recognise his partnership with Bod is valued, but I just wonder if it time to give someone else the starting place (injuries allowing)

who would you guys rather face up to BOD and D'arcy?

tuilagi and barritt or twelvetrees and tuilagi?

Evening all. Sorry I've not been around much lately had a busy day today. Will be back tomorrow as we'll preview the second round of matches this weekend.

Honestly Mex its a non issue. Defensively BOD and D'Arcy are rock solid so the combination you have available won't matter all that much, However when it comes to our attacking game i guess i would have to choose the weakest defenders on your side and i must admit i dont really know enough about your guys to judge who are the weakest.

if tuilagi is on form he could smash ireland all over the place

Ireland to win by 3 I reckon.

england by 7

Never

If tuilagi is on form he could smash anyone lol but he won't be smashing BOD and D'Arcy. He will however smash them if the defensive line breaks down and he finds himself in front of one of the winger or Kearney. Kearney despite all his luster and brilliance is not the best tackler in the world.

i think one on one he'd smash both bod and d'arcy

just like he smashed his way through dan carter and richie mccaw

lol i would be interested to hear from others on this Mex. im not going to bite. Tuilagi is awesome, but ball in hand running at BOD man on man you genuinely think he would come off on top? ok then... . any one else got any thoughts on this match up?

my references go something like this.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCVCXiVecl4

Right folks, just a couple of days before the next matches get under way. This weekend's running order:

Saturday 9 February
Scotland v Italy, Murrayfield, 14:30
France v Wales, Stade de France, 17:00

Sunday 10 February
Ireland v England, Aviva Stadium, 15:00

Obviously the big game of the weekend is on Sunday, but there's the small matter of Scotland v Italy and France v Wales on Saturday.

France and Wales is intriguing as both are looking to put the disappointment of last weekend behind them.

Have the line ups been announced for any of the games yet?

No lineups yet RKW ireland have delayed the naming of the team due to the physicality of the previous game in wales there are reports of a few touch and go calls and a worry about mike Ross. Goes without saying if we lose Ross we will undoubtedly lose the game.

Scotland have announced their line up to face Italy on Saturday.

Stuart Hogg 15
Sean Maitland 14
Sean Lamont 13
Matthew Scott 12
Tim Visser 11
Ruaridh Jackson 10
Greig Laidlaw 9
Ryan Grant 1
Ross Ford 2
Euan Murray 3
Richie Gray 4
James Hamilton 5
Rob Harley 6
Kelly Brown 7
John Beattie 8

Replacements
Dougie Hall 16
Moray Low 17
Geoff Cross 18
Alastair Kellock 19
Dave Denton 20
Henry Pyrgos 21
Duncan Weir 22
Max Evans 23

Anyone about this afternoon?

France team to face Wales on Saturday: Y Huget; W Fofana, M Bastareaud, M Mermoz, B Fall; F Michalak, M Machenaud; L Picamoles, T Dusautoir (captain), F Ouedraogo, Y Maestri, J Suta, N Mas, D Szarzewski, Y Forestier.

Replacements: B Kayser, V Debaty, L Ducalcon, R Taofifenua, D Chouly, M Parra, F Trinh-Duc, F Fritz.

Oh, and 500