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Bath RFC	InTheFastLane
Exeter Chiefs	Driver - RIP 606
Gloucester	Anonmattyt
Harlequins	Steven_Sharks
Leicester Tigers	LukeLovesLuka
London Irish	stnick88
London Wasps	Arry
Newcastle Falcons	Sgt_Pooly
Northampton Saints	Dammit_Chris
Sale Sharks	SirJohnnyEnglish
Saracens	LDCPete
Worcester Warriors	prop_lyd

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Waiting List
1. Sam
2. pullthestrings
3. Bathite

i agree SJE i just think he is a very good player but not an international. I may well get proven wrong but like lots of the coaches i just don't see him as an international.

I dont think he is quick enough for 7 and not a good enough carrier for 6.

Well we wont know until hes given the chance to step up. Looked a class above against a very good Maori side last summer and has looked fantastic for Quins at Premiership and Challenge cup level this year and in the Heineken cup previously. Has excelled at every level hes been given a chance to play so should defo be given a shot for England

Think i would agree with that SJE. To be fair you have to reward form.

I really doubt he would cut it at the top level and have seen him have some poor Heino games and some barn storming ones also.

Disagree with both those points, reminds me very much of Richard Hill in the way he goes about things. Given the break could be part of a very good backrow. It's all about balance and I think him and Croft would work well together.

Richard Hill was exceptionally quick though pooly and a better carrier.

To be fair after Michael Jones Richard hill was the best backrower i have ever seen play. Definitely the best english backrower and even better than Dallglio and even mike teague

Richard Hill was my favourite ever no6 for England, one of the best of all time - prob top 3 of all time. Kind of see what you are saying Pooly, but it seems as though the English managemetn dont rate him as highly. Think he will be one of the ones that miss out - prob take Easter, Haskell, Croft, Wood, Moody and Fourie.

Cant wait to see Tuilagi debut for England this weekend - we have one of the best youngsters in the world there. Not sure what all this talk about him having a dodgy defence is, he made a few mistakes at the start of the season and was awesome afterwards - really like the look of our midfield - hope Wilko has a great game as want him to be our starting 10.

Also saw that the BBC listed Simon Shaw as unnattached - havent heard anything about him leaving Wasps, anyone heard anything?

Huget dropped from France squad for doping issues...possible ban of 2 years!

http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/04082011/2/rugby-huget-dropped-france-doping-code-violation.html

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,,12508_7080257,00.html

There's Sky Sports view on it. As Lievremont says it looks to be an administrative issue. Was hoping he'd have a big world cup to be honest so its a Shame. Won't be banned for any longer than 3 months if he is at all I suspect.

Isnt that exactly what Matt Stevens did? Or at the very least Michael Lipman, sure he got a 1 year ban for missing 2 tests?

The most interesting selection in the England team for me is Stevens at tighthead.

MJ clearly still sees him as a tighthead who can play loosehead as he also wore 3 for the Saxons. I also heard Stevens himself say that he prefers playing tighthead despite spending the season at loosehead for Saracens.

Could be that we see Sheridan, Corbisiero, Cole and Stevens boarding the plane in a months time, and that is not something I would have predicted a month ago, as I thought it would be between Corbs and Stevens for 1 spot.

Oh, and Mat, on Jon Davies, you are wrong, he is a very very good player, with pace and power and will cause problems for a number of centres, even at international level.

Reckon he's trying Stevens out at TH to see if he's up to a good LH in James. If he holds his own at least he'll go ahead of PDJ as he's a strong LH too.

Is it just me or would anyone else have Corbs ahead of Sheridan?...
Did very well during the 6 nations and had a good season while Sheridan has been fairly quiet for a long time now!

Reckon your right there Pete. Looks like a good game for Stevens and hes on the plane to the world cup. If he can prove himself strong at TH will go ahead of PDJ whom isnt up to much at LH really at all.

With you on Wilko Chris! Hes our best 10 by some way. Think a few good performances for him and Care (been much better then Youngs this year!) could maybe see them sneak ahead as first choice

I'd have Corbisiero ahead of Sheridan SJE, but will admit that there could be some slight bias there being a London Irish fan.

Would expect you and nick to fall in Corbs side
No to be honest think he offers more then Sheridan. Personally Sheridan has been living a bit off his reputation the last 18 months or so. Good player but was never in that world class bracket the media seemed to have him at

I agree, have never been a huge Sheridan fan. Good player, but never been world class.

Think its partly psychologial with Sheridan now.

Whether he is the best scrummager or not (I think he is) other nations are scared of him. SA were terrified on Lions tour and Oz will certainly be wary.

Gone and ruptured a tendon in my finger in a splint for 6 weeks with the first pre season game this saturday. Absolutely devastated

I disagree completely there Steve. I doubt and top class international side or prop are terrified of him. He has done nothing to terrify anyone since about 2007.

LDCPete wrote:The most interesting selection in the England team for me is Stevens at tighthead.

MJ clearly still sees him as a tighthead who can play loosehead as he also wore 3 for the Saxons. I also heard Stevens himself say that he prefers playing tighthead despite spending the season at loosehead for Saracens.

Could be that we see Sheridan, Corbisiero, Cole and Stevens boarding the plane in a months time, and that is not something I would have predicted a month ago, as I thought it would be between Corbs and Stevens for 1 spot.

Oh, and Mat, on Jon Davies, you are wrong, he is a very very good player, with pace and power and will cause problems for a number of centres, even at international level.

Pete never seen him do anything at int level and have seen him get ran through fairly often at scarlets. What has he done. Can't rely on ml as a guide to anything IMO.

Why cant you use the Magners as a guide though Matt?
Teams like Cardiff, Scarlets, Ulster etc usually go for near full strength sides week in week out with a youngster or two thrown in. Its only really Munster, Leinster and Ospreys that have wide spread squad rotation. Theres a decent standard of good attacking rugby played there week in week out which cant be said for the Premiership. Maybe lacking in intensity at times but thats to be expected in a league with no relegation

Johnny its due to that lack of intensity you mention. There are so many games in the Magners that are like friendlys.

Its great for preparing an international team and for having a tilt at the heineken cup but for me the league is poor.

The lower teams are also very poor. Ireland are lucky in that they have a crop of good players currently. ultimately though i do not see the Magners benefitting Scotland and Wales.

By the same measure the AP is a little too attritional but i think it works better in preparing an international teams. i would like to see some better form of salary cap though.

In essence you still get penalised for having lots of England internationals

Will admit the italian teams arent up to much but not alot in it between the scottish sides and teams like Newcastle, Leeds, Worcester really.
Without the magners what would the scottish regions be up to?

Theres always some kind of derby on each week and theres some brilliant rugby played. Better attacking rugby is played in the magners then the premiership for me. Will admit as a league the Premiership is better to call the magners poor doesnt sit well with me at all. Its a great league that just has a different way of doing things.

They must be doing something right when people are calling for the ring fencing of the premiership for better development of players and citing the magners as a success of this approach.

What would make the magners a better league then the premiership for me is if Heiniken cup places were decided on the league table. But that wouldnt currently work as we would have no scottish and italian representation then.

http://www.planetrugby.com/story/0,25883,3559_7079732,00.html

Barcella is so injury prone. Over a year since he played. Such a shame. If he can get back he is the one of the best just plays so infrequently.

Jonny for me the magners is all attacking and no defence in lots of games. Scarlets are the worst offenders. there defensive line is atrocious.

I am no Regan King or JD fan for the very reason i do not see there defence as up to it. I think playing in the scarlets does not help them in this respect either.

Defo agree with the HK places decided on League. the way it is does not encourage competition

Em I think Ospreys, Munster, Leinster, Ulster, Cardiff etc even the Scottish sides would resent your comments on defensive play in the league. Because one side (Scarlets) arent great on defence doesnt make the league poor. Even then I dont think the Scarlets are that bad defensively. Jones JD, Priestland in that back line are all solid defenders. King is a weakness there but moved on now.

Sides like Sale and Wasps last year were like revolving doors at times on defence. Does that mean the Premiership is all attack and no defence?...

I think its the no relegation is liberating in terms of attacking play but at the same time leads to poor defensive displays.

Same as super 15 some of the defending in it is non existent.

You will always get the odd poor team in a league but i think the overall distribution of good and poor teams is much more stark in the Magners.

Like I said there isnt much loose defensive play with most of the sides in the league. 1 or 2 exceptions but thats the same in every league including the Premiership. Much better defence in the magners compared to Super 15 for me.

The worst of the Premiership would probably beat the worst of the magners but then again who wouldnt beat the Italians sides. However the best of the magners have regularly beaten the best of the premiership in the Heino in recent years...

Magners is a much better league for preparing internationals and for challenging for the Heino for me. Maybe not the greatest spectacle watching Connacht vs the Italians but then again where else would these sides get a chance to develop and at least you get to see a decent game with both sides attacking rather then a shut up shop and kcik feast that we would get say between Sale and Newcastle this season just gone...

I don't think the Magners is any better than the AP for preparing internationals. Both do it pretty well.

I do however feel that the reason that England have won and got to the final of the last two world cups is because there players are used to playing in pressure situations more than the Welsh, Irish and Scots. Could argue that all the home nations played better rugby in 2007 but none of them were even close to winning the world cup. Where as England played attritional rugby and were within a couple of penalties of the World Cup win

I think the Munster and Leinster boys playing in and winning heiniken cup fiinals would be more used to pressure situations to be honest...

England winning the world cup and making the final of another may well have something to do with a playing base over twice the size of the celtic nations...

My take on the Magners (or Pro12 as it is now) is this.

2 years ago the standard was not great. Now that is no the case. Yes, the very top teams like Munster and Leinster rest some of the big guns for some of the games in order to keep them fresh for the Heineken Cup, but certainly for Irish interpro games and Welsh derbies most teams send out as near to a full strength side as they can, and some of those games by nature of being derbies are at almost Heineken Cup intensity.

Teams on the fringes of being amongst the top sides, such as Ulster and the Scarlets have realised that they have to build towards Heineken Cup success by targetting the Magners and ensuring they perform there first, much as Munster and Leinster have done in the past. Ulster ultimately fell short last season as they do not quite have the depth yet, but they are building nicely and played some very comeptitive stuff in the Magners.

Other teams in the competition are now striving to do the same and the standard and intensity has risen and will continue to do so. Often when watching the Welsh regions it is easy to take a lack of crowd atmosphere due to poor attendances as lack of intensity, but if you watch the games closely you will see this is not a case.

In relation to the Scarlets and Jon Davies in particular, as a team their backs do not defend well. This is due to the fact that King has often been a revolving door and none of their regular back three players are good front on defenders. Davies is, but when he is alone in being so in their backline, they are going to be run through. Watch him for Wales and you will see that he is a very solid defender.

So you think that the reason we have done well in World Cups is because of the player base? We can put 22 players in the squad with 8 more in reserve like every other team.

I think that having most of the national side in 3 or 4 teams sides is Ireland, Wales and Scotland's biggest advantage. They should have a far better blend of players and yet this isn't evident in international games.

Yes I think some how the fact that England have twice the playing base and funds of the celtic nations should mean they out perform them at the biggest stage. Rugby is no different to any other sport. The more money and competitors you have the better you should do. England may have done well during world cups but its only the last year or so 6 nation performances have picked up

I dont get your 2nd point. Ireland have over the last 8 years now have consistently been better then England. I say this as a proud English man who gets an awful slagging 6 nations time every year! Having only 3 or 4 sides may help for combos to develop in areas but it definatly restricts the playing numbers for Ireland and Wales at the top level. So its a catch 22 really

I think Having a large base works for england and that maybe we waste some talent. also i think having a small base suits Ireland in that they can develop there players better/

AS johnny says Catch 22

now this is a proper Boks Squad.

http://www.planetrugby.co.uk/story/0,25883,16024_7082943,00.html

Right guys I'm off for my first twickenham experience will see you guys later!

Quite Bored. Am going through the OZ and NZ teams head to head

15. Mils v Kurtley

At the moment this battle goes to Kurtley. Has been scintillating form and is the number 1 in the world at the moment. Mils isn't at his best but is still good enough for this level

14. Sivivatu v JOC

This one goes to JOC. Sivi at his best would be a lot closer to him than he is at the moment but O'Connor has been doing everything asked of him and more.

13. Smith v AAC

Smith wins this one by a decent distance. I am not AAC biggest fan at 13 but I can see him improving the more he plays there. never seen Smith have a bad game at the Top level.

12. Nonu v McCabe

Nonu has this but would be different had Barnes not been absent. Nonu a class above McCabe at this level at the moment.

11. Gear v Ioane

This is very very tight. I am going to say Ioane because he has been excellent this year and Gear hasn't quite found his standards of last Autumn in the S15 (Injury? I am not sure)

10. Carter v Cooper

...... Carter (just)

9. Weepu v Genia

Genia by a long chalk. Better in every department

1. Crockett v Kepu

Crockett. An argument could be put forward for him being the form LH in the world at this point with either injury or form causing others to not be at there best. Kepu could be found wanting.

2. Mealamu v Moore

This is close. Just goes to Mealamu. Neither enjoying great form in S15 and both got competition for there shirt.

3. Franks v Alexander

Franks been in excellent form and should muller Kepu. Alexander will have a much tougher afternoon.

4. Thorn v Simmons

Thorn is a better player but Simmons has potential to be great.

5. Williams v Horwill

Horwill for me. Better allround player in better form.

6. Kaino v Elsom

Kaino is playing the better rugby at this point in time. Has to go to him.

7. McCaw v Pocock

McCaw hasn't played well this season and has been injured a lot but he is still slightly ahead of Pocock. Pocock well capable of outplaying him though.

8. Read v McCallman

Read by a long shot. McCallman burst onto the scene very promisingly but hasn't really been great this year.



10 to NZ and 5 to Oz and I suspect that NZ will win by 10 points tomorrow. Although I would love to be proved wrong.

Good right up Steve. Pocock needs to add more to his game than defence, turnover to get up to McCaw imo.

Gear a class above Ioane got me and Moore has been in good form. Arguably Brumbies only bright spark.

I agree with luke. Gear better than ioane although ioane in better form. Moore better than mealamu.

Aussies lack front 5 grunt. Think thorn will eat Simmons alive currently and pocock not patch on mccaw currently. Macaw offers attacking threat and reads game better.

Also would take mils above beale purely as he can defend. Mils was great last week and like all greats raises his game.

Love Beale but mils still king for me. Think he is an all time great

Good write up Steve, agree with most of it. For me Ioane has been streets ahead of Gear this season.

Is always interesting comparing front rows, as we always compare tightheads against each other but they'll actually be competing against the looseheads. Looking at the packs, I would expect the All Blacks to have the upper hand at the set piece.

Lazy article

http://planetrugby.com/story/0,25883,3821_7082809,00.html

Gear was best wing in world last year but had indifferent season like all ab's nowhere in article does it declare gear worlds best wing definitively.

For me I would have guildford plus either gear, sivi, Jane etc.

Would pick all of them over ioane, ashton and any other wings to be fair. If habana is firing I would have him in top 2.

Also if bowe ever finds his form he would be near

A lot of very good wings in the world. Most countries have some very decent options.

True Steven a plethora of good wings. I am a big fan of clerc rock masaga tuilagi etc etc

I love Heymans and Clerc. Sensational finishers. Heymans looks to have got a reprieve to the French squad.

Very hard to say who's best really as not as easy position to distinguish with such different styles. I think Gear is awsome but hardly proved over a time he's even top draw never mind best wing.

I'd have a few up there Jane, Bowe, Mitchell, Medard and then a few possibles like Guildford, Gear, JOC (as good as any but better elsewhere), Ashton.

Clerc had a stinking finish to the season, kept out by CauCau is slightly embarrassing.

Big fan of Malzieu myself think hes a classy wing. Have to agree most sides have 3/4 top options on the wings at the moment. France and New Zealand have ridiculous depth on the wings though!

I wouldn't have Mitchell in the top bracket. Have him in the third tier along with Roko, Habana (current form), Turner, Cueto etc

Quite surprised with that Steve, I think he's pure finisher. Seems to get a bad rap in Aus but he's got a great all round game.

I'd put Rok/Habana, Turner around thar kind of 3rd tier too. Rok had a pretty impressive season but just seems to miss a bit of luck/magic that he used to have.

I like Mitchell, is a very good player, be interesting to see how he comes back from injury.