Six Nations 2017

[Stargazer]

French squad for the 6 Nations:

[gollum]

@Stargazer

Their Kiwi / Samoan prop (Atonio) is 6'5 & 155kg. I guess he balances out no Bastaraud

[Derm McCrum]

Joe Schmidt looking to extract the most from Six Nations squad hopefuls with his squad announcement not named until Sunday - after the final round of Heineken Cup matches in which Leinster, Munster and Connacht are competing for quarterfinal places and ideally home ground advantage.

[Margin_Walker]

England Squad

[Crucial]

I only just realised how big those squads are.

Scotland have 22 forwards in their squad!

[Margin_Walker]

@Crucial

Yeah, training squads though I guess. Will be a bunch of players released back to their clubs in the run up to each game.

For England, I think Catt, Williams and Lozowski are the only uncapped players. With Catt perhaps the best chance of getting into the 23.

[Crucial]

I wonder what the contract rules are (if any)?
In NZ if you get named in an AB squad you get paid accordingly whether used or not. That's why Hansen and Co often have to plead their case for an extra player or two to the bean counters before a tour

[Margin_Walker]

I'd be guessing, but assume for England you get a decent steady income for being part of the Elite Player Squad that's revised twice a year and a match fee for being part of the 23 on game day. Not sure how players not part of the EPS and that don't end up on the pitch are paid.

[Crucial]

Re England, I found this

"The Professional Game Agreement will see the England Elite Player Squad (EPS) increase from 33 to 45 players and greater flexibility during core international periods so 36 players can be selected for the camp instead of 33. The England head coach will now also be able to make the final selection of 45 squad members in the first week of October. A reduced number of 20 players will also be selected as part of a Next EPS squad for training camps and possible England Saxons fixtures. "

Logically I would then guess that you get paid something for being in the EPS, extra for being in the camp and extra again as match fees/image rights/win bonuses if in the 23 on game day.
Not a lot different to the NZ system where your base salary for the following year is increased if named in an AB Squad.

[Stargazer]

Prop
Pietro CECCARELLI (Zebre Rugby, 5 caps)
Dario CHISTOLINI (Zebre Rugby, 15 caps)
Lorenzo CITTADINI (Aviron Bayonnais, 53 caps)
Andrea LOVOTTI (Zebre Rugby, 9 caps)
Sami PANICO (Patarò Calvisano, 6 caps)

Hooker
Tommaso D’APICE (Zebre Rugby, 11 caps)
Ornel GEGA (Benetton Treviso, 8 caps)
Leonardo GHIRALDINI (Stade Toulousain, 82 caps)

Lock
George Fabio BIAGI (Zebre Rugby, 14 caps)
Joshua FURNO (Zebre Rugby, 36 caps)
Marco FUSER (Benetton Treviso, 16 caps)
Federico RUZZA (Zebre Rugby, new cap)
Andries VAN SCHALKWYK (Zebre Rugby, 8 caps)

Flanker/no.8
Marco BARBINI (Benetton Treviso, 2 caps)
Simone FAVARO (Glasgow Warriors, 33 caps)
Maxime Mata MBANDA’ (Zebre Rugby, 3 caps)
Francesco MINTO (Benetton Treviso, 31 caps)
Sergio PARISSE (Stade Francais, 121 caps) – capitano
Abraham Jurgens STEYN (Benetton Treviso, 6 caps)

Halfback
Giorgio BRONZINI (Benetton Treviso, 3 caps)
Edoardo GORI (Benetton Treviso, 56 caps)
Marcello VIOLI (Zebre Rugby, 2 caps)

1st five eight
Tommaso ALLAN (Benetton Treviso, 27 caps)
Carlo CANNA (Zebre Rugby, 15 caps)

Midfield
Tommaso BENVENUTI (Benetton Treviso, 37 caps)
Tommaso BONI (Zebre Rugby, 2 caps)
Michele CAMPAGNARO (Exeter Chiefs, 25 caps)
Luke MCLEAN (Benetton Treviso, 84 caps)

Wing
Giulio BISEGNI (Zebre Rugby, 5 caps)
Angelo ESPOSITO (Benetton Treviso, 8 caps)
Giovambattista VENDITTI (Zebre Rugby, 38 caps)

Fullback
Edoardo PADOVANI (Zebre Rugby, 6 caps)

[Crucial]

Big blow for France. Fofana out with a ruptured Achilles

[Stargazer]

@Crucial Yes, I just watched the Clermont v Exeter Chiefs game and it certainly looked bad! Lamerat is a great, new asset for the French though!

[Derm McCrum]

Ireland squad for the first two rounds.

Hooker Niall Scannell is named in the forwards and is one of the three uncapped players in the squad. Scannell captained the Ireland Under-20s at the Junior World Championship in 2012, leading them to the semi-final.

That U-20 squad also included the likes of Tadhg Furlong, Iain Henderson, Jack Conan and Luke McGrath who are all named in the Ireland squad today.

Andrew Conway, who featured for the Ireland Wolfhounds in 2015, and Rory Scannell, brother of Niall, are the uncapped players named among the 18 backs in the squad.

Ireland travel to both Edinburgh and Rome over the course of first two rounds of this year's Championship, facing Scotland at Murrayfield on Saturday, February 4 before flying to Rome to take on Conor O'Shea's Italian side on Saturday, February 11.

Ireland head coach Joe Schmidt commented: "It has been good to watch the players over the past two months and great to see many of them doing so well.

"As always, there were some difficult decisions but we feel that the group is a good mix with a number of key players having good experience and a number of newer players having gained valuable experience and confidence during the summer tour to South Africa and the recent GUINNESS November Series."

IRELAND Squad (2017 RBS 6 Nations - Rounds 1&2):

Player/Club/Province/Caps -

Backs (18):

Tommy Bowe (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster) 67 caps
Andrew Conway (Garryowen/Munster) *
Keith Earls (Young Munster/Munster) 54 caps
Craig Gilroy (Bangor/Ulster) 9 caps
Robbie Henshaw (Buccaneers/Leinster) 24 caps
Paddy Jackson (Dungannon/Ulster) 19 caps
Rob Kearney (UCD/Leinster) 72 caps
Kieran Marmion (Corinthians/Connacht) 9 caps
Luke Marshall (Ballymena/Ulster) 9 caps
Stuart McCloskey (Ballynahinch/Ulster) 1 cap
Luke McGrath (UCD/Leinster) 1 cap
Conor Murray (Garryowen/Munster) 53 caps
Tiernan O'Halloran (Buccaneers/Connacht) 3 caps
Garry Ringrose (UCD/Leinster) 3 caps
Rory Scannell (Dolphin/Munster) *
Jonathan Sexton (St. Mary's College/Leinster) 63 caps
Andrew Trimble (Ballymena/Ulster) 69 caps
Simon Zebo (Cork Constitution/Munster) 28 caps

Forwards (22):

Finlay Bealham (Buccaneers/Connacht) 6 caps
Rory Best (Banbridge/Ulster) (capt) 100 caps
Jack Conan (Old Belvedere/Leinster) 1 cap
Ultan Dillane (Corinthians/Connacht) 8 caps
Tadhg Furlong (Clontarf/Leinster) 11 caps
Cian Healy (Clontarf/Leinster) 62 caps
Jamie Heaslip (Dublin University/Leinster) (vice-capt) 91 caps
Iain Henderson (Ballynahinch/Ulster) 28 caps
Billy Holland (Cork Constitution/Munster) 1 cap
Dave Kilcoyne (UL Bohemians/Munster) 17 caps
Dan Leavy (UCD/Leinster) 1 cap
Jack McGrath (St. Mary's College/Leinster) 36 caps
Sean O'Brien (UCD/Leinster) 44 caps
Tommy O'Donnell (UL Bohemians/Munster) 12 caps
Peter O'Mahony (Cork Constitution/Munster) 37 caps
Donnacha Ryan (Shannon/Munster) 43 caps
John Ryan (Cork Constitution/Munster) 1 cap
Niall Scannell (Dolphin/Munster) *
CJ Stander (Shannon/Munster) 10 caps
Devin Toner (Lansdowne/Leinster) 42 caps
James Tracy (UCD/Leinster) 1 cap
Josh van der Flier (UCD/Leinster) 5 caps

• Denotes uncapped player

[Derm McCrum]

@Pot-Hale

Interestingly, Stander is the only residency player included.

[Crucial]

Interesting to see that Steady Eddie is going down the Clive Woodward path and employing the same 'vision coach' that SCW did for the Lions tour to NZ.

Apparently the players need to improve their peripheral vision because they spend too long with their eyes on their cell phones.

Maybe the better way to improve hand eye coordination is to pass the ball around without it being pre-structured? Just saying.

[Crucial]

Steady Eddie confirmed Hartley as captain for opening game. No surprises there and I get why Jones wants him as captain but still think it is a poor look for the game when someone who has probably the worst disciplinary record in the international game is given such a high profile position.

[Derm McCrum]

Eddie Jones sporting a black eye at today's press conference. He said he slipped in the shower.

Warren Gatland sported a bandage on his head at the Lions press conference a while ago - reason - he slipped in the bathroom.....

Just saying like...

[Crucial]

@Pot-Hale said in Six Nations 2017:

Eddie Jones sporting a black eye at today's press conference. He said he slipped in the shower.

Warren Gatland sported a bandage on his head at the Lions press conference a while ago - reason - he slipped in the bathroom.....

Just saying like...

Saying what? They were having 'pass the soap' games that went wrong?

Jones looked like Hartley had gone to town on his head at the bottom of a ruck.

[Stargazer]

High tackle sanctions, bonus points the talk of Six Nations launch

[Stargazer]

Good news:

http://twitter.com/skysportnz/status/824770225648214017