Six Nations 2017

[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

[Crucial]

Reports are that Marler is going to now be fit for selection this weekend. His leg 'break' has healed quickly.
Must have visited Naholo's witch doctor.

[Margin_Walker]

England retain 25 players for the lead up to the France game.

Forwards

Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers), Ellis Genge (Leicester Tigers), Jamie George (Saracens), Teimana Harrison (Northampton Saints), Dylan Hartley (Northampton Saints), James Haskell (Wasps), Nathan Hughes (Wasps), Maro Itoje (Saracens), George Kruis (Saracens), Joe Launchbury (Wasps), Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints), Joe Marler (Harlequins), Matt Mullan (Wasps), Kyle Sinckler (Harlequins), Tom Wood (Northampton Saints).

Backs

Mike Brown (Harlequins), Danny Care (Harlequins), Elliot Daly (Wasps), Owen Farrell (Saracens), George Ford (Bath Rugby), Jonathan Joseph (Bath Rugby), Jonny May (Gloucester Rugby), Jack Nowell (Exeter Chiefs), Ben Te’o (Worcester Warriors), Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers).

Papers seem to think the starting lineup will be:

15 Brown
14 Nowell
13 Joseph
12 Farrell
11 May
10 Ford
9 Youngs
1 Marler
2 Hartley (c)
3 Cole
4 Lawes
5 Kruis (injury in training today being assessed, so may be Launchbury)
6 Itoje
7 Wood
8 Hughes

In other news, Sexton ruled out of the Scotland game with a calf injury.

[MN5]

@Margin_Walker what has happened to Tuilagi?

[Margin_Walker]

@MN5

Season ending knee injury. He's not really in the conversation England wise these days, as he can't seem to get himself on the pitch for more than a month or two before breaking something. Isn't related to his previous groin problem, so hopefully he'll get over it.

[Derm McCrum]

Four more sleeps.

I can't wait.....

[TeWaio]

@Pot-Hale said in Six Nations 2017:

Four more sleeps.

I can't wait.....

Me too! Off to Twickenham this weekend for a work junket. Will be a great opener, forecast looking like rain though.

[mooshld]

@TeWaio I really hope France get up for this and the bonus points come into play. I can't stand it when one team walks the tournament.

[Margin_Walker]

Kruis now confirmed out for England with knee ligament damage. Being assessed tomorrow, but that may be it for the 6N for him.

[Derm McCrum]

Sexton and O'Mahony out of selection for Scotland match with minor injuries not cleared up. Keatley drafted in at 10, Madigan not picked from Bordeaux.