Powell has been sacked by Wasps for having a fight with football fans on his day off. Am I the only one thinking that’s exactly what your average mentally inarticulate back row forward is supposed to do on his day off? Henson picks a fight with his Captain and gets to stay, Powell gets pummeled by  a load of football fans and has to go. Its a disgrace. Actions such as these are bringing the game into disrepute.

Granted. He probably did deserve the sack, as did Henson. Should he have been driving a golf buggy along the M4? No. Should he have had the fight? No. Is the world a richer place that he did do at least one of these things? I think so. Long live Andy Powell, and all who serve him.

Imanol Harinordoquy
Mathieu Bastareaud
Morgan Parra
Thierry Dusautoir
Tommy Bowe
Shane Williams

Come on lads, show some imagination will you. Undoubtedly Harinordoquy and Parra deserve their places but the rest seem to hint that this list was made before the tournament. Shane Williams, as ever the hero of Wales, but has he had a better tournament than Poitrenaud? Tommy Bowe is in fine form but surely Earls or O’Leary are ahead of him thus far. As for Dusatoir and Bastareaud, just seems lazy when you compare them to Italy’s two try newcomer Canavosio.

Dyou not think?

I was so tempted I had a go myself

You've got to be in it to win it

Wales: Lee Byrne (Ospreys); Leigh Halfpenny (Cardiff Blues), James Hook (Ospreys), Jamie Roberts (Blues), Shane Williams (Ospreys); Stephen Jones (Scarlets), Richard Rees (Blues); Paul James, Huw Bennett, Adam Jones (Ospreys), Bradley Davies, Deiniol Jones (Blues), Jonathan Thomas (Ospreys), Martyn Williams (Blues), Ryan Jones (Ospreys, capt) Replacements: Ken Owens (Scarlets), Rhys Gill (Saracens), Luke Charteris (Newport Gwent Dragons), Sam Warburton (Blues), Mike Phillips (Ospreys), Andrew Bishop (Ospreys) , Tom Shanklin (Blues).

France: Clement Poitrenaud (Toulouse); Benjamin Fall (Bayonne), Mathieu Bastareaud (Stade Francais), Yannick Jauzion (Toulouse), Alexis Palisson (Brive); Francois Trinh-Duc (Montpellier), Morgan Parra (Clermont Auvergne); Thomas Domingo (Clermont Auvergne), William Servat (Toulouse), Nicolas Mas (Perpignan), Lionel Nallet (Racing-Metro), Pascal Pape (Stade Francais), Thierry Dusautoir (Toulouse, capt), Julien Bonnaire (Clermont Auvergne), Imanol Harinordoquy (Biarritz).Replacements: Dimitri Szarzewski (Stade Francais), Jean-Baptiste Poux (Toulouse), Julien Pierre (Clermont Auvergne), Alexandre Lapandry (Clermont Auvergne), Frederic Michalak (Toulouse), David Marty (Perpignan), Julien Malzieu (Clermont Auvergne).

Well, well or oui, oui. This has got game of the tournament written all over it. Gatland has thankfully managed to keep his gob shut all week and with the emotive victory over Scotland behind them Wales may be in with a chance. They will have to raise their game considerably though, entertaining as it was, they should have lost a fortnight ago. Alongside of this they need the French to be somewhere way beneath the level that they played at last time out. Which, thankfully for the Welsh, they may well be.

Tip: Double Result: France-Wales 8/1 @bet365

Italy Vs Scotland 13:30, 27/02/2010

Italy (Squad): Matias Aguero (Saracens) Mauro Bergamasco (Stade Francais) Mirco Bergamasco (Stade Francais) Riccardo Bocchino (Femi CZ Rovigo-) Marco Bortolami (Gloucester RFC)Gonzalo Canale (Clermont-Auvergne)Pablo Canavosio (MPS Viadana)Martin Castrogiovanni (Leicester Tigers) Lorenzo Cittadini (Benetton Treviso)Carlo Antonio Del Fava (MPS Viadana) Paul Derbyshire (Petrarca Padova)Gonzalo Garcia (Benetton Treviso) Quintin Geldenhuys (MPS Viadana)Leonardo Ghiraldini (Benetton Treviso) – captain Craig Gower (Bayonne) Andrea Masi (Racing Metro Paris)Luke McLean (Benetton Treviso) Fabio Ongaro (Saracens) Salvatore Perugini (Bayonne) Kaine Paul Robertson (MPS Viadana) Alberto Sgarbi (Benetton Treviso) Josh Sole (MPS Viadana) Tito Tebaldi (Plusvalore Gran Parma) Alessandro Zanni (Benetton Treviso)

Scotland: H Southwell (Stade Francais); S Danielli (Ulster), M Evans (Glasgow), G Morrison (Glasgow), S Lamont (Scarlets); D Parks (Glasgow), C Cusiter (Glasgow, capt); A Jacobsen (Edinburgh), R Ford (Edinburgh), E Murray (Northampton), J Hamilton (Edinburgh), A Kellock (Glasgow), K Brown (Glasgow), J Barclay (Glasgow), J Beattie (Glasgow).
Replacements: S Lawson (Gloucester), A Dickinson (Gloucester), N Hines (Leinster), A Strokosch (Gloucester), M Blair (Edinburgh), P Godman (Edinburgh), N De Luca (Edinburgh).

The Scot’s must see this as their chance to shine and deservedly so. I can see nothing more than a healthy victory for them.

Tip: Handicap Scotland -11.5 19/10 @bet365

England Vs Ireland 16:00 27/02/2010

England: D Armitage (London Irish); Mark Cueto (Sale), Mathew Tait (Sale), Riki Flutey (Brive), Ugo Monye (Harlequins); Jonny Wilkinson (Toulon), Danny Care (Harlequins); Tim Payne (Wasps), Dylan Hartley (Northampton), Dan Cole (Leicester), Simon Shaw (Wasps), Steve Borthwick (Saracens, captain), James Haskell (Stade Francais), Lewis Moody (Leicester), Nick Easter (Harlequins).
Replacements: Lee Mears (Bath), David Wilson (Bath), Louis Deacon (Leicester), Joe Worsley (Wasps), Paul Hodgson (London Irish), Toby Flood (Leicester), Ben Foden (Northampton).

Ireland: G Murphy (Leicester), T Bowe (Ospreys), B O’Driscoll (Leinster) capt, G D’Arcy (Leinster), K Earls (Munster), J Sexton (Leinster), T O’Leary (Munster), C Healy (Leinster), R Best (Ulster), J Hayes (Munster), D O’Callaghan (Munster), P O’Connell (Munster), S Ferris (Ulster), D Wallace (Munster), J Heaslip (Leinster).Replacements: S Cronin (Connacht), T Buckley (Munster), L Cullen (Leinster), S Jennings (Leinster), E Reddan (Leinster), R O’Gara (Munster), A Trimble (Ulster)

The waiting is almost over. England come in after back to back victories Ireland with a disappointingly heavy defeat, it really could go either way. I’m not a subscriber to the view that England have a particularly poor selection of players just that they are playing poorly together, playing poorly but winning also. 

Twickenham is an interesting choice for Sextons 6Nations debut, particularly lining up alongside the much maligned O’Leary. Deccie the Leg is so ever so keen on his panel you might think he would excercise this theory at 9. I’m certainly not going to question his judgement on this or Murphy’s inclusion juts hope that come 6pm saturday I leave Twickenham with a smile on my face, I’ve seen them play here 6 times and have yet to see an Irish victory, I’m not sure I could take another loss.

Tip: Ireland by 1-5 points 5/1 @bet365

Wales:Lee Byrne (Ospreys); Leigh Halfpenny (Cardiff Blues), James Hook (Ospreys), Jamie Roberts (Cardiff Blues), Shane Williams (Ospreys); Stephen Jones (Scarlets), Gareth Cooper (Cardiff Blues); Paul James (Ospreys), Gareth Williams (Cardiff Blues), Adam Jones (Ospreys), Jonathan Thomas (Ospreys), Alun Wyn Jones (Ospreys), Andy Powell (Cardiff Blues), Martyn Williams (Cardiff Blues), Ryan Jones (Ospreys, captain).
Replacements: Huw Bennett (Ospreys), Gethin Jenkins (Cardiff Blues), Bradley Davies (Cardiff Blues), Sam Warburton (Cardiff Blues), Richie Rees (Cardiff Blues), Andrew Bishop (Ospreys), Tom Shanklin (Cardiff Blues).

Scotland:  C Paterson (Edinburgh); T Evans (Glasgow), S Lamont (Scarlets), G Morrison (Glasgow), R Lamont (Toulon); D Parks (Glasgow), C Cusiter (Glasgow, capt); A Dickinson (Gloucester), R Ford (Edinburgh), E Murray (Northampton), J Hamilton (Edinburgh), A Kellock (Glasgow), K Brown (Glasgow), J Barclay (Glasgow), J Beattie (Glasgow). 
Replacements: S Lawson (Gloucester), A Jacobsen (Edinburgh), R Gray (Glasgow), A MacDonald (Edinburgh), M Blair (Edinburgh), P Godman (Edinburgh), M Evans (Glasgow).

Not much to report with either selection. For all his whinging Warren Gatland thankfully managed to keep faith with Alun Wyn-Jones. Fortunately for the Scott’s he has also bizarrely kept Cooper at 9. 

Max Evans misses out for Scotland, a little bit inexplicably. If they can find the confidence to support line breakers they may well be in with a decent chance of winning. I can’t wait to see who Warren will blame this week if they do.

Tip: Scotland by 1-5 points 15/2 @bet365

France Vs Ireland, 16:30 13/02/2010

France: Clement Poitrenaud (Toulouse); Vincent Clerc (Toulouse), Mathieu Bastareaud (Stade Francais), Yannick Jauzion (Toulouse), Alexis Palisson (Brive); Francois Trinh-Duc (Montpellier), Morgan Parra (Clermont); Thomas Domingo (Clermont), William Servat (Toulouse), Nicolas Mas (Perpignan), Lionel Nallet (Racing Metro), Pascal Pape (Stade Francais), Thierry Dusautoir (capt, Toulouse), Fulgence Ouedraogo (Montpellier), Imanol Harinordoquy (Biarritz).
Replacements: Dimitri Szarzewski (Stade Francais), Sylvain Marconnet (Stade Francais), Julien Pierre (Clermont), Julien Bonnaire (Clermont), Frederic Michalak (Toulouse), David Marty (Perpignan), Julien Malzieu (Clermont).

Ireland:  R Kearney (Leinster), T Bowe (Ospreys), B O’Driscoll (capt), G D’Arcy (both Leinster), K Earls, R O’Gara, T O’Leary (all Munster); C Healy (Leinster), J Flannery, J Hayes (both Munster), L Cullen (Leinster), P O’Connell (Munster), AN Other, D Wallace (Munster), J Heaslip (Leinster). 
Replacements (from): R Best, T Court (both Ulster), D Ryan (Munster), S O’Brien, K McLaughlin, E Reddan, J Sexton (all Leinster), P Wallace, A Trimble (both Ulster).

Well, here is a game. There have been sensible comments aplenty out of the Irish camp, need to stay with them in the opening twenty, can’t let them build up a lead before half time. The problem is simple. These things are a lot easier to say than do.

France in patches against Scotland looked to have the makings of a great side. They should provide a great game, game of the tournament if it wasn’t so early on. I’m as fearful as I am excited about the duel between O’Driscoll and Bastareaud, I have visions of BOD gingerly walking off the field clutching an arm or shoulder. Hopefully for the sake of the rest of the Championship, its just a bad dream.

Tip: Double Result: France-Ireland 7/1 @bet365

Italy Vs England, 14:30 14/02/09

England: Delon Armitage (London Irish); Mark Cueto (Sale), Mathew Tait (Sale), Riki Flutey (Brive), Ugo Monye (Harlequins); Jonny Wilkinson (Toulon), Danny Care (Harlequins); Tim Payne (Wasps), Dylan Hartley (Northampton), Dan Cole (Leicester), Simon Shaw (Wasps), Steve Borthwick (Saracens, captain), James Haskell (Stade Francais), Lewis Moody (Leicester), Nick Easter (Harlequins).

Italy Squad: Backs: Luke McLean, Andrea Masi, Kaine Robertson, Alberto Sgarbi, Gonzalo Canale, Gonzalo Garcia, Mirco Bergamasco; Riccardo Bocchino, Craig Gower, Pablo Canavosio, Tito Tebaldi;

Forwards: Matias Aguero, Salvatore Perugini, Martin Castrogiovanni, Lorenzo Cittadini; Leonardo Ghiraldini (captain), Fabio Ongaro; Marco Bortolami, Quintin Geldenhuys; Valerie Bernabo, Paul Derbyshire, Josh Sole, Mauro Bergamasco, Alessandro Zanni.

On the back of both their performances last week, the Italians could be well on their way to a nasty hiding. I sincerely hope I’m wrong but out of all the three tips this is the one I’m most confident of coming in:

Tip: Handicap England -21.5 @bet365

Incidentally, the treble comes in at a healthy 189/1

Ireland Vs Italy:

Both sides poorer than expected, opening weekend rustiness or not. There were brief glimpses of Craig Gower not being another ‘Bergamasco’ but all to brief. It was great to see O’Gara kicking with such confidence, another great sign for Irish rugby. Trimble shone when the light came his way, much more as an individual though than as a member of the back three. O’Connell showed some nice link up play along with his usual influential performance. On the whole though, lacking something in the first half and lacklustre in the second. Paris… vive la différence.

England Vs Wales:

At least a full 80 mins was played at Twickenham, nowhere near a game fit to mark the centenary year. I’d expect Gatland to be kicking himself more than his second row. Its fair to say Wales lost this game rather than England won it and undoubtedly the much talked about 17 points in 10 minutes had a severe impact. They weren’t the last 10 minutes though. I just felt naming and shaming a player like that was so uncalled for, against any good coaching principle I could imagine. Lets face it, those who are in glass houses shouldn’t dare do such a thing, who’s genius idea could it have been to have James Hook taking over as first choice kicker? Might that have been you throwing away 6 points there yourself Warren?

Last night on ScrumV during this very debate they reported that Wales would be sticking by their outstanding second row of recent times. We really should not have needed to be told. A far more appropriate came the following day from former captain Gareth Thomas who tweeted as much:

We should fall and rise as a team!!! Lay off Alun Wyn Jones media dudes.The guy knows he did wrong.I will be in trouble now, but whatever:)

Scotland Vs France:

The best half of rugby all weekend and should have been the best game had France not decided they had done enough at half time. The French looked dangerous, Bastereaud looked fairly dangerous, a bit too much like the Blanco of now rather than then to fit the image of the elegant French three-quarter. The team as a whole looked certain too trouble Ireland, next weekend should surely give us the game of the tournament I’d say. Scotland too have improved. Certainly some of the most valiant defence from both wings and John Beattie in the back row made his mark. They are not too far away, but on too many occasions seemed to lack the support that only self belief can bring.

So congrats again to the Dragons’ Will Harries. Providing huge opportunity to commentators everywhere to overuse again their phrase ‘backs himself’. Boo Hiss to Warren Gatland and a healthy go on ya good things to Kidney and the boys for next week.

The independent Disciplinary Committee found that Mr Byrne had re-entered the pitch without the referee’s permission and that he knew or ought to have known that he needed that permission. The committee found that this represented a clear breach of the Substitution Protocol, which forms part of the Heineken Cup 2009/10 Tournament Rules,

Fair Dinkum, I’d say. He knew the Ref should know or be told he is coming back on, he wasn’t, two week ban and a fine for the Ospreys. Job and finish. Six days later the appeal report states:

The Independent Appeal Committee, chaired by Rod McKenzie (Scotland) and also comprising Professor Lorne Crerar (Scotland) and Bill Dunlop (Scotland), found that Mr Byrne had demonstrated that the original decision had been in error and the sanction should be varied to a fine of €5,000.

I would like to know just how Mr Byrne demonstrated the error, did he do a clever edit on the footage so that actually he didn’t re enter the field of play? Was it more he convinced them that due to the defensive nature of the modern game and the specific geography of the Liberty Stadium, that having sixteen men on a fifteen man team really didn’t matter? I’d really like to know.I really hope what happened was Mr Byrne headed up there in his white uniform and with the help of his legal team produced transfer documents and the tower chiefs logs A Few Good Men stylee. The hearing ran and ran until one

Professor Lorne-Crerar

of the panel, probably Professor Lorne Crerar screams ‘You Can’t Handle The Truth’ and got arrested. Granted, this probably didn’t happen. 

Something did though, Lee Byrne pleaded guilty at the original hearing, the evidence is solid, what happened? Did they reduce the ban for a week, like with Dupuy? He had his ban reduced for his involvement from in Ferrisgate from 24 to 23 weeks? If we are looking for consistency and the same rule applies Lee Byrne should have had his ban reduced by 13 hours and 40 minutes. Did this happen? No. Lee Byrne got a 5000 Euro fine, a healthy dose of publicity and will be every commentators dream back story should his involvement lead to the Welsh taking home a famous victory from Twickenham on the weekend. To be honest if it all adds up to another beating for the English, who cares?

Well I suppose I do, really. I had a look through the IRB recommended  sanctions list earlier and although the specific misconduct charge, which Byrne has been found guilty of, does not appear, nor do any of the sanctions suggest a fine. To be clear, the IRB does not suggest fining anyone for anything. No fines. Not one. Nada. So if this sanction effectively does not exist how can the Independent Disciplinary Committee invoke it?

In the grand scheme of things do I think Lee Byrne should miss out on possibly two International caps for what was essentially an administrative error? No. Nor do I think, like this Leicester Mercury article that Lee Byrne’s appearance as sixteenth man had any impact on the result of the game, but I don’t think that’s the point. The issue for me is that the committee have ultimately seen sense and decided that the punishment was too great given the misdemeanor. Fine. Or is it? Does this now mean that an extra player on the field for 70 seconds costs 30 000 Euro? If I was Tony McGahan in the final minutes of the inevitable Munster Vs  Leinster Heineken Cup final, I would think 30 000 Euro for an extra man in the defensive line a small price to pay. Why wouldn’t any of the Six Nations coaches with a Grand Slam at stake go for an extra two or three?

For me, a great deal of the beauty in rugby union is found in its technicalities. The numerous rules constantly bent is what sets it apart from all other sports in my view. You might say what Lee Byrne has done has become the epitome of the professional rugby player, bending the rules both on and off the field to his advantage. Alternatively the ERC were wrong to punish him in the first place, surely substitutions are the one area of the game that the players themselves aren’t in control of? I think with the pending Attoub appeal the whole system is heading for, as they’d say in back in Perth, a bit of a bingle. 

Admittedly, I think if Stade, Attoub and their advisers continue with their anti-french campaign they are on a non-starter. Hire Lee Byrne’s guys, let them work their obvious magic. At the very least ask how a ban can be turned into a fine? If Attoub was up for International selection would he be able to play? If two weeks costs 5000 Euro do we give you 175 000 Euro and put the whole thing behind us? How can you find someone who has pleaded guilty, guilty and then admit to having made an error? Rules are rules aren’t they?

Wales have their star back and their pop star back on the bench for the France game. Thankfully Gatland hasn’t gone for Henson to start and so hopefully the hero worship of a win  won’t be entirely placed upon his shoulders. Ireland have stuck with the team that have got them to the top of the table. France look to be having a nightmare with injuries particularly losing Beauxis, the only fly half in the squad. As everyone is so fond of saying you can’t write off the French and the replacement Trinh-Duc has previously kept Beauxis out of the side so the change shouldn’t be that catastrophic. That said, as the occasion draws nearer little things seem to be moving in favour of Wales. I did think the nighttime kick off would play a part in unsettling Wales but feel that any effect it may have had is seriously diminished by the bruising encounters of last weekend, as all the home nations enjoyed a weekend off. Lièvremont is not happy and rightly so, hardly seems fair. 

Ireland have no such worries and have stuck with the team that have got them to the top of the table. Given the state of Paddy Wallace on the sidelines in Italy, thats a fairly impressive feat, also Darcy has been playing well and is the established partner for O’Driscoll but fair play to Kidney in that Wallace earned his place and now deserves to keep it. Bar that the only thing to deal with is the opposition, as Kidney himself said a fortnight ago “Confident of Ireland beating England? Never”. Most Irish fans would agree with the sentiment, we have a good recent record without doubt, but in much the same way you never know when a French side will turn around and win a game, the same could be said for Ireland and losing them. England shouldn’t win the game, I wouldn’t like to tempt fate and say they won’t

Ireland: R Kearney; T Bowe, B O’Driscoll (capt), P Wallace, L Fitzgerald; R O’Gara, T O’Leary; M Horan, J Flannery, J Hayes, D O’Callaghan, P O’Connell, S Ferris, D Wallace, J Heaslip.
Replacements: R Best, T Court, M O’Driscoll, D Leamy, P Stringer, G D’Arcy, G Murphy. 

Wales: Lee Byrne; Leigh Halfpenny, Tom Shanklin, Jamie Roberts, Shane Williams; Stephen Jones, Michael Phillips; Gethin Jenkins, Matthew Rees, Adam Jones, Ian Gough, Alun Wyn Jones, Ryan Jones (capt), Martyn Williams, Andy Powell.
Replacements: Huw Bennett, John Yapp, Luke Charteris, Dafydd Jones, Dwayne Peel, James Hook, Gavin Henson.

[table=2]

This years Six Nations at the halfway stage. Good to see Ireland in pole position heading towards the biggest weekend of the tournament. Genuinely Ireland, although shaky at points against Italy, looked their best for seasons in closing out a great French side. O’Driscoll is looking his sharpest for seasons and O’Connell seems to be much more instrumental in the leadership of the side, good sign for the Lions and O’Driscoll is clearly benefiting from the assistance. Kearney is full of confidence, O’Callaghans last two games have been his best for Ireland. Wallace has found his back row colleagues raising their game to match his. O’Gara needs to find some form but he is still a quality player and is distributing well enough so it would be hard to call him a weak link. The front rows work around the field is admirable but still fail to inspire confidence at the scrummage. The real worry is eyes start drifting towards the big decider at the Millennium, it would be oh so England of England to come to Dublin and upset the party. They have found some players this tournament, even if they are a long way from being a cohesive unit, with a bit more confidence and a captain they could have gone in front against Wales and turned the game around. If Martin Johnson can find a bit of belief and admit to himself and the rest of the world that selecting Andy Goode maybe a safety first policy, but an incredibly negative policy all the same, and leave him out from the start they could be a real problem.

For me though, the real problem of next weekend is for Wales. I can’t help but feel the Friday evening kick off will be just enough to have them start out of sorts, allowing the French to get the crowd on their side and get to their unpredictable best. I get the feeling Gatland may opt to start Henson which could be, drunken shenanigans aside,  a selection disaster waiting to happen.