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

The problem for me seems to be with the back row, I just think it needs something new. Martyn Williams is and has been a fantastic player for Wales and I wouldn’t for a moment suggest his exclusion, it seems he is not making the impact on games he once did. As for the other two likely starters they too lack the intensity and influence that can be found in the opposition. Both have shown in the past they have the ability but never season through season. Powell particularly seems never to have regained the form of his breakthrough season. Looking around the other sides in the championship it hard to see him getting a berth even in the Italian squad. 

Its a similar problem upfront. Gethin Jenkins is undoubtedly world class, his defence is pioneering for his position. Its the guys next to him that give the problems. Its also a good example of Gatlands tired selection, surely there was room in the squad for Ken Owens? He has put in some great performances for the Scarlets this season, Matthew Rees, just back from injury, lacking in match fitness and ultimately boring. He can’t throw in either. At tighthead its good to see Lewis-Roberts being given a chance, I just hope that Gatland is not too dull to select him.

Behind the pack its the same story. Gareth Cooper has earned his place through familiarity alone. His clubmate deserves his call up and deserves to start against England but all noises suggest he won’t. Stephen Jones has been at best reliable, even if his kicking hasn’t been. Jonathan Davies deserves his chance outside of him but more likely he will go with the off form Roberts. Lee Byrne back at full back, and Shane Williams too is not bad news but neither will have had a lot of game time come February 6th. I think the one change he will be forced into is giving Kristian Phillips a go on the left wing. He has had some electric displays in the Principality League, I fear he will suffer the same fate as Halfpenny though, starved of ball as the backline makes every effort to get his colleague on the other side of the field the ball.

bet365 have England as slight favourites for the opener, if Warren sticks to his plan I’d say it was a fairly safe bet.

Good man Johnno, it seems he has the ability to manage the press off the field like he did the Ref on it. I’ve just read the bbc’s report on the squad and am left a little empty to say the least. Don’t get me wrong,  I will be as happy as anyone to watch England falter and struggle their way through another campaign. I’d love it, truth be known, its just I think to call it an announcement is a bit extreme. The BBC tells us that he has named his EPS (I won’t even start) consisting of  32 players, and a Saxons squad of the same number. So he has selected 64 players, tough job. 

In the rules the Guinness Premiership says you can field up to 2 foreign players for the full duration of the game. For arguments sake lets ignore (because I can’t be bothered to work out the figure) the reams of EU based players in the league to give us a figure of 156 players. So the legend has used all of that World Cup and Lions experience to whittle the field down to just under half. Like I said, tough job.

So along with the fact that Gavin has lost a bit of timber, for some reason sources at the Ospreys seem to think this is a bad thing?? Martin is naming his squad tomorrow, I’m sure there must be a few players around the country currently avoiding their phone, rather than be involved in anything remotely like their autumn displays. Lastly rugby in 3D…..

Rugby in 3D. A fantastic idea I’m not sure. However I seem to have some competition:

“Dave Holes, Which? audio-visual expert and rugby fan, said: ‘This is exactly the type of event that lends itself well to 3D, where people sit down for a set period of time to focus on the screen. It’s likely to be major sporting events and films that drive the sales of 3D products this year to those who can afford them’.”

Something about this comment makes me think our man Dave is very much more audio-visual expert than rugby fan. I mean rugby in 3D, really… isn’t rugby 3D already? Had someone asked me to guess what he was talking about when he said “where people sit down for a set period of time to focus on the screen. ” I’d have been guessing for a while before I’d have come up with rugby. Certainly not the Six Nations, definitely not Wales England in the Six Nations. I suppose the idea of donning a pair of specs in the pub or at home might, enhance the experience, but rugby in a cinema? Thats just all wrong isn’t it. I’ll come back to you on this one I think.

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.

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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.