UKC

Its nearly that time of year again for the Irish, Welsh, Scottish, French and Italians to turn the focus of their wrath on the English, wishing only to see the red rose crushed under foot. Alternatively some light hearted cross border banter

To this end the annual fantasy 6 nations league has been set up at the follwing web site;

http://fantasyrugby.espn.co.uk/espn/en/6/userhome.do

Name;  UKC FANTASY 6 NATIONS

PIN; 1311093-56825

Looks like it should be a close year again, England and Ireland favourites, Scotland looking strong. France are as always a wild card, Wales if they can bring in their young talent should be no push over and there is also Italy  

My fantasy Welsh team is one without any injuries!

Joined that. Not done one of these before and I had to ditch Dan Biggar as my kicker at the last minute since I think he is going to miss the first there games.

Alan 

Dont worry about changes, you have unlimited swaps until it all kicks off. The BBC or http://www.planetrugby.com/ will have the starting team details when they are announced so you can tailor your team then.

Enjoy 

Bump, it all kicks off next weekend folks 

I'm in, thanks - can't wait for Saturday!

Ian

I think its going to be an almighty scrap for second place. I think Wales will do a lot better than most people think, if the front 5 can dominate that inexperienced Scottish pack then it could be a try fest! Im mostly just excited (as a Warriors supporter) to see Josh Adams get his first cap!

I'm in.  It would be easier to pick an injured team than a fit one.

Final bump before it kicks off, teams for Wales Scotland and France Ireland have been released. England Italy will follow.

Best of luck all

Wales: 15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 Josh Adams, 13 Scott Williams, 12 Hadleigh Parkes, 11 Steff Evans, 10 Rhys Patchell, 9 Gareth Davies, 8 Ross Moriarty, 7 Josh Navidi, 6 Aaron Shingler, 5 Alun Wyn Jones (c), 4 Cory Hill, 3 Samson Lee, 2 Ken Owens, 1 Rob Evans
Replacements: 16 Elliot Dee, 17 Wyn Jones, 18 Tomas Francis, 19 Bradley Davies, 20 Justin Tipuric, 21 Aled Davies, 22 Gareth Anscombe, 23 Owen Watkin

Scotland: 15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Tommy Seymour, 13 Chris Harris, 12 Huw Jones, 11 Byron McGuigan, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Ali Price, 8 Cornell du Preez, 7 Hamish Watson, 6 John Barclay (c), 5 Jonny Gray, 4 Ben Toolis, 3 Jon Welsh, 2 Stuart McInally, 1 Gordon Reid
Replacements: 16 Scott Lawson, 17 Jamie Bhatti, 18 Murray McCallum, 19 Grant Gilchrist, 20 Ryan Wilson, 21 Greig Laidlaw, 22 Pete Horne, 23 Sean Maitland

France: 15 Geoffrey Palis, 14 Teddy Thomas, 13 Rémi Lamerat, 12 Henry Chavancy, 11 Virimi Vakatawa, 10 Matthieu Jalibert, Maxime Machenaud, 8 Kevin Gourdon, 7 Yacouba Camara, 6 Wenceslas Lauret, 5 Sébastien Vahaamahina, 4 Arthur Iturria, 3 Rabah Slimani, 2 Guilhem Guirado (c), Jefferson Poirot 
Replacements: 16 Adrien Pelissié, 17 Dany Priso, 18 Cedate Gomes Sa, 19 Paul Gabrillagues, 20 Marco Tauleigne, 21 Antoine Dupont, 22 Anthony Belleau, 23 Benjamin Fall

Ireland: 15 Rob Kearney, 14 Keith Earls, 13 Robbie Henshaw, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 Jacob Stockdale, 10 Johnny Sexton, 9 Conor Murray, 8 CJ Stander, 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Peter O’Mahony, 5 James Ryan, 4 Iain Henderson, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Rory Best, 1 Cian Healy
Replacements: 16 Sean Cronin, 17 Jack McGrath, 18 John Ryan, 19 Devin Toner, 20 Dan Leavy, 21 Luke McGrath, 22 Joey Carbery, 23 Fergus McFadden

England: 15 Mike Brown, 14 Anthony Watson, 13 Ben Te’o, 12 Owen Farrell, 11 Jonny May, 10 George Ford, 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Sam Simmonds, 7 Chris Robshaw, 6 Courtney Lawes, 5 Maro Itoje, 4 Joe Launchbury, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Dylan Hartley (c), 1 Mako Vunipola
Replacements: 16 Jamie George, 17 Alec Hepburn, 18 Harry Williams, 19 George Kruis, 20 Sam Underhill, 21 Danny Care, 22 Jonathan Joseph, 23 Jack Nowell

And finally if anyone wants to play a wild card, Italy!

Italy: 15 Matteo Minozzi, 14 Tommaso Benvenuti, 13 Tommaso Boni, 12 Tommaso Castello, 11 Mattia Bellini, 10 Tommaso Allan, 9 Marcello Violi, 8 Sergio Parisse (c), 7 Renato Giammarioli, 6 Sebastian Negri, 5 Dean Budd, 4 Alessandro Zanni, 3 Simone Ferrari, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 1 Andrea Lovotti 
Replacements: 16 Luca Bigi, 17 Nicola Quaglio, 18 Tiziano Pasquali, 19 George Biagi, 20 Maxime Mbanda’, 21 Edoardo Gori, 22 Carlo Canna, 23 Jayden Hayward

Thanks. Just completely re-jigged my team which was a bit of an injury-bound disaster before!

Alan

All planned for kickoff tomorrow afternoon, up the valley to the pub, which gives us free food - presuming we drink enough beer and cheer loud enough for Wales. 

Think it will be another good tournament this year.

Didn’t see that coming for the first game...

Nor did I!

Me neither, but I'm not complaining! 

Let's not do a Scotland and get carried away with a good result or two.
Especially having to play England next weekend...

No worries about that, I'm a Blues supporter - you never get carried away!

Certainly given Eddie something to think about.

He'll certainly have to change England's defensive game plan!

I'm sorry to hear that...

Lots of smiling faces round the pub, we shall settle for that start!

Anyone else feel that there should be some sanction against France for the obvious lies over claiming a doctor wanted a player to come off for a head injury assessment when he clearly injured his knee!

Yes,maybe I was mistaken but I didn't see any obvious concern with his head on the field.

There's certainly some "gamesmanship" creeping in, which does seem fairly blatant at times, didn't Wales pull a fast one with substitutes last season - can't remember exactly details.

Regards France, I bet they are hurting enough from that loss, but if they had won then Ireland may have had cause to feel a bit peeved!

Are you referring to the France v Wales game with the 20 minute extra time? It was France pulling the fast one then in bringing back a prop who had already been subbed.

There might have been some shenanigans in the Georgia game... 

Oh yes, remember now!  That was well dodgy.........

That's probably the one, had a few beers by then and possibly cheering the wrong team!

Now being investigated:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/42936200

Morning All, after a cracking round one its time for the second installation. The Hype Vs Sheep Shaggers is the stand out game, England coming off a strong win against Italy who looked better than last year and scored a good couple of tries. Wales blew Scotland away with ease which was a surprise. It all points to a cracker at HQ however England have got very good at grinding down opposition and then ending the game strongly with Eddies finishers and can see this being close until the final 20 when England will tke it by a couple of tries.

Scotland Vs France, who knows? The Scotts were pants last weekend but I doubt they will be so poor again with the quality of players they have. France are once again an unknown with changes in key positions. Hopefully an entertaining game!

Ireland Italy is going only one way. It will just be a question of how many Ireland score.

Teams are as follows and as always good luck everyone (unless you are Welsh       )

England: 15 Mike Brown, 14 Anthony Watson, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Owen Farrell, 11 Jonny May, 10 George Ford, 9 Danny Care, 8 Sam Simmonds, 7 Chris Robshaw, 6 Courtney Lawes, 5 Maro Itoje, 4 Joe Launchbury, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Dylan Hartley, 1 Mako Vunipola
Replacements: 16 Jamie George, 17 Alec Hepburn, 18 Harry Williams, 19 George Kruis, 20 Sam Underhill, 21 Richard Wigglesworth, 22 Ben Te’o, 23 Jack Nowell

Wales: 15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 Josh Adams, 13 Scott Williams, 12 Hadleigh Parkes, 11 Steff Evans, 10 Rhys Patchell, 9 Gareth Davies, 8 Ross Moriarty, 7 Josh Navidi, 6 Aaron Shingler, 5 Alun Wyn Jones (c), 4 Cory Hill, 3 Samson Lee, 2 Ken Owens, 1 Rob Evans
Replacements: 16 Elliot Dee, 17 Wyn Jones, 18 Tomas Francis, 19 Bradley Davies, 20 Justin Tipuric, 21 Aled Davies, 22 Gareth Anscombe, 23 George North

Ireland: 15 Rob Kearney, 14 Keith Earls, 13 Robbie Henshaw, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 Jacob Stockdale, 10 Johnny Sexton, 9 Conor Murray, 8 Jack Conan, 7 Dan Leavy, 6 Peter O’Mahony, 5 Devin Toner, 4 Iain Henderson, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Rory Best (c), 1 Jack McGrath
Replacements: 16 Sean Cronin, 17 Cian Healy, 18 Andrew Porter, 19 Quinn Roux, 20 CJ Stander, 21 Kieran Marmion, 22 Joey Carbery, 23 Jordan Larmour

Italy: 15 Matteo Minozzi, 14 Tommaso Benvenuti, 13 Tommaso Boni, 12 Tommaso Castello, 11 Mattia Bellini, 10 Tommaso Allan, 9 Marcello Violi, 8 Sergio Parisse (c), 7 Braam Steyn, 6 Sebastien Negri, 5 Dean Budd, 4 Alessandro Zanni, 3 Simone Ferrari, 2 Luca Bigi, 1 Nicola Quaglio
Replacements: 16 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 17 Andrea Lovotti, 18 Tiziano Pasquali, 19 Federico Ruzza, 20 Maxime Mata Mbanda, 21 Edoardo Gori, 22 Carlo Canna, 23 Jayden Hayward

Scotland: 15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Tommy Seymour, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Pete Horne, 11 Sean Maitland, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Greig Laidlaw, 8 Ryan Wilson, 7 Hamish Watson, 6 John Barclay (c), 5 Jonny Gray, 4 Grant Gilchrist, 3 Simon Berghan, 2 Stuart McInally, 1 Gordon Reid
Replacements: 16 Scott Lawson, 17 Jamie Bhatti, 18 Jon Welsh, 19 Ben Toolis, 20 David Denton, 21 Ali Price, 22 Chris Harris, 23 Blair Kinghorn

France: 15 Geoffrey Palis, 14 Teddy Thomas, 13 Rémi Lamerat, 12 Geoffrey Doumayrou, 11 Virimi Vakatawa, 10 Lionel Beauxis, 9 Maxine Machenaud, 8 Marco Tauleigne, 7 Yacouba Camara, 6 Wenceslas Lauret, 5 Sébastien Vahaamahina, 4 Arthur Iturria, 3 Rabah Slimani, 2 Guilhem Guirado (c), 1 Jefferson Poirot
Replacements: 16 Adrien Pelissié, 17 Eddy Ben Arous, 18 Cedate Gomes Sa, 19 Paul Gabrillagues, 20 Louis Picamoles, 21 Baptiste Serin, 22 Anthony Belleau, 23 Benjamin Fall