2008 Six Nations Rugby Week Two
2008 Six Nations Rugby Week Two
Fixtures
Wales versus Scotland 9 February 14h00 at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff
After their emphatic victory over England at Twickenham, it would be easy for the Welsh to become a little complacent for their next outing against Scotland.
Best beware though, as a wounded Scotland is a very dangerous beast, and the sheer physical size of their forwards is enough to make anyone quake. The Welsh will not have forgotten last year’s 21-9 rout at Murrayfield, and coaches Warren Gatland and Shaun Edwards have not been that complimentary about the first round win against England.
History tells us that Scotland has never won the Six Nations Championship, but their overall record against Wales is not all that shabby, they have won over 42% of the matches between the two nations.
Changes to the teams
Wales: Full back Jamie Roberts replaces Wing, Mark Jones, Centre, Tom Shanklin is in, and loose forward Alix Popham is out, and Ian Evans replaces injured lock, Alun Wyn Jones.
Scotland – Kelly Brown replaces Dave Callam at number 8, and full back Chris Patterson is in for the injured Rory Lamont.
France versus Ireland 9 February 17h00 at the Stade de France, Paris
Defending champions France will be looking to cash in on their second round clash against Ireland at the Stade de France on Saturday. Their confidence will be high after their 27-6 win over the hapless Scots, and the Irish are not looking like they have the personnel or fervour to cause an upset. They stuttered to a very ordinary win against Italy in the first round.
It would be remiss to underestimate the Irish, they are currently ranked 5th in the world, one ahead of their combatants on Saturday, and they did contest the final of last years event. Statistics tell us that France has been successful over 60% of the time they have run out against Ireland.
Changes to the teams
France – Aurelien Rougerie replaces Vincent Clerc on the wing, and David Skrela will run out at fly half instead of Francois Trinh-Duc, Prop Nicolas Mas replaces Julien Brugnaut, Lock Arnaud Mela is on for Loic Jacquet, Julien Bonnaire replaces Elvis Vermeulen at no.8, and Jean-Baptiste Elissalde will run on as scrum half.
Ireland – Jamie Heaslip comes in for Simon Easterby, the injured Gordon D’Arcy will be replaced by Andrew Trimble and Bernard Jackman will start in place of Rory Best.
Italy versus England 10 February 15h30 at Stadio Faminio Rome
England will be hoping for a slick, professional performance against Italy on Saturday, and it will also be the ideal opportunity for them to fine tune their game plan for future games of the Championship.
The English will be feeling the pressure, having lost against Wales in the first round, and England are one of the teams that seems to rise to that pressure. The public will be expecting a polished performance, and there is absolutely no reason why they cannot go out and finish Mallet’s boys with style.
Changes to the teams
England – Injured loose-head prop Andrew Sheridan is replaced by forward, Tim Payne, Jamie Noon will replace Mike Tindall at centre, Lesley Vainikolo will run on instead of David Strettle at wing and Flankers Lewis Moody and Tom Rees will be replaced by Michael Lipman and Nick Easter respectively.
Italy – Winger Ezio Galon is in for the injured Pablo Canovosio
