Six Nations Squads 2006

[luke_the_pom]

i think your pretty much on the money
not sure bout France winning it though..... think could be England or ireland playing for the number one spot

i know the French got the skills but they are mentally weak! they seem to loose their bottle every time they are behind!

although again u probably disagree with me i think the French are a bit like the Kiwis - chokers
until either team really proves themselves to me that will be my opinion

[Irish Welsh boyo]

i think CYMRU will beat the bastards from over the border by a close margin.

GIRUY england

[Flat-top]

Was at the Bath v Leinster game yesterday and have to say how impressed I was with the recovery Brian O'D has made since the Lions injury. By all accounts in the previous weeks game he was understandably reluctant to fully commit the shoulder in tackle but yesterday he was sublime. With Darcy, Hickie and Horgan it was a treat to see what will likely be the Irish backline play some cracking rugby and give me some hope that we can improve on last seasons 3rd place in the 6N's.

For those of you interested in exiled Aussie's, Chris Malone came on only in the last 10mins for Bath at Outhalf but was instrumental in setting up the two Bath consolation tries and converting both. He has had a rough few weeks since John Connoly moved back to Oz and seems to have lost his starting slot to Ollie Barclay. CM is still a big favourite of mine though.

[Burgs]

A refresher to all as to how the 2005 series went down.
Still haven't seen a '06 France Squad, anyone else found one to post?

Drama of a memorable 2005 Six Nations

Tuesday, March 22, 2005

The 2005 Six Nations was a glorious celebration of the unpredictability of sport as a series of surprise results led to an unexpected but widely welcomed grand slam for Wales.

As ever, the world's oldest international rugby competition defied prediction and by the time the dust had settled, a whole host of long-standing records had disappeared.

Wales led the way in rewriting the history books with their first grand slam since 1978 and first title since 1995.

Along the way, Wales beat England at home for the first time in 13 years, Ireland at home for the first time in 22 years and posted their highest score and margin of victory over Scotland in 122 years.

Followers of world champions England were also searching the memory banks to discover it was back in 1987 that they last lost three successive championship games as they finished a lowly fourth for the first time since the Five Nations became six.

Before the tournament, all the talk was of Ireland's big chance, with home games against both holders France and world champions England, and looked ideally placed to challenge for their first title for 20 years.

Very few people were promoting Wales and not even the most one-eyed Welshman could have hoped for a first clean sweep since the glory days of the 1970s.

Yet even in defeat on Saturday, Irish coach Eddie O'Sullivan recognised that a Welsh grand slam was good for rugby.

"We gave them a licence to thrill," said Wales coach Mike Ruddock, who in his year in charge has overseen a remarkable turnaround for a team who lost every match two years ago.

The 18 matches of the championship, often of a poor technical quality, might not have struck fear into the All Blacks ahead of the British and Irish Lions tour in June but they certainly had the fans on the edge of their seats.

The die was cast on the first day on February 5 when both games were settled in the dying moments.

Scotland seemed on course for a huge upset in Paris, only for a charge-down try by Damien Traille to give France a 16-9 success, while an even later 50-metre penalty by centre Gavin Henson gave Wales an 11-9 win over a ragged England.

Ireland were flattered by a 28-17 success in Rome and last year's triple crown winners, who lost centre Gordon D'Arcy to injury for the rest of the tournament, subsequently failed to hit the heights.

France then produced one of their worst performances against England for many years but, through the penalties of scrumhalf Dimitri Yachvili, turned round an 11-point half-time deficit to win 18-17 at Twickenham.

The boot was on the other foot, however, in the next round.

The French looked unstoppable as they surged to a 15-6 half-time lead over Wales that should have been twice that margin.

Flanker Martin Williams scored two tries within minutes of the restart as the Welsh roared back to win 24-18.

Wales demolished Scotland 46-22 at Murrayfield, having run in five tries in an exhilarating first half.

Ireland were also in the grand slam hunt after they out-fought England 19-13 in Dublin, but their hopes then disappeared when France won 26-19 at Lansdowne Road.

It set up a "Super Saturday" finale with France, Ireland and Wales all in the hunt for the title.

France had to beat Italy by at least 41 points in Rome to have a chance and did it, just, with a late burst of tries in a 56-13 success.

In an amazing atmosphere at Cardiff, Wales sought to beat the men in green for the first time at home since 1983 and first time anywhere in six attempts.

They duly did so, their 32-20 victory sparking monumental celebrations and immediate comparison with the all-conquering Welsh teams of the '70s.

England brought the championship to a close by beating Scotland 43-22 at Twickenham but, for once, theirs was a peripheral role as Wales took the honours.

Reuters

[Burgs]

Finally a word on the French!
Only their match day squad rather than the full train on one but better than nothing:

France squad to face Scotland:

Backs:
J-B Elissalde (Stade Toulousain), D Yachvili (Biarritz), F Michalak (Stade Toulousain), B Boyet (Bourgoin), Y Jauzion (Stade Toulousain), F Fritz (Stade Toulousain), L Valbon (Brive), C Dominici (Stade Francais), C Heymans (Stade Toulousain), N Brusque (Biarritz)

Forwards:
S Bruno (Sale), D Szarzewski (Stade Francais), S Marconnet (Stade Francais), P De Villiers (Stade Francais), O Milloud (Bourgoin), J Thion (Biarritz), F Pelous (Stade Toulousain, Captain), L Nallet (Castres), Y Nyanga (Stade Toulousain), J Bonnaire (Bourgoin), R Martin (Stade Francais), T Lievremont (Biarritz)