Rose starts for Oaks
Rose who is now 30 had a promising career in South Africa where, amongst other teams he played for Paul Roos Gymnnasiuum, his school, Stellenbosch University's Maties, Western Province, the golden Lions, South Africa Under-19 and Emerging Springboks. When Chester Williams was coaching in Romania he moved to Timisoara Saracens in Bucharest, who play in the European Challenge Cup, and made his debut for the Oaks in 2015.
There is a lot to play for in the coimpetition over and above national pride. The next two seasons w=ill be determine who will qualify for the World Cup in Japan. Romania, Georgia, Russia and Spain have done so in the past.
Belgium vs Georgia
Newly promoted Belgium have a tough start to the championship. They play against Georgia who have won the championship eight times in the last nine years.
Georgia are frequently touted for possible Six Nations inclusion. In November they beat Samoa 20-16 but lost to Japan 28-22 and Scotland 43-16. The winner of the Championship is likely to come from Geoprgia or Romania.
Teams
Belgium: 15 Nicolas Meeus, 14 Craig Dowsett, 13 Guillaume Piron, 12 Guillaume Brébant, 11 Charles Reynaert, 10 Kevin Williams (captain), 9 Julien Berger, 8 Thomas De Molder, 7 Baptiste Lescarboura, 6 Paul-Edouard Van Laer, 5 Thomas Vervoort, 4 Brieuc Corradi, 3 Clercq De Clercq, 2 Thomas Dienst, 1 Lucas Sotteau
Replacements: 16 Max Dubois, 17 Christophe Debaty, 18 Sep De Backer, 19 Bertrand Billi, 20 Gillian Benoy, 21 Nathan Bontems, 22 Alan Williams, 23 Tom Cocqu
Georgia: 15 Merab Kvirkashvili, 14 Giorgi Pruidze, 13 Giorgi Koshadze, 12 Merab Sharikadze (captain), 11 Alexander Todua, 10 Lasha Khmaladze, 9 Giorgi Begadze, 8 Beka Gorgadze, 7 Giorgi Tkhilaishvili, 6 Lasha Lomidze, 5 Nodar Cheishvili, 4 Giorgi Nemasdze, 3 Giorgi Melikidze, 2 Badri Alkhazashvili, 1 Giorgi Tetrastili
Replacements: 16 Giorgi Chkoidze, 17 Tornike Mataradze, 18 Soso Bekoshvili, 19 Otarie Giorgadze, 20 Giorgi Tsutskiridze, 21 Vazha Khutsishvili, 22 Lasha Malaguradze, 23 Beka Tsiklauri
Coach: Milton Haig
Date: Saturday, 11 February 2017
Kick-off: 15.00
Venue: King Baudouin Stadium, Brussels
expected weather: rain with a high of 5°C and a low of -1°C
Referee: Ben Whitehouse (Wales)
Assistant referees: Sean Brickell (Wales), Stuart Kibble (Wales)
Germany vs Romania
There are several South Africans in this match – Jody Rose and Johan van Heerden for Romania and captain Michael Poppmeier, Marcel Coetzee, Raynor Parkinson, who is Germany's main source of points, the loose trio of Jarrid Els, Sebastian Ferreira and Jacobus Otto and hooker Dasch Barber who played for False Bay in the final of the club championship last year. There are others in the team who were not born in Germany.
Romania in November beat Canada 21-16, the USA 23-10 and Uruguay 36-10. They play Germany who also beat Uruguay, 24-21.
Teams
Germany: 15 Harris Aounallah, 14 Steffen Liebig, 13 Clemens Von Grumblow, 12 Carlos Soteras-Merz, 11 Marcel Coetzee, 10 Raynor Parkinson, 9 Tim Menzel, 8 Jarrid Els, 7 Sebastian Ferreira, 6 Jacobus Otto, 5 Michael Poppmeier (captain), 4 Eric Marks, 3 Damien Tussac, 2 Michail Tymenev, 1 Julius Nostadt
Replacements: 16 Dasch Barber, 17 Jorn Schröder, 18 Samy Fuchsel, 19 Timo Vollenkemper, 20 Kchoma Brenner, 21 Christopher Hilsenbeck, 22 Sean Amstrong, 23 Jamie Murphy
Coaches: Kobus Potgieter, Pieter Jordaan
Romania: 15 Catalin Fercu, 14 Ionut Dumitru, 13 Jack Umaga, 12 Florin Viaicu, 11 Stephen Shennan, 10 Jody Rose, 9 Florin Surugiu, 8 Andrei Gorcioaia, 7 Vlad Nistor, 6 Viorel Lucaci, 5 Johan van Heerden, 4 Valentin Poparlan, 3 Andrei Ursache, 2 Omar Turashvili, 1 Mihaita Iazar (captain)
Replacements: 16 Marian Capatina, 17 Constantin Pristavita, 18 Alexandru Tarus, 19 Ionut Muresan, 20 Dorin Iazar, 21 Valentin Calafeteanu, 22 Madalin Lemnaru, 23 Luke Samoa
Coach: Lynn Howells
Date: Saturday, 11 February 2017
Kick-off: 15.00
Venue: Sparda-Bank-Hessen-Stadion, Offenbach
Exopected weather: Clear with a high of 8°C, dropping to -2°C
Referee: Maxime Chalon (France)
Assistant referees: Mathieu Delpy (France), Alexandre Vallon (France)
Spain vs Russia
The match in Madrid between Spain and Russia could be the closest of the three in Round 1. Spain beat Uruguay 33-16 and lost to Tonga 28-13. Russia played the Nations Cup in Hong Kong and beat Hong Kong, Papua New Guinea and Zimbabwe. They beat the Sables 19-15, which may bring their strength into perspective.
Teams
Spain: 15 Bradley Linkdater, 14 Sebastien Ascarat, 13 Fabien Perrin, 12 Daniel Snee, 11 Jordi Jorba, 10 Mathieu Belié, 9 Guillaume Rouet, 8 Jaime Nava De Olano (captain), 7 Gautier Fontana, 6 Pierre Barthere, 5 David Howarth, 4 Ignacio Martín, 3 Jesus Rodriguez, 2 Benat Auzqui, 1 Fernando Lopez Perez
Replacements: 16 Francisco Alonso, 17 Unia Arratibel, 18 Jonathan García, 19 Anibal Bonan, 20 Victor Borrego, 21 Sébastien Rouet, 22 Thibaut Alvarez, 23 Javier Llorens
Coach: Santiago Santos
Russia: 15 Ramil Gaisin, 14 Vasily Artemyev (captain), 13 Dmitry Gerasimov, 12 Sergei Trishin, 11 Igor Galinovskiy, 10 Yuri Kushnarev, 9 Alexei Shcherban, 8 Anton Rudoi, 7 Pavel Butenko, 6 Victor Gresev, 5 Evgeny Elgin, 4 Andrei Garbuzov, 3 Azamat Bitiev, 2 Valery Tsnobiladze, 1 Andrei Polivalov
Replacements: 16 Nazir Gasanov, 17 Vladimir Podresov, 18 Evgeni Pronenko, 19 Dimitri Krotov, 20 Tagir Gadzhiev, 21 Anton Riabov, 22 Sergei Sugrobov, 23 Igor Kurashov
Date: Saturday, 11 February 2017
Kick-off: 16.00
Venue: Estádio Nacional Universidad Complutense, Madrid
Expected weather: Rain with a high of 9°C and a low of 6°C
Referee: Dudley Phillips (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Nigel Correll (Ireland), Richard Kerr (Ireland)
