Preview: 6N Under-20
Fri, 12 Mar 2010 13:45
The Under-20 Six Nations is wide open. No side is unbeaten since the Irish lowered England's colours and that in England.
England, Wales and Ireland have each won two matches, but the truth is that the six sides are close. Wales and Ireland have been showing well of late.
Fixtures for Round 4
Ireland vs Wales
Scotland vs England
France vs Italy
Results so far
Round 1
England vs Wales, 30-17
Ireland vs Italy, 29-11
Scotland vs France, 8-8
Round 2
England vs Italy, 16-10
France vs Ireland, 20-15
Wales vs Scotland, 20-12
Round 3
Ireland vs England, 25-10
Wales vs France, 43-8
Scotland vs Italy, 18-16
Scotland vs England
Scotland drew with France in their opening match and then beat Italy on Sardinia. They have made just one change as scrumhalf Alex Black and Kris Hamilton drops back to the bench. Hamilton was preferred against Italy for his speed while Black comes in because of his greater strength.
England have brought two new players into their side - centre Andrew Forsyth and wing Marcus Watson, who are both new caps. They are part of seven changes to the team whacked by Ireland at Kingsholm. There are five changes to the back alone, as Rory Clegg comes into flyhalf, Tom Catterick to fullback and Sam Smith onto the wing. In the pack prop Joe Marler and Jamie Gibson onto the flank while lock Calum Green returns. On the bench there are two uncapped players - prop Mako Vunipola and flyhalf Mark Atkinson.
Teams
Scotland: 15 Tom Brown, 14 Oliver Grove, 13 Jonny Kennedy, 12 Alex Dunbar, 11 Dougie Fife, 10 Alex Blair, 9 Alex Black, 8 Stuart McInally (captain), 7 David Denton, 6 Michael Maltman, 5 Robert Harley, 4 Matthew Reid, 3 Colin Phillips, 2 Alun Walker,
1 Nicky Little
Replacements : 16 Lindsey Gibson, 17 George Hunter, 18 Aaron Hall, 19 Callum Stidston-Nott, 20 Kris Hamilton, 21 Matthew Scott, 22 James Johnstone
England: 15 Tom Catterick, 14 Marcus Watson, 13 Andrew Forsyth, 12 Tom Casson, 11 Sam Smith, 10 Rory Clegg, 9 Sam Harrison, 8 Jackson Wray, 7 Jacob Rowan (captain), 6 Jamie Gibson, 5 Charlie Matthews, 4 Calum Green, 3 Joe Marler, 2 Jamie George, 1 Lee Imiolek
Replacements: 16 Arthur Ellis, 17 Mako Vunipola, 18 Danny Wright, 19 Will Welch, 20 Jordi Pasqualin, 21 Mark Atkinson, 22 Jonathan Joseph
Date: Friday 12 March 2010
Kick-off: 19.00
Venue: Firhill, Glasgow
Expected weather conditions: Cold. There is a 20% chance of rain, a westerly wind and a temperature dropping to -1°C .
John Lacey (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Alan Rogan (Ireland), Jude Quinn (Ireland)
Television match official: Marshall Kilgore
(Ireland)
Ireland vs Wales
Delighted at the thrashing dished out to France, coach Phil Davies has still made two changes for the trip across the Irish Sea for what could be a great clash between two in-form sides.
Dan Watchurst comes back from illness for Rhodri Jones, who is injured, and Gareth Davies makes his first start at scrumhalf.
For the first time this year, despite the great win over England, Ireland have changed their team. In come wing Tiernan O'Halloran and prop Stewart Maguire who comes off the bench and into tighthead while Jack O'Connell moves to the other side. There are changes on the bench to with the arrival of Risteard Byrne and Gareth Quinn.
Ireland: 15 Andrew Conway, 14 Darren Hudson, 13 Brendan Macken, 12 Nevin Spence, 11 Tiernan O'Halloran, 10 James McKinney, 9 John Cooney, 8 Patrick Butler, 7 Dominic Ryan, 6 Rhys Ruddock (captain), 5 Ben Marshall, 4 David O'Callaghan, 3
Stewart Maguire, 2 Niall Annett, 1 Jack O'Connell
Replacements: 16 Risteard Byrne, 17 Bryan Cagney, 18 Brian Hayes, 19 Robin O'Sullivan, 20 Michael Heaney, 21 Gareth Quinn, 22 Eoin Griffin
Wales: 15 Dan Fish, 14 James Loxton, 13 Ben John, 12 Scott Williams, 11 Kristian Phillips, 10 Matthew Jarvis, 9 Gareth Davies, 8 Toby Faletau, 7 Morgan Allen, 6 Josh Navidi (captain), 5 Lloyd Peers, 4 McCauley Cook, 3 Simon Gardiner, 2 Rhys Williams, 1 Dan Watchurst
Replacements: 16 Ieuan Davies, 17 Trystan Davies, 18 James Thomas, 19 Rhys Jenkins, 20 Edward Siggery, 21 Rhys Downes, 22 Dean Gunter
Date: Friday, 12 March 2010
Kick-off: 19.35
Venue: Dubarry Park, Athlone
Expected weather conditions: Cold. There is a 20% chance of rain with a temperature dropping to -2°C and a wind from the northwest
Referee: Laurent Cardona (France)
Assistant referees: Cédric Marchat (France),
Laurent Amic (France)
Television match official: Jean-Pierre Pellaprat (France)
Assessor: Bertie Smith (Ireland)
France vs Italy
Italy go just over the Alps for this match, buoyed by running Scotland so close while France's are coming off a thrashing. It could be close.
France have made wholesale changes with a new set of backs and just three survivors in the pack..
Teams
France: 15 Brice Dulin, 14 Lucas Dupont, 13 Rémi Lamerat, 12 Mathieu Lamoulie, 11 Benoit Sicart, 10 Jean-Marc Doussain, 9 Jérémy Gondrand, 8 Gilles Arnaudies, 7 Arthur Roulin, 6 Antoine Erbani, 5 Jean Sousa, 4 Sébastien Mazet, 3 Mathieu Giudicelli, 2 Mickaël Ivaldi (captain), 1 Xavier Chiocci
Replacements: 16 Kevin Le Guen, 17 Gwendal Lamache, 18 Georges Souvent, 19 Hugues Briatte, 20 Guillaume Lafforgue, 21 Gilles Bosch, 22 Julien
Fritz
Italy: 15 Ruggero Trevisan, 14 Venditti, 13 Tommaso Benvenuti, 12 Sebastian Rodwell, 11 Giovanni Alberghini, 10 Tommaso Iannone, 9 Vittorio Callori Di Vignale, 8 Enrico Targa, 7 Stefano Scanferla, 6 Nicola Belardo, 5 Filippo Cazzola, 4 Lorenzo Santelli, 3 Carlo Fazzari, 2 Andrea Manici, 1 Ornel Gega
Replacements: 16 Nicola Corbanese, 17 Maurizio Aluigi, 18 Marco Barbini , 19 Filippo Ferrarini, 20 Alberto Chillon, 21 Guglielmo Palazzani, 22 Alberto Zorzi
Date: Friday, 12 March 2010
Kick-off: 20.45
Venue: Stade des Alpes, Grenoble
Expected weather conditions: Bitterly cold with a 20% chance of snow and a temperature dropping to -5°C
Referee: Andrew McMenemy (Scotland)
Assistant referees: Iain Heard (Scotland), Ronnie Dumma (Scotland)
Television match official: Iain Ramage (Scotland)
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