With Six Nations on the horizon, OvallyBalls operatives have been sharpening their pencils (and their rapier-like wits).
Enzo’s Ireland squad
I’ll make tough choices and keep it to a lean-ish 36/37. However, I will do honourable mentions. The players will be in order from best to rest, where applicable. I’ll explain otherwise.
LHP: Healy, Kilcoyne, McGrath – JMcG has found a bit of form although the first two are miles ahead. Nods to Buckley and Eric O’Sullivan.
HK: Kelleher, Herring, Scannell – fuck it, chuck the kid in, he looks fantastic. Failing that it has to be Herring over Scannell.
THP: Furlong, Porter, O’Toole – first two miles ahead, pick themselves. O’Toole is not the third best THP in Ireland, John Ryan and Marty Moore are both better and, if it comes to starting a big game, they should leapfrog TO’T. But he has huge potential and should be in the group.
SR: Ryan, Henderson, Beirne, Kleyn – first two a good bit ahead. Beirne’s form has dipped a bit. Big Dev and Dillane and Roux are all fine but none have form that’s compelling enough to get rid of Kleyn, who has been good and put in one awesome performance against Sarries, which is hard to ignore. Still shouldn’t necessarily play, however.
BR: van der Flier, Doris, Stander, Ruddock, Connors, Deegan, O’Donoghue – no POM, he’s been shit for a year, everyone talks about his leadership so it’s time to have a word with himself and find some form. No room for sentiment. He’s not even next man in, Sean Reidy is the unluckiest guy to not make Enzo’s definitive group. First three would be my starters. Doris has to play.
SH: Cooney, Murray, Blade – self explanatory.
OH: Sexton, Ross Byrne, Burns – JS is still our best ten by miles, until Harry Byrne takes the shirt off him. Carbery would be ahead of Burns (definitely) and Byrne (probably? maybe? maybe not, actually) if fit. I’m as surprised as anyone to be pencilling in Billy Burns and, if Carty wasn’t playing like shit and Hanrahan was a bit more fit, I’d probably not have him.
CT: Ringrose, McCloskey, Henshaw, Aki – Chris Farrell and Luke Marshall are the unluckiest, maybe Tom Farrell too (injuries took away any chance he had). Ringrose is our best centre and my issue with him is that someone needs to tell him the expectation is that he’ll be the best in the world, or thereabouts, for the next few years so time to start playing like it. Given his form since the WC, maybe that conversation took place. McCloskey has been awesome for Ulster and, given we lack a massive carrier in the pick, I think should take the shirt. Henshaw however has been playing well. Aki is Aki, nearly always fit (an underrated quality) and solid.
B3: Stockdale, Larmour, Conway, Lowe, Addison – no Earls is the big news but he’s 32 and even if he wasn’t I’d not have him ahead of these guys. They all play wing and at least four play full back but, IMO, it’s Larmour at 15 with Addison behind him, while Stockdale and Conway are on the wings, although Lowe has to get some time there too.
Chimpie’s Scotland squad
LH: Dell? Bhatti? Sutherland? Our options here are un-good, none of whom are really first picks anywhere. would include Reid but he’s languishing in super-6 land. Need Kebble to qualify pronto.
Hooker: Brown, McInally, Turner. In that order currently although Rambo & Brown are pretty much interchangeable.
TH: Z-Fags, Nel, Bergs. zander has been on good form of late. Wullie can still scrum but otherwise looks a little off the pace.
Lock: Gray (smaller), Cummins, Gilchrist & Toolis. Skinner may be back up to speed soon in which case I’d have him in, no real idea what larger Gray is up to. if on form I’d include him.
Back row: Bradbury, Ritchie, Watson, M-Fags, Thomson. I’m sure Toonie will add Wilson. I’d have Crosbie in there too.
SH: Price, Horne, errr….. Pyrgos? Not much else in the cupboard really. SHC is odd-jobbing in France. Shiel looks good but hasn’t had may pro starts. Glasgow appear to have unearthed a fetus of potentially great talent but bit early to tell.
FH: Finn, Hastings. Behind that the cupboard is somewhat bare. I’d give Weir a chance, but others seem to think Horne is a 10. Yes he can do a brief job there but he’s not an international 10.
Centre. Jones, Scott, Hutchinson, Taylor, Johnson, Bennett, Harris all in the mix, could be a contentious area. They’re all regular starters, difficult to know who to leave out. would personally cut to Jones, Scott, Hutch & Taylor but who knows. Horne will probably make it.
Back 3: Hogg, Graham, Maitland, Kinghorn, McGuigan
Yosoy’s Wales squad
LH: Wyn Jones, Carré, Evans – Smith sucks so doesn’t make the cut, Carré can’t get a game, Evans is miles off last year’s form and Wyn Jones is serviceable. Overall rating: weak
Hooker: Ken, Dee, Elias – fine. Overall rating: tidy
TH: Dillz, Brown, WillGriff John – Guess work here as WG John is getting talked up and I only remember him as a powder puff scrummager that was Scott Andrews-lite. Dillz has played once since the RWC, Fatty Francis is too fat to play (injured, truthfully) and Brown is an awful technician in the tight. Overall rating: piss weak
Locks: President Jones, Beard, Ball, BAILLCH (British and Irish Lions Legend Cory Hill) – fine, same bunch as last year. Overall rating: half-tidy
Back row: Taulupe, Wainwright, Tipuric, Navidi, Shingler, Moriarty, Griffiths – Pivac is picking Shingler whether Iksy likes it or not. The starters should be Taulupe, Wainwright + 1. If they’re going to pick an 8th ‘rower, then pick Basham who’s a proper hard twonk. Griffiths makes Warburton look durable but Pivac was talking him up so…. overall rating: better than 10 Superbowls. Better than 19 Superbowls if Ellis comes back okay next season
SH: Tomos, Davies, G & whoever. Don’t care. Pick Tomos and sit back. overall rating: tidy
The Tenz: Everyone loves Dan Biggar, Jarrod, Sam Davies – not great. Can’t really play Turkball with Biggar, can’t trust Jarrod. overall rating: worrying
Centrez: Parkesy and whoever else is standing. Probably Scott Williams, Watkin will make some of the 6N. Too early for Benny T. Tyler Morgan looks done, wouldn’t surprise me to see Adams play 13 v Italy. overall rating: let’s not talk about it
Wingz: Adams, North, Lane Train, McTurkle, Amos Exprezz – overall rating: choo choo
FB: Halfpenny, Liam might be fit? – overall rating: good to tidy
MisterIks begs to differ in some respects.
Further reading
Chimpie’s synopsis of the Pro-Woo standings
Yosoy on Alun Wyn Jones and the woeful state of the Ospreys
Tichtheid on the Scottish looseheid predicament
On the telly this week
Friday 10th January
| Bath 19 – 25 Harlequins | 19:45 | BT Sport 2 |
| La Rochelle 30 – 23 Sale | 19:45 | BT Sport 3 |
Saturday 11th January
| Bordeaux 32 – 17 Edinburgh | 12:45 | epcrugby.com |
| Ospreys 15 – 22 Saracens | 13:00 | Channel 4 / BT Sport 2 |
| Clermont 29 – 13 Ulster | 13:00 | BT Sport 3 |
| Calvisano 19 – 47 Pau | 13:30 | epcrugby.com |
| Castres 42 – 14 Dragons | 14:00 | epcrugby.com |
| Agen 24 – 52 Wasps | 14:00 | epcrugby.com |
| Stade Français-24 – 29 Zebre | 14:00 | epcrugby.com |
| Worcester 66 – 10 Enisei-STM | 15:00 | epcrugby.com |
| Bristol 52 – 3 Brive | 15:00 | epcrugby.com |
| Glasgow 31 – 31 Exeter | 15:15 | BT Sport 2 |
| Connacht 7 – 21 Toulouse | 15:15 | BT Sport 3 |
| Bayonne 27 – 10 London Irish | 16:00 | epcrugby.com |
| Gloucester 29 – 6 Montpellier | 17:30 | BT Sport 2 |
| Scarlets 15 – 27 Toulon | 20:00 | S4C / BT Sport 2 |
Sunday 12th January
| Northampton 33 – 20 Treviso | 13:00 | BT Sport 2 |
| Leinster 42 – 14 Lyon | 13:00 | BT Sport 3 |
| Racing 92 39 – 22 Munster | 15:15 | BT Sport 2 |
| Leicester 30 – 20 Cardiff | 15:15 | epcrugby.com |
Ovally Balls 
2nd drop for Ford, he’s been superb.
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And that’s that. Vakatawa busts through out wide to seal it.
Pretty good effort from Munster but we’re not quite there. Too many mistakes which killed good field position.
Well played Racing.
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14 March for the 6N matches. You’ve given me the shudders if it coincides with SP day as our table is in an Irish pub!
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30-20 full time. Moments of quality from the better players but so many mistakes. The gulf in outside half talent was enormous.
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It’s the Wednesday after. I’m flying to Fft on the Tuesday.
Not sure I’m going to get the extension but I’ll check (just had to pay for an Easter trip to Palm Springs)
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I did my best to organise it while you were in Frankfurt Piper!
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Leinster 24
Toulouse 22
Exeter 22
Racing 21
Clermont 20
Ulster 17
Gloucester 14
Northampton 14
Glasgow 12//La Rochelle 10
Saracens 14/Munster 11
Gloucester go to Toulouse so I think they’ll miss out. Northampton have to go to Lyon, think they’ll win so Glasgow need a 5-pointer at Sale and hope that Racing can do some damage in North London. Munster can sneak through as they’ll almost certainly get to 16.
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Good news, Iksy. I reckon that the Dragons are going to fly the flag into the last 8 of the Challenge Cup.
Edinburgh should make it as well but then will get Toulon or Bourdeaux away.
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Might have put the hex on the Blues as when I tuned in. Try ruled out in the corner, 2 players go off with injuries, then Leicester finding some gaping defensive holes to run in 2 long range tries.
I was surprised Tovey went for the posts at 17-14 rather than for the corner or scrum.
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TomP, already have a free evening booked for our epic encounter with Enisei SM next Friday. If we win I thought Worcs could still pip us, but hopefully not.
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In a pub and some random women came and commented that our kids were ‘really lovely and well behaved’.
And then asked ‘are they Irish? They look Irish’.
Weird. They look nothing like POC.
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@Piperboy
……Palm Springs in Spring used to be a favorite destination for Mrs Slade and I in the years after 9/11.
Fly to San Diego for cocktails and relax the to the Springs for Desert Walking, Mountain Walking (in the snow) Golf, cocktails and poolside.
Best time of the year to go…………………………
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Perhaps they look like Keith Earls, craigs.
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Iks, Castres are on 18 so you’re pretty much certain to finish second in the group. You’ll come first if Worcester win with 5 against Castres I think. You and Worcester end up on 20 points each. Shared the match points 5-5 (1-5 at Worcester and 4-0 at Rodney Parade) and you’re 53-50 up against Worcester in the games between the two of you.
Wales’s finest.
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Tamp – maybe. Definitely closer in height. But they’d stuff him in the 40m sprint times.
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All Welsh final in the
Challenge CupBDO darts. Wayne Warren has got Treherbert RFC on his shirt.LikeLike
“Treherbert RFC”
I want whoever he’s playing to win.
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What a game in Paris! The score certainly flatters Racing as Munster gave it all. The game was quite close until the 70th minute. Some outrageous skills too ( that pass from Iribaren for the first try, Teddy Thomas’s rounding of the second, the great interception by Conway etc etc.. etc…).
Racing’s probably the best chance for French clubs.
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Here is that pass. Glorious.
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That pass was so outrageous even Finn wouldn’t have tried it.
Maybe…..
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Iribaren knew he was playing advantage as he told the journo later. He added that this is a thing they often try for fun during training, but still…
Teddy Thomas’s grounding was also stupendous.
And so was the ball retention, from both sides, despite constant contests at the breakdown. Those two packs are something.
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Well that pass will send me to bed happy.
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Scotland internationalist Josh Strauss has joined the mighty Bulls. He gave an interview after the warm-up game v Tukkies (University of Pretoria) on Saturday. That stadium is where I watched my first game of rugby in SA.
He’s already picked up a twang:
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Also, a rumour that the Cheetahs very good hooker Joseph Dweba might be off to Bourdeaux.
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Tam, L’Equipe are reporting Dweba’s move as a done deal, he is to replace Adrien Pélissié who leaving Bordeaux to go to Clermont.
Dweba is an excellent player.
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We need to get Dweba capped pronto. He’s bloody good. Bongi Mbonambi will be 33 or so at the next World Cup, so probably just about out to pasture, whilst Marx and Dweba will be at their peak – 29 and 28 respectively. Schalk Brits will be 41, but I wouldn’t bet against him making an appearance!
Dweba is also a solid Lions lad, even if we did let him slip through the net and end up at the Cheetahs.
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Born in the spa town of Carletonville I note. A must for any visitors to the Greater Johannesburg area.
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I hear James Hook is going to be going well down in retirement next season.
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probably more Irish speakers (we don’t call it Gaelic – except in Irish where it’s called “Gaeilge”) in Dublin than anywhere else due to sheer numbers of people. 1.5 to 2 million people in the Dublin area (if we include suburbs and general urban sprawl into neighbouring counties) so Dublin’s got most Irish speakers just based on that
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Born in the spa town of Carletonville I note. A must for any visitors to the Greater Johannesburg area.
Schooled in the leafy and genteel environs of Roodepoort. Better known for mining, industry. thuggish bike gangs and even worse evangelists.
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The Afrikaans speakers vastly outnumber the Gaelic speakers at Edinburgh rugby
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I’d love to be in a bike gang.
Haven’t got a bike, mind.
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Not even a push bike? I’m sure that would be fine.
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Or pedal bike even.
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I’m assuming yosoy has moved on from a balance bike
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Not sure you can join a bike gang on a balance bike.
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The bike itself isn’t important. It’s all about the leather waistcoats with our gang insignia on it.
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This better be like the Famous Five but this time it’s Hooky, Shane, BIG MIKE and a couple of other larrikins.
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McGeechan in the Telegraph:
Someone go tell the biker gang to put their kicking boots on.
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@yosoy
Clive Woodward tried that once with Iestyn Harris. Apparently young Iestyn turned him down on the grounds that “he felt Welsh”.
I suppose growing up in Shaw is a bit like growing up in Newport.
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Everyone should have to grow up in Newport.
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Ceccerelli is in the Italian squad for the 6N. He has been playing well.
It stretches Embra’s squad to breaking point, we only have four tightheads on the books full time and three of them will be in the 6N
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Is it just me who really doesn’t like squads listed alphabetically? Might as well do it in shoe size, largest to smallest.
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Leo Varadkar’s press office just tweeted a picture of him meeting Boris Johnson. Someone posted this in response:
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Ah!………….ASDA, the beating heart of Shaw.
My ancestors on mothers side were from Shaw……………………………….
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@slade
Growing up I looked down on people from Shaw. I mean I literally looked down on them – I lived on the hill next door.
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Are the Stormers really going to sign Jamie Roberts?
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Happy birthday to me:
https://www.premiershiprugby.com/news/louis-rees-zammit-extends-his-contract-at-gloucester-rugby
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Happy birthday, Beadle!
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Too scared to click that link in case it has Eddie, McGeechan or some other talent thief standing over the best player in the world.
Also, penblwydd hapus, beadle mun
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