Hopefully it won’t be, but Martin Johnson’s England selection doesn’t inspire a great deal of confidence. Where are the game-breakers? Who would you back to set the game on fire with a dazzling run, or a huge carry? It’s a conservative selection, and that’s probably the style with which England will approach the game.

The players have looked bereft of ideas in attack, and I imagine the name of the game will be not to lose the ball, with phase after phase of slow-paced mini-rucks, endless side to side passing with no penetration, and then the odd box kick when there are no holes opening up.

I can’t find any inspiration in the pack, and less so with Lewis Moody on the bench. Out wide, we have a group of players that could be half-decent, but they are mostly off-form and a disappointment. The bench is more exciting, but it seems wrong to hope for some early injuries and the injection of life through Ben Foden, Ben Youngs and Courtney Lawes.

Scotland aren’t hugely exciting either. They are staring at the Wooden Spoon, and a defeat at Murrayfield would leave them with a record of Played 4 Lost 4, which is not what Andy Robinson had in mind after they beat Australia in the autumn.

Again, there don’t seem to be too many players that could light up the game, although Nick De Luca’s return to the international setup could be interesting. Whilst the back row has been industrious and fairly effective, the backs have lacked the cutting edge to make use of possession.

If England play how I expect them to, they won’t get a huge amount of ball, and whereas Ireland took their chances whenever they arose, I wouldn’t back the Scots to be so ruthless in their finishing and I’m backing England to be marginally better.

I hope it’s not a dour affair, and I hope that both sides play with ambition. A defeat would not be great for either side, but they’ll do themselves a huge favour if they look to run with the ball, rather than stick to a defensive mindset – even if they do lose.

My SportGuru prediction is England by 11.

Even in these rigid, practical days of professionalism there is room for nostalgia, passion, emotion and tribalism. This, after all, is the only individual game in the tournament which has a trophy at stake. Sport is at its best when something of meaning is being played for and the Calcutta Cup certainly still means something.

Arguably this is more the case for the Scottish than the English. England are used to being targeted, to teams aiming to raise their game for that specific fixture. This is not the self-centred arrogance of a Little Englander; it often seems that the main rivalry between France, Ireland, Wales and Scotland is over who wants to beat England the most.

With all due respect to the others, the Scottish edge this particular battle. There is little malice in this these days (I think, although I am not so sure that applies on Calcutta Cup day), just a desire to stick one on the old enemy, to secure gloating rights for the next 12 months. Whatever the historical context, however much the spirits of Bannockburn and Culloden are summoned by the respective sides, there is a clear awareness that it is just a game. But even in these professional times when matters are viewed in a more measured and dispassionate way, this fixture raises the hairs just that little bit more, especially among the Scots.

20 years ago, when I first started following rugby closely, Scotland and France were the big games for the English with Wales and Ireland in an annual battle for the wooden spoon at the time. The Scotland game was always huge; the passion and sheer will to win cascading down on to the Murrayfield pitch from the stands was almost impossible to comprehend. In my mind, Scotland v England games were the only occasions when Bill McLaren’s famous neutrality slipped somewhat, although with hindsight it is more likely that the bias lay with me rather than the great men.

The 1990 Grand Slam match is known about by even the most casual rugby supporters but do not forget the draw in 1989 when Rob Andrew could have won it with the final kick of the game, or the World Cup semi final which England won 9-6 after Gavin Hastings had missed a penalty from in front of the sticks. In later years there was the classic 33-30 victory for England in 1999, a game in which they shared 6 tries and Gregor Townsend lit up Twickenham with his running; and 2000 when winless Scotland denied England a Grand Slam.

Things have been rather more low key in recent years as Scotland in particular have struggled. The 2000 triumph was their only success in the 16 years between 1990 and 2006 but that has made any victory all the sweeter. I was at Murrayfield in 2008, the match which secured the fate of Brian Ashton. It was a truly diabolical game of rugby but, after a 15-9 victory, if there was a Scotsman in Edinburgh who even remotely gave a stuff about that he kept himself scarce. The celebrations were as whole-hearted as they were long.

Perhaps herein lies something of a problem for Scotland. As the mighty Jim Telfer recently observed, for as long as they measure themselves purely against England, they will struggle to progress on the bigger stage. In both 2000 and 2008 they lost their other four fixtures but you would not have known it. The victory against England was all that was spoken about and was enough to save the job of the coach at the time. They go into this game with only 2 victories in their past 17 Six Nations games dating back to 2007. They achieved a solitary victory in each of the last 3 campaigns and are yet to post one this time. A victory on Saturday cannot be allowed to disguise the fact that this is a truly diabolical record for a proud rugby nation. Beating England will not change where Scotland are on the world stage, which is nowhere.

But England themselves are not exactly tearing up trees. The borderline desperation which the two teams will bring to the match is what will make it fascinating. If you are looking for fast-flowing, skilful try-packed action, I suggest you set your alarm to get up and watch the Super 14 in the morning and perhaps go for late afternoon stroll around 5pm. But if you want tense, passionate rugby, rugby which really matters in which 2 sides will be laid bare before you and after which one team will see light at the end of the tunnel, the other only darkness, then I’d suggest that in front of a television is the only place to be at teatime tomorrow.

By Stuart Peel

Whilst we may not have seen huge amounts of it this season, both of these sides ought to keep the ball in hand and look to run with the ball. There is quality on both sides in nearly every department, and on paper, they are very evenly matched.

Lee Byrne hit the nail on the head when we spoke to him earlier this week – ‘the start is where we’ve been going wrong’. It’s surely only a matter of time in this competition before Wales bring out their instinctive, attacking rugby for 80 minutes and cause their opposition real problems.

The pressure should be off now that any thoughts they had of winning the tournament have gone, and they’ll be underdogs going to Dublin to face last year’s Champions. I have a feeling they’ll throw everything at the game and that an upset could be on the cards.

However, I’m still leaning towards the Irish. I think they’ll have the edge up front, and I’m a massive fan of the back row – Stephen Ferris is one of the best players in the world, and David Wallace and Jamie Heaslip aren’t too bad either. They frustrated England a fortnight ago, and they’ll do the same to Wales on Saturday, whose back row has looked a little out of sorts.

Ireland will also find an extra 10% of effort for their heroic captain on his 100th cap to make sure he has a game to remember. My fingers are crossed for a pulsating game with a few tries apiece, as well as a home win.

My SportGuru prediction is Ireland by 9.

Since then, we’ve had a few more offers of prizes – including several books, more tickets and free Paintball passes – and the raffle tickets have been selling. A big thank you to everyone that has already entered!

The first draw takes place on 1st April, and if you buy a ticket now (just £2!), you’ll have one entry into all three draws.

The link is http://www.justgiving.com/rugbyraffle2010 – a donation of just £2 would be hugely appreciated, and you could win some great prizes!

DRAW DATES

Draw 1 – April 1st 2010
Draw 2 – May 1st 2010
Draw 3 – June 1st 2010

PRIZES

Draw 1 (April 1st)

- Pair of state of the art Puma v1.10 rugby boots as worn by Jamie Heaslip and Shane Williams, donated by Puma
- Signed copy of Rugby Tales by Lawrence Dallaglio, donated by The Rugby Blog
- Replica Ireland jersey, donated by Puma
- 2 tickets to a Harelquins game of your choice at The Stoop, donated by viagogo
- Copy of Virtua Tennis for Playstation 3, donated by Sega
- Copy of ‘Rugby Union: The Men Who Make The Game’, donated by Book Guild Publishing

Draw 2 (May 1st)

- Rugby ball signed by England and Lions hero, Jason Leonard
- 12-month FREE subscription to Rugby World
- £50 shopping voucher for online store Kitbag
- 2 Tickets to Rugby Rocks 7s – the ultimate rugby and music festival in London on June 12th
- Your choice of T-shirt from rugby fashion-wear brand Front Up
- Blackheath RFC match ball, signed by the Barbarians Squad in 2008, donated by Blackheath RFC
- Copy of ‘Rugby Union: The Men Who Make The Game’, donated by Book Guild Publishing
- 2 VIP tickets to the 2010 Bournemouth Sevens, 28th – 30th May 2010
- Others TBC – keep an eye on the page for details!

Draw 3 (June 1st)

- Leicester Tigers shirt signed by the squad, donated by SportGuru
- Replica match ball signed by the Sale Sharks squad, donated by Gilbert
- Barbarians rugby jersey, signed by the 2008 squad
- 2 Tickets to Rugby Rocks 7s – the ultimate rugby and music festival in London on June 12th
- Copy of Football Manager for Playstation 3, donated by Sega – just in time for the World Cup!
- Tag Rugby cap signed by England international, Paul Grayson
- England supporters shirt, signed by England Women’s Captain, Catherine Spencer
- Copy of ‘Rugby Union: The Men Who Make The Game’, donated by Book Guild Publishing
- Others TBC – keep an eye on the page for details!

The two teams, Aironi Rugby and Benetton Treviso, will comprise of players from full Italian internationals down to the U20 squad, as well as some overseas players to add a bit of bite to them.

This can only be a hugely positive step forward for Italy. If you look at the current Italian domestic league, you’ll find that the majority of players are part-time rugby players and have 9 to 5 jobs to contend with. With some of these players competing against guys that spend their lives in the gym and on the practice pitch, it’s astonishing that Italy are at all competitive in the Six Nations. Now, however, this development will allow the top players in Italy to improve on their rugby and compete against some of the best in the world on a more even field.

The Italian national team has enjoyed limited success in the Six Nations since they joined in 2000, with the majority of their wins coming against Scotland over the years. This will surely change though as their Magners League teams will be playing rugby at a standard which will boost confidence and ability and a winning attitude.

Having been to watch the Italians play in Rome in the Six Nations I’ve seen just how important the rugby is to them and their fans who turn out in huge numbers to watch, despite their side enjoying only limited success. They have one of the most eccentric fan bases and for them to start seeing massive improvements in their team would be phenomenal for the nation as a whole. The atmosphere at the Stadio Flaminio is always enjoyable, and I would have loved to have been at the sold-out San Siro to see them take on the All Blacks. Imagine the noise if and when the Azzurri start winning regularly.

I think Giancarlo Dondi, President of Federazione Italiana Rugby summed it up when he said “I am sure that the Magners League will bring benefits to all Italian rugby and will have a positive impact on the competitiveness of our national team’’

After a season or two, I believe the next step for these teams is to recruit top Italian players who are playing elsewhere in Europe. If they can entice the likes of Sergio Parisse and Martin Castrogiovanni back to playing for the Italian clubs, this would not only add valuable experience to the rest of the team but it would show the rest of Italy that they can keep home grown talent within their ranks rather than letting them jet off to other clubs around the globe.

This task will obviously be much easier if they enjoy success in the Magners League, so it will be fascinating to see how they fare next year. I for one am looking forward to seeing what this extra competitiveness will bring, not just for Italian rugby but for rugby as a whole.

By Sam Fitch

The French team seems the most obvious place to start, with their fixture at home to Italy the most clear cut in terms of which side will win – it’s worth putting the maximum four French players in the side to benefit from the ‘winning team’ points.

No team has yet been able to cut loose against the Italians, so it may not be a try-fest, but I’d still want some French backs in my team. Mathieu Bastereaud has been demoted to the bench for this weekend’s game, so we need to look elsewhere – his replacement David Marty could be a good option with a point to prove after all the over-rated hype about Bastereaud. His centre partner Yanick Jauzion has also been looking promising, and is a favourite with the BBC commentators who usually go for an obvious Man of the Match.

Clement Poitrenaud is also worth a look, and he’s been in great form at full-back looking to run the ball back more often than kicking. If Italy continue with their tactics of kicking deep, Poitrenaud may be able to counter-attack and score some valuable points for your Dream Team.

I’d also pick Morgan Parra as the kicker, just in case France do run up a big score and he’s knocking over conversions all afternoon; and Imanol Harinordoquy is another player in fine form and he’s usually a good candidate for the MoM award as well.

I’ve got a feeling that Scotland v England will be a low-scoring affair, so I’d look at the Ireland v Wales game for more players that could earn you try-scoring points – particularly if Wales remember to play for 80 minutes and it turns into an exciting exhibition of running rugby.

Jonny Sexton is worth considering as your fly-half – he should be better at home than he was at Twickenham, and offers another choice for kicker if you pick Parra. Tommy Bowe has been in try-scoring form, whilst Brian O’Driscoll is another MoM magnet, and a sentimental award on his 100th cap is certainly not out of the question. I would also pick one of the Irish back row, which is one of Ireland’s key strengths – Stephen Ferris or Jamie Heaslip appear to be the best options, since David Wallace has been suffering from a slight dip in form lately.

For Wales, Shane Williams is hard to ignore, although Leigh Halfpenny has also been scoring tries on the other wing – it’s a 50/50 call as to which one you go for, but one of the two is essential. Depending on your other selections from France and Ireland, James Hook could be a good option in the centres, and I’ve got a feeling he and Jamie Roberts will be determined to prove a few people wrong.

Once you’ve filled your quota from these three teams, I’d then fill up the remaining places with English and Scottish players. Dan Cole, James Haskell, Euan Murray, Johnnie Beattie and John Barclay are potential MoM candidates in what will probably be a forward dominated game, but I wouldn’t expect big Fantasy returns from this one.

Let us know what changes you might be making this week, and let’s see if we can help Tom claim the top prize!

Turn up they most certainly have in the tournament to date. Granted they have only turned up for half a game at a time but it has been more than enough to see off Scotland, Ireland and Wales. From the moment Marc Lievremont announced his side for the opening game, the intent to play a direct, abrasive, physical game has been clear. This, allied to the traditional pace, skill and flair which the French cannot help but bring when their tails are up, has produced a level of performance with which their rivals have been unable to live.

Their success, as with many of the most successful teams in the modern era, has been built upon a largely impenetrable defence. Their stifling, smothering blitz defence has squeezed the life out of attack after attack, often some yards back from their origin. Wales’s much-vaunted blitz defence was made to look pedestrian when compared to its French counterpart. Dave Ellis, the France defence coach who hails from similar rugby league stock to Shaun Edwards, must take a great deal of credit, not least because the central element to a successful defensive structure is discipline, something not always readily associated with France.

The habit of taking the foot off the pedal when the game is all but won has meant that the scorelines do not fully record their dominance. A more telling statistic is that they have won the first half of the 3 games by a cumulative margin of 52-9 and six tries to nil. It is hard to argue with that.

Only then have they let up. French supporters must be frustrated by their lack of ruthlessness in the second half of matches but they can have no qualms about the way their side has played in the key passages. The only occasion on which they have been under any real pressure was when a resurgent Wales closed to within a score. But, even with a man in the sin bin, they reasserted their dominance with the minimum of fuss, systematically and efficiently crushing Welsh hopes as soon as they had surfaced. Systematic and efficient – not words you generally apply to the French rugby team but one which certainly applies to this vintage.

There is little sense though that the current success is the fruition of a grand plan, the continuation of a narrative of gradual improvement with the aim of peaking at the World Cup. Marc Lievremont’s selection policy over the past couple of years has been unpredictable at best, downright schizophrenic at worst. If you are a French player playing in the Top 14 and have not been selected for the national team under Lievremont then you are in something of a minority and might as well give up.

This inconsistency of selection has manifested itself in their performances during this period. In the summer they defeated New Zealand in the first test at Carisbrook and only narrowly lost the second test. They followed that with a meek surrender to the Wallabies and in the autumn they followed a decent win against the Springboks with an abject 12-39 surrender to the same All Blacks they had troubled so much in the summer.

Impressive though they have been in the championship, their current form may stem as much from accident as design such has been the haphazard, trial and error approach of the Lievremont regime. Players such as Maxime Medard and Cedric Heymans, so central to the summer success, have been discarded and who is to say that the current players will not suffer the same fate when the next round of internationals arrives.

But there is evidence that, again whether by accident or design, Lievremont has finally settled on a set of core players.

The perennial French problem position of fly half has been filled for the majority of the last year by Francois Trinh-Duc and, while some may have their reservations, he has grown into the role. France have always had a surplus of outstanding scrum halves and currently boast Morgan Parra, Julien Dupuy, Jean-Baptiste Elissalde, Dimitri Yachvili and Frederic Michalak, quite an embarrassment of riches. With Imanol Harinordiquy outstanding at 8 and both William Servat and Dimitri Szarzewski accomplished at hooker, the spine of the team is in good shape. Graft on to that the impact of Mathieu Bastereaud, the mercurial skills of Clement Poitrenaud and the solidity of Yannick Jauzion, not to mention the ferocity and technical excellence of a front row who have decimated all-comers this year, and you have the makings of quite some outfit.

But nobody should get carried away just yet. Although they may have been forced into it by the French themselves, none of the Celtic nations will have been remotely satisfied with their performances. And while you would not know it on the evidence of the championship thus far, the biggest test will be against England. While the English may be technically pretty average and largely devoid of cutting edge, they are rarely found wanting physically and playing the French seems to do something to them. The French meanwhile are aware that their record against England in big games is poor. That fixture should be one hell of a scrap which will tell us plenty about whether this French team are genuine world class contenders.

Before then they take on an improved Italy team who have caused plenty of head-scratching among their opponents thus far. They have only conceded 3 tries in their 3 games and France will have to be patient but they should have far too much in their armoury for the Azzurri.

Even if France do win the Grand Slam, they will need to provide more evidence that they are realistic contenders for the World Cup in autumn 2011. As ever they can beat the best on their day but, as their results in the summer and autumn showed, when their day comes is anybody’s guess. Only when they achieve consistency in performance and selection through consecutive international windows can we really start building up their long-term prospects.

But that is for the summer. Now only Italy and England stand between them and a 3rd Grand Slam in 9 years. Those who put their money on no Grand Slam being won must be sorely tempted to rethink. But we know from ample experience that trying to predict the French is a mug’s game.

By Stuart Peel

The round kicks off with a great prospect as the Chiefs host the Crusaders. Both teams have lost just one game so far, and this will be a tight game between two of last year’s semi-finalists. Home advantage means that I’m leaning towards the Chiefs, but it will be close.

The Stormers host the Hurricanes in what should be another hard-fought affair, but after their confidence-boosting win last week, I’m backing the Cape Town side to beat a ‘canes team that lost to the Cheetahs last week.

The other fixtures look slightly more clear cut, but you never know! Here are my picks for Round 5 of the Super 14 2010:

Game 28: Chiefs v Crusaders: Chiefs by 5
Game 29: Waratahs v Lions: Waratahs by 25
Game 30: Brumbies v Sharks: Brumbies by 11
Game 31: Bulls v Highlanders: Bulls by 21
Game 32: Stormers v Hurricanes: Stormers by 6
Game 33: Reds v Force: Reds by 8

So Lee, before we talk about the Six Nations, tell us a little about the RBS RugbyForce initiative that you’re involved in. It’s about registering your club to receive help to improve the facilities over the weekend of June 5th and 6th. Are you going to be getting your hands dirty?

Yes, definitely. Coming from a background where I was a pretty late developer, I played at the junior level, and I know how hard it is. It’ll be great to get involved.

What were the facilities like for you back then?

It was the usual, with one flood light, everyone training under one light, and when the weather turns, the fields flood.

Have the facilities improved in the area?

Not really, especially not at my old club! There are some in the area where the pitches are getting better, but the RugbyForce scheme is certainly going to help.

Before we talk about playing Ireland at the weekend, just a word on that French match. Twenty points down at half-time – how angry was Shaun Edwards?

It’s the same old story really. We started slow and you can’t afford to do that. You’ve got to make sure you get into a good lead. Hopefully against Ireland now we can do that and win the game. We’ve won there before and it holds no fear for us.

Where do you think Wales have been going wrong so far?

Obviously, the start is where we’ve been going wrong. We’ve been letting teams get into a big lead and we can’t afford to let the likes of France and Ireland do that. It’s a lack of concentration really, we’ve had a couple of interceptions and a couple of mistakes, and if we cut those out, I’m sure we can get a lead and go on and win games.

Is there anything particular that you’ve been working on in training to attack any weak points in the Ireland setup?

Not really. England played very well against Ireland and were unlucky not to win against Ireland, so we can take heart from that, knowing they’re not unbeatable and we’ll just see how it goes.

There has been some talk that the teams that provided the most players to the Lions tour last year have been suffering a little. The Irish have been pulling out some results, but not necessarily as impressive as they might be as Grand Slam champions, and your boys have been looking a little tired in some areas. Do you think that might be what has given France the advantage?

No, definitely not. Look at the Welsh team: in the last 20, we’ve come out as the stronger team. We’ve just got to stop letting teams get into a lead with silly mistakes. If we can cut that out, I’m sure we can get the next two results under our belt.

For more from Lee Byrne, as well as the views of Martin Johnson, Delon Armitage, Riki Flutey and Ben Youngs, tune in to The Rugby Blog Podcast, live on iTunes and The Rugby Blog on Thursday morning.

Wales’ Lee Byrne and Media Wales are supporting RBS RugbyForce, the scheme that can help your local rugby club to improve its facilities. To register your club for the official RBS RugbyForce weekend on June 5-6, visit www.rbs6nations.com/rugbyfoce.