Six Nations: Gethin Jenkins injury blow for Wales

SHAUN EDWARDS last night put a brave face on the absence of Wales’ best forward Gethin Jenkins from their summer Tests, insisting it will open the door for somebody else to shine.

Jenkins aggravated a long-standing calf problem as the Blues charged to European glory with a stunning success over French big spenders Toulon in last Sunday’s final of the Amlin Challenge Cup.

Jenkins, who was Blues captain in Marseille and is revered by many as the best loosehead prop in the world, didn’t appear for the second half.

Ospreys reserve prop Craig Mitchell, who is on the stand-by list and has been training with coach Warren Gatland’s squad, would seem to be the front-runner to replace Jenkins in the 27-strong party.

Wales defence coach Edwards hinted that Jenkins’ Blues team mate John Yapp, and not Paul James – Jenkins’ replacement for much of the Six Nations after the calf trouble first struck – might wear the No 1 jersey against World Cup and Tri-Nations holders South Africa a week on Saturday.

“Any team that was to lose Gethin would be suffering a negative because of the fact it would be losing a lot of experience and a British Lions front-row player,” said the rugby league great.

“We all know Gethin’s capabilities, particularly in the loose, but, I’m a big believer in that when one door shuts for one person it opens for another.

“I’m sure, if the person coming in can possess the same attitude to training the other players have at the moment, we will have a very keen and committed loosehead.”

Jenkins fractured a cheekbone in the Lions’ brutal second Test with South Africa in Pretoria 11 months ago and missed the start of the season following shoulder surgery.

He was captain in place of the injured Ryan Jones when Wales concluded a disappointing autumn campaign with a thrashing against Australia in Cardiff.

But his Six Nations campaign was blighted by the calf trouble, which is understood to be caused by a toe problem.

“A prop puts his weight on through the toe at the scrummage and it’s led to Gethin getting problems with a calf,” explained Edwards.

“It’s a long-standing injury which seems to recur quite a lot.

“He needs four to six weeks out, which is particularly disappointing for Gethin.

“We would have liked him to have been fit for the tour of New Zealand and then have a rest, but the medics have said he’s got to have time off now.

“I’m sure, with the right direction and correct rest period, he will be jumping out of his skin come World Cup year.”

Centre James Hook and lock Luke Charteris have also been ruled out of the summer Tests through injury, while experienced scrum-half Dwayne Peel and veteran flanker Martyn Williams have been rested.

Wales V Ireland Hospitality

England V Italy Hospitality

Six Nations Hospitality

Rugby: Sevens can be heaven for Cairns and Capital

BEN CAIRNS is convinced that Edinburgh Rugby is in a win-win situation thanks to their heavy involvement in this weekend's Emirates IRB sevens at Murrayfield.

Cairns says: "Hopefully we can benefit from understandings already developed in the 15-a-side game but there are also opportunities to form on-field relationships with new signings Lee Jones and Alex Blair, which can stand Edinburgh in good stead.

"It helps, too, that Colin Shaw and Mike Adamson (both Glasgow) are old colleagues who I enjoy playing alongside."

Whatever happens Cairns is looking forward to drawing on sevens experiences to make Edinburgh more competitive.

"I'm delighted to have signed on for another three years and hopefully a call up to the sevens squad can play a part in a recall to the full international side as well as looking to do even better than last year when we reached the semi-finals at Murrayfield.

"I haven't played sevens since being included three years ago when Scotland won all three pool matches on the first day and welcome this chance."

Cairns, out of favour with Scotland since the opening match of the 2009 Six Nations, adds: "I've had feedback and what I am working on is a personal thing. I'm only 24 with, hopefully, my best rugby years ahead.

"Playing sevens is a chance to showcase what I can offer, especially as Scotland have done well in the Murrayfield leg of the circuit previously.

"A lot of the skills required are similar to what we do in training with Edinburgh but, of course, they have to be performed under more of a spotlight at sevens.

"By raising standards over the next couple of days there will be benefits on the Scotland A tour to the Nations Cup this summer as well."

As an example of how good a springboard sevens can be look no further than Roddy Grant who starred in the 2009 tournament before going on to be named Edinburgh's "players' player of the year" a fortnight ago.

Grant, part of the latest sevens squad, said: "I was really humbled to be singled out by my fellow players and it is undoubtedly a confidence boost.

"I'm sure sevens played a part. Tactics are different but every individual skill is magnified.

"So much so that, if you miss a tackle, it can lead to a try. That concentrates the mind and being involved in a sevens team which did well at Murrayfield a year ago enabled me to set my personal standards a bit higher than might otherwise have been the case.

"I've also learned, through sevens, a bit more about playing in front of big crowds and dealing with matters such as getting my mind right for ties coming close together."

Grant finished the season as acting Edinburgh captain and that experience is something he hopes to draw on this weekend.

Scotland open against perennial winners Fiji although, on the overall grand prix circuit, it is a straight fight between Samoa and New Zealand for the title.

Welcoming the Fiji challenge, Grant added: "Everybody knows Fiji have an amazing sevens tradition but we beat them at the London tournament last year.

"It's a chance to put down a marker and set ourselves up for the next couple of games."

Next up for Scotland are surprise packets USA, who are already benefiting through sevens being included on the schedule for the 2016 Olympics.

"As for Wales they got to the quarter-finals in London so we know we are up against a form side. Hopefully our home crowd will be noisy."

England V France Hospitality

England V Scotland Hospitality

Six Nations Hospitality

Gareth Charles' predictions for Ireland V Scotland

A fortnight ago before the Wales V France game I said a familiar pattern was emerging to Wales' RBS Six Nations games in 2010. Well nothing much has changed has it?

So what can we expect this time round? Well, to celebrate Brian O'Driscoll's 100th cap for Ireland, the penultimate game in Croke Park before returning to a renovated Lansdowne Road, and with Ireland still in the hunt for a Triple Crown, what about...?

Wales give a parting gift of a 20-point start. Then Shane Williams will begin to shine in the second half and Wales will run in four unanswered tries to end real party-poopers! Wales have become almost predictable in their unpredictability.

Certainly, when the game breaks up late on and Wales' superior fitness levels come through, they are an extremely difficult team to defend against.

But what of the opening hour? Once again France were more than happy to stay out of rucks and mauls, stay off tackles, fan wide and pick off interceptions, leaving Wales too great a mountain to climb as happened in Twickenham and as almost happened against Scotland.

And if France were happy to sit back and let Wales force the pace, what price Ireland? It'll be a case of: "come on, show us what you've got".

Ireland were happy enough to let England have as much possession as they liked, especially with England's recycling seemingly organized by a sloth on tranquilisers!

There were 99 tackles made by Ireland, just one missed, but crucially three clear-cut chances created three tries scored - the kind of clinical finishing Wales would currently die for.

At Croke Park on Saturday there will be two extremely talented back lines but the confidence that comes from finishing and winning could be a telling factor.

Up front Wales are hoping the return of hooker Matthew Rees will stabilise the set piece, which unexpectedly creaked a little against France, and provide a launch-pad for another returnee, number eight Gareth Delve, to show the dynamism that has typified his performances for Gloucester this season.

Delve needs to be prominent to keep quiet possibly Ireland's most potent force - an outstanding back-row trio of Stephen Ferris, Jamie Heaslip and David Wallace who dovetail together so superbly.

Unfortunately statistics show that if Scotland beat England at Murrayfield (unlikely but not impossible) Wales, who went into the first Saturday of the Six Nations hoping for a Grand Slam, could be going into the last Saturday fighting to avoid a Wooden Spoon.

When you're inches away from greatness but inches away from gloom, Croke Park is not exactly the ideal place to be going.

Ireland V Scotland Hospitality

Six Nations Hospitality

Stuart Barnes's Big Game:France V England

Robinson, the former England head coach, has yet to secure a victory in this year’s competition while England under Johnson are yet to come anywhere near answering the critics with a performance of any imagination or intelligence. So, yes, Ireland and Wales could be the best game of rugby this weekend but this one should have the drama.

Telfer made his assertion based on the opinion that England is no longer much of a team. Johnson can dismiss former players and journalists as having "an agenda" but it is more telling coming from the man who coached him on the successful 1997 Lions tour of South Africa. He cannot snarl and say "what do you know?" because Telfer knows an awful lot and is surely one of the more respected rugby thinkers in Johnson’s eyes.

They were not bad at home to France but were easily beaten and, true, they played close to their limit against Wales and but for injuries would have surely won in Cardiff. Then they went further than even an inept England and lost in Rome with the Scottish forwards banging around one-dimensionally on the Italian line, giving a passable imitation of all the failings Robinson displayed as England’s head man.

They beat Australia, but Australia did everything in their powers to inflict defeat upon themselves. Australia beat themselves before Argentina, who England beat in a desperately dull game that autumn, won in Edinburgh. The theory that Scotland should beat England is difficult to justify.

What is tantalising, however, is the other side of the coin. The argument that England should beat Scotland is an equally unjustifiable assertion because away from home Johnson’s team cannot be banked to win anywhere but in Rome.

The old vices are back with a vengeance. Possession is not a problem but, as in the bad old day’s pre-Clive Woodward, the lions’ share of it was insufficient at home to Ireland. England win ball but it is so slow and static that the backs do not know how to use it. When they do produce quicker service, the back line is far too deep, far too regimented and far too unimaginative.

The quest for a team shape has left them forgetting the importance of having an individual with the ability to break a defensive pattern. England have a great deal to prove but the management, even more than the players, are in the firing line. If the players lack belief or the players are simply the wrong ones, the problem begins and will not be solved until the management is fixed. England’s management will not be changed but they may still be running out of time with the fans.

Defeat in Rome was a desperate disappointment for England but it probably makes life tougher for them. Scotland are not that good a team but they have enough about them to respond to the panic induced by that awful loss to Italy.

Robinson’s role is to channel that desperation. If he achieves that, England are in for a fight. The Scottish scrum is improved and the back row is a proper unit. The Scotland coach will fancy taking advantage of Johnson’s decision to select the hard-tackling Joe Worsley and omit a genuine openside flanker in Lewis Moody to compete with the burgeoning John Barclay. Scotland will not wilt in the set-piece and could outflank England at the breakdown. If they do, the Scottish half backs know what to do.

Chris Cusiter has the defensive capacity to rattle Danny Care, while Dan Parks has the advantage over Wilkinson in the distance and accuracy of his tactical kicking. Should Scotland establish a platform and maintain position it is hard to see where England’s tries will come from.

Whatever the quality of the individuals involved the conservatism that has emanated from the management will not make it easy for England to cast off their shackles and play, like high-class professionals, what is in front of them.

France V England Hospitality

Six Nations Hospitality

It’s time for the excuses to end for Wales - Six Nations Rugby 2010

WALES have talked the talk... today let’s see if they are good enough to walk the walk.

The Welsh camp’s spin machine has been in full flow during the build-up to the big Millennium Stadiums how down with Triple Crown-chasing Ireland.

No surprise really, because it’s the job of Warren Gatland to convince his players they are better than their results during this Six Nations suggest.

Judging by the comments emanating from Martyn Williams and his team, the coach’s efforts are paying off so he must be doing something right.

Lest people forget, Wales lost to England, struggled to pip Scotland and were beaten by France by half-time.

They are a lowly fourth in the table and out of contention for the championship. This from a team that entered the tournament believing a third European title in six years was very much on the cards.

It might have gone wrong on the pitch, continuing the downward spiral which began after last year’s Six Nations opener with Scotland at Murrayfield, but you wouldn’t realise it from the comments of Gatland and company.

France coach Marc Lievremont could claim he knew his players would be in for a hard time of it during the second half at the Millennium Stadium because they were practically nodding off in their armchairs by half-time, so dominant had they been.

Last year’s Grand Slam kings have the personnel, in the shape of Tommy Bowe, Brian O’Driscoll, Gordon D’Arcy, Jamie Heaslip, David Wallace, Stephen Ferris, Paul O’Connell, Donncha O’Callaghan, to take Wales to the cleaners.

Ireland have become the sort of consistent force Wales crave to be. And ironically, it has happened since Gatland put down the shoots for their surge towards the top of European rugby while in charge of the men in green at the turn of the decade.

With Wales, on the other hand, it seems to be everything or nothing. Since the Five Nations became Six with the admission of Italy 10 years ago, Wales have twice lifted the title but, on the other eight occasions, their best finishing position was fourth.

On paper, the back five of Ireland’s pack will be too strong for their opposite numbers. The Irish back row of Ferris, Heaslip and Wallace is beautifully balanced and extremely physical at the breakdown.

Even if they didn’t win the ball, the Irish duo put the Red Rose lineout, which had the better of Wales last month, under severe pressure, with the knock-on effect drawing crucial mistakes from the likes of Jonny Wilkinson.

Captain Ryan Jones also sits today out with a calf problem, while Gatland resisted recalling – he admitted considering it – the shamed Andy Powell following the player’s barmy drink-drive escapade down the M4 in a golf buggy.

For Wales to have a hope, they need every player to perform at their absolute limit. Most notably, the forwards have to lift their game under the captaincy of stand-in leader Martyn Williams.

The Lions hooker has only made two substitute appearances for the Scarlets since Wales’ 33-12 thrashing against Australia last November at the Millennium Stadium because of a groin problem.

Gatland’s quite justifiable reasoning is that it is better to see how much time Rees lasts rather than send him on too early.

But it goes against everything Wales have said this season, namely that players have to be fully fit and prove themselves in matches to be considered.

That was the excuse they used not to pick Dwayne Peel at scrum-half. But it didn’t seem to worry Gatland when it came to putting Mike Phillips amongst the replacements against France, so it appears to be a case of a face fitting.

Wales V Italy Hospitality

Six Nations Hospitality

Six Nations rugby 2010 : France V Italy Hospitality

In theory, this should be a simple assignment for Les Bleus, seemingly on an inexorable path towards the title and a potential Grand Slam, but Italy would love to inflict one of the great upsets in the championships history.

France are aware more than anyone else of their own reputation for inconsistency, and no doubt coach Marc Lievremont would have been showing replays of their last 40 minutes of test rugby, when Wales came within a whisker of winning at Millennium Stadium.

That game will remind the Tricolours of their own mortality, and while their final match with England will decide the championship, they will want to make a statement at the expense of an Italian team that will arrive in Paris with some belief, after downing Scotland in Rome.

Italy will try to make it awkward for their opponents, and in more thorough analysis it can be revealed that they have hardly been whipping boys this tournament, with the exception of their first half of rugby against Ireland.

They may still be struggling with their attack, but defensively they have the third best defence by points scored in the tournament, and have let in only four tries – with only France (three conceded) having the better record.

But where they have looked better is that it appears Coach Nick Mallet has dropped the “damage control limitation” game plan, and is actually encouraging his team to win. Furthermore, they are embracing their natural awkwardness, proving in this tournament, as they did against the Tri Nations power last year; that they are a difficult team to play against.

Their only victory came in 1997 when Massimo Giovanelli led Italy to a remarkable 40-32 win at the Stade Lesdiguieres in Grenoble, France. The incomparable Diego Dominguez converted all four Italian tries that day and kicked a further four penalties. The best efforts of a strong French team, led by Fabien Pelous came to nothing as they became the first and only team to lose to the Italians.

France has named a strong side, although they continue to be hamstrung by injuries. But despite this, they have a level of depth which shows that perhaps Lievremont’s selection policies were in fact the act of an inspired genius.

Only two changes have been made after their 26-20 win over Wales, with David Marty coming into the side forcing Mathieu Bastareaud to the bench.

Castres winger Marc Andreu takes over for Julien Malzieu of Clermont, while Biarritz number nine Dimitri Yachvili makes his return to the national side, coming in on the bench to replace the injured Frederic Michalak.

France V Italy Hospitality

Six Nations Hospitality

John backs Scotland to cause upset in Six Nations Rugby

Scotland head coach Eamon John insists their RBS 6 Nations clash with England on Friday is a winnable game.

John’s young team have already experienced a breakthrough year, becoming the first Scottish Under 20s side not to lose to France when they managed an 8-8 draw in the opening game.

And Scotland have made just one change to the starting lineup that broke another record against Italy – becoming the first Scottish Under 20 side to win away – scrum-half Alex Black replaces Kris Hamilton.

But John insists he has picked a team to win the match and backed his players to cause an upset and avenge last season’s 20-6 defeat.

He said: “We make the selection according to the opposition. We wanted to start quickly against Italy which is why we went with Kris but from an English point of view we need a bit more physicality at the start.

“England will be smarting over their Ireland result and have had a mixed campaign with a variety of players available at different times in the competition but when they have their top players on the field like they did against Wales they ran in five second-half tries.

“Any team in any sport is always beatable. It’s up to us to get it right.

“We respect England who will have players with under-20 World Cup final experience – but we’re going to go out there to do a job on them and make life uncomfortable in Glasgow.”

SCOTLAND: Tom Brown, Oliver Grove, Jonny Kennedy, Alex Dunbar, Dougie Fife, Alex Blair, Alex Black, Nicky Little, Alun Walker, Colin Phillips, Matthew Reid, Robert Harley, Michael Maltman, Stuart McInally, David Denton

Replacements: Lindsey Gibson, George Hunter, Aaron Hall, Callum Stidston-Nott, Kris Hamilton, Matthew Scott, James Johnstone

Scotland V England Hospitality

Six Nations Hospitality