The 2018 thread to discuss all things rugby related such as matches, players, debates and news anything to with the world of rugby and of both codes, union and league.

The Scarlets are the first Welsh team to reach the quarter-finals of the European Cup since Cardiff Blues in 2012. Well done to them.

 

Wales fly-half Dan Biggar is set to miss the first three rounds of the Six Nations with a shoulder problem. Shame to hear about that.

Six Nations Squad:

 

 

Scotland squad:

 

Backs: Mark Bennett (Edinburgh Rugby), Alex Dunbar (Glasgow Warriors), Nick Grigg (Glasgow Warriors), Chris Harris (Newcastle Falcons), Stuart Hogg (Glasgow Warriors), Pete Horne (Glasgow Warriors), Ruaridh Jackson (Glasgow Warriors), Huw Jones (Glasgow Warriors), Lee Jones (Glasgow Warriors), Blair Kinghorn (Edinburgh Rugby), Greig Laidlaw (ASM Clermont Auvergne), Sean Maitland (Saracens), Byron McGuigan (Sale Sharks), Ali Price (Glasgow Warriors), Henry Pyrgos (Glasgow Warriors), Finn Russell (Glasgow Warriors), Tommy Seymour (Glasgow Warriors), Duncan Taylor (Saracens), Nathan Fowles (Edinburgh Rugby)

 

Forwards: John Barclay (Scarlets), Simon Berghan (Edinburgh Rugby), Jamie Bhatti (Glasgow Warriors), Magnus Bradbury (Edinburgh Rugby), David Denton (Worcester Warriors), Cornell Du Preez (Edinburgh Rugby), Grant Gilchrist (Edinburgh Rugby), Jonny Gray (Glasgow Warriors), Richie Gray (Toulouse), Luke Hamilton (Leicester Tigers), Rob Harley (Glasgow Warriors), Scott Lawson (Newcastle Falcons), Murray McCallum (Edinburgh Rugby), Stuart McInally (Edinburgh Rugby), Gordon Reid (London Irish), D'arcy Rae (Glasgow Warriors), Ben Toolis (Edinburgh Rugby), George Turner (Glasgow Warriors), Hamish Watson (Edinburgh Rugby), Jon Welsh (Newcastle Falcons), Ryan Wilson (Glasgow Warriors)

 

Wales squad:

 

Forwards: Rob Evans (Scarlets), Wyn Jones (Scarlets), Nicky Smith (Ospreys), Scott Baldwin (Ospreys), Elliot Dee (Dragons), Ken Owens (Scarlets), Tomas Francis (Exeter Chiefs), Samson Lee (Scarlets), Dillon Lewis (Cardiff Blues), Adam Beard (Ospreys), Bradley Davies (Ospreys), Seb Davies (Cardiff Blues), Cory Hill (Dragons), Alun Wyn Jones (Ospreys, capt), James Davies (Scarlets), Taulupe Faletau (Bath), Ellis Jenkins (Cardiff Blues), Ross Moriarty (Gloucester), Josh Navidi (Cardiff Blues), Aaron Shingler (Scarlets), Justin Tipuric (Ospreys).

 

Backs: Aled Davies (Scarlets), Gareth Davies (Scarlets), Rhys Webb (Ospreys), Gareth Anscombe (Cardiff Blues), Dan Biggar (Ospreys), Rhys Patchell (Scarlets), Rhys Priestland (Bath), Hadleigh Parkes (Scarlets), Owen Watkin (Ospreys), Owen Williams (Gloucester), Scott Williams (Scarlets), Josh Adams (Worcester Warriors), Hallam Amos (Dragons), Alex Cuthbert (Cardiff Blues), Steff Evans (Scarlets), Leigh Halfpenny (Scarlets), George North (Northampton Saints), Liam Williams (Saracens).

 

France squad:

Forwards: Eddy Ben Arous, Yacouba Camara, Camille Chat, Paul Gabrillaugues, Cedate Gomes Sa, Kevin Gourdon, Guilhem Guirado, Arthur Iturria, Anthony Jelonch, Felix Lambey, Wenceslas Lauret, Sekou Macalou, Jefferson Poirot, Dany Priso, Rabah Slimani, Marco Tauleigne, Christopher Tolofua, Sebastien Vahaamahina

 

Backs: Mathieu Bastareaud, Anthony Belleau, Henry Chavancy, Geoffrey Doumayrou, Brice Dulin, Antoine Dupont, Benjamin Fall, Matthieu Jalabert, Remi Lamerat, Maxime Machenaud, Geoffrey Palis, Morgan Parra, Teddy Thomas, Virimi Vakatawa

 

Ireland squad:

 

Forwards: Rory Best, Jack Conan, Sean Cronin, Ultan Dillane, Tadhg Furlong, Cian Healy, Iain Henderson, Rob Herring, Dave Kilcoyne, Dan Leavy, Jack McGrath, Jordi Murphy, Peter O'Mahony, Andrew Porter, Quinn Roux, James Ryan, John Ryan, CJ Stander, Devin Toner, Josh van der Flier

 

Backs: Bundee Aki, Joey Carbery, Andrew Conway, Keith Earls, Chris Farrell, Robbie Henshaw, Rob Kearney, Ian Keatley, Jordan Larmour, Kieran Marmion, Fergus McFadden, Luke McGrath, Conor Murray, Johnny Sexton, Rory Scannell, Jacob Stockdale

 

 

England squad:

 

Backs: Mike Brown (Harlequins), Nathan Earle (Saracens), Harry Mallinder (Northampton), Jonny May (Leicester Tigers), Denny Solomona (Sale Sharks), Anthony Watson (Bath Rugby), Danny Care (Harlequins), Owen Farrell (Saracens), George Ford (Leicester), Jonathan Joseph (Bath), Alex Lozowski (Saracens),Jack Nowell (Exeter), Henry Slade (Exeter), Ben Te'o (Worcester) Marcus Smith (Harlequins) **, Ben Youngs (Leicester)

 

Forwards: Gary Graham (Newcastle), Nick Isiekwe (Saracens), Maro Itoje (Saracens), George Kruis (Saracens), Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints), Joe Launchbury (Wasps)Zach Mercer (Bath), Chris Robshaw (Harlequins), Sam Simmonds (Exeter), Sam Underhill (Bath Rugby), Lewis Boyce (Harlequins), Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers), Tom Dunn (Bath), Jamie George (Saracens), Dylan Hartley (Northampton), Alec Hepburn (Exeter Chiefs), Kyle Sinckler (Harlequins), Mako Vunipola (Saracens), Harry Williams (Exeter Chiefs)

 

 

 

Italy Squad

Backs (13)

Tommaso Allan (Benetton Rugby, 33 caps)

Carlo Canna (Zebre Rugby Club, 25 caps)

Tommaso Castello (Zebre Rugby Club, 5 caps)

Mattia Bellini (Zebre Rugby Club, 8 caps)

Tommaso Benvenuti (Benetton Rugby, 45 caps)

Giulio Bisegni (Zebre Rugby Club, 7 caps)

Tommaso Boni (Zebre Rugby Club, 8 caps)

Edoardo Gori (Benetton Rugby, 65 caps)

Jayden Hayward (Benetton Rugby, 3 caps)

Ian McKinley (Benetton Rugby, 3 caps)

Matteo Minozzi (Zebre Rugby Club, 3 caps)

Edoardo Padovani (Zebre Rugby Club, 14 caps

Marcello Violi (Zebre Rugby Club, 8 caps)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Forwards (18)

George Biagi (Zebre Rugby Club, 19 caps)

Luca Bigi (Benetton Rugby, 6 caps)

Dean Budd (Benetton Rugby, 6 caps)

Oliviero Fabiani (Zebre Rugby Club, 4 caps)

Simone Ferrari (Benetton Rugby, 8 caps)

Leonardo Ghiraldini (Stade Toulousain, 89 caps)

Renato Giammarioli (Zebre Rugby Club, 1 cap)

Giovanni Licata (Fiamme Oro Rugby, 3 caps)

Andrea Lovotti (Zebre Rugby Club, 20 caps)

Maxime Mata Mbanda’ (Zebre Rugby Club, 11 caps)

Sebastian Negri Da Oleggio (Benetton Rugby, 2 caps)

Sergio Parisse (Stade Francais, 129 caps) – captain

Tiziano Pasquali (Benetton Rugby, 2 caps)

Nicola Quaglio (Benetton Rugby, 2 caps)

Marco Riccioni (Benetton Rugby, uncapped)

Federico Ruzza (Benetton Rugby, 3 caps)

Abraham Steyn (Benetton Rugby, 17 caps)

Alessandro Zanni (Benetton Rugby, 99 caps)

 

 

 

Loving the start Wales have made here. Such an exciting game!

Ooooooooft luck of the Irish!!!! :lol:. What an end to that match!

An very solid performance from England against Italy although I do feel Wales will fancy their chances against England.

England's Ben Youngs has been ruled out for season with knee injury.

An disallowed try was probably the difference in today's match between England and Wales. A very tight match that was.

 

 

Former Ireland captain Jamie Heaslip has ended his playing career at the age of 34 on medical advice in order to ensure his "future well being".

 

The number eight won 95 caps and played for Leinster and the British & Irish Lions, but has been unable to recover from a back injury suffered last year.

 

England head coach Eddie Jones says he was physically and verbally abused on his way back from Scotland and will no longer travel by public transport.

 

The Australian travelled alone in standard class on the 09:15 GMT from Edinburgh to Manchester Oxford Road on Sunday after England's 25-13 defeat.

 

Jones was verbally abused outside the station after posing for a picture.

 

 

A man then opened the door of Jones' car to direct further abuse before the driver and another man intervened.

Seems Ireland will be replacing England as No2 team in the world when the latest rankings appear on Monday.

Leicester’s Nick Malouf has been banned for three weeks after the head-high tackle on Christian Wade in the latest Premiership game.

Amazed that in this day that a rugby player in Israel Folau who plays for Australia has the view that gay people would end up in hell. No apology from him. I hope he never plays for them again.

A last gasp try from Yarde as Sale beat Wasps 28-27 to keep their Premiership play-off hopes alive.

 

 

Ex-Castleford Tigers full-back Zak Hardaker has been banned for 14 months after testing positive for cocaine before last season's Super League Grand Final.

 

Newcastle Falcons director of rugby Dean Richards has signed a new three-year deal after securing a first ever Premiership play-off finish.

 

 

 

Cardiff Blues have beaten Gloucester in the European Challenge Cup final in Bilbao from being 20-6 down to win 31-30 with a last minute penalty.

 

 

Russia have qualified for the World Cup next year after Belgium, Spain and Romania have been sanctioned for fielding ineligible players.

 

 

After Sam Warburton's retirement last week due to a ludicrous number of injuries throughout his career, world rugby bosses have revealed that cutting down contact in training may have to be the way forwards.