The stacked Six Nations 'Missing in Action' XV
In the modern game, injuries to frontline players have become the norm, and the Six Nations is no more immune to that brute fact than any other competition.
The 2019 iteration has followed this trend, the Home Nations sides in particular feeling the pinch.
This weekend saw potential injuries to both Scotland’s Finn Russell and Wales’ Dan Biggar while on domestic duty at their clubs – with several players – Stuart Hogg, Devin Toner and Maro Itoje among others – unable to make it through the first two rounds of the Guinness Six Nations unscathed.
With all that in mind RugbyPass has put together a composite XV of players who are unavailable for selection through injury.
15 Stuart Hogg
Hogg’s shoulder injury following a questionable collision with Ireland’s Peter O’Mahony was a hammer blow for the Scots. The good news is it doesn’t look like he needs surgery and could be back in action in time for the Calcutta Cup.
14 Anthony Watson
Watson is on the long term injury list. The 24-year-old initially tore his Achille’s tendon in the Six Nations clash with Ireland in March, with a six-month lay-off reportedly expected at the time. But Bath revealed in August that his operation was not a success and he instead re-tore the tendon, with director of rugby Todd Blackadder refusing to put a date on a return.
13 Garry Ringrose
Ringrose reported some hamstring tightness which ultimately saw him miss the game with Scotland in Round 2, but the elusive centre could yet be in contention for Italy this Sunday.
12 Huw Jones
Jones is unlikely to play any further part in the 2019 Guinness Six Nations. The Glasgow Warriors midfielder sustained knee ligament damage in the national team’s round two defeat to Ireland at BT Murrayfield Stadium, with scan results suggesting the injury recovery time would likely be beyond the reaches of the current campaign. While he normally plays 13 for Scotland, we’ve selected at 12 where he’s also adept.
11 Chris Ashton
Ashton suffered a minor calf strain during a training camp in London last week. He will spend the week rehabbing with Sale Sharks.
10 Finn Russell*
Finn Russell sustained a head injury during Racing 92’s TOP 14 clash with Toulouse in Paris yesterday and was withdrawn from play. He is now subject to further monitoring and the graduated return to play protocol.
9 Luke McGrath
McGrath’s knee injury against Toulouse in the European Championship while playing for Leinster has effectively ruled him out of the Six Nations. He may have played second fiddle to Conor Murray, but a very talented one at that.
1 Mako Vunipola
The competition’s standout loosehead, Vunipola has presented Jones with a significant selection headache in the frontrow. Ben Moon and Ellis Genge appear to be fighting it out for the honour, but neither are at the British and Irish Lion’s level as yet.
1:57 – Mako Vunipola has made 23 carries and 38 tackles in 119 minutes of action in the 2019 #GuinnessSixNations; his rate of one carry or tackle every 1 minute 57 seconds is the best of any player in the competition this year. Sidelined. pic.twitter.com/uuUhEwLrOs
— OptaJonny (@OptaJonny) February 12, 2019
2 Dylan Hartley
Having been dogged by concussion, it is his knee that has kept him out of contention so far in the tournament. While he’s training with England, he is yet to be cleared to play.
3 WP Nel
With Zander Fagerson returning on the weekend, Scotland suddenly look a great deal healthier at tighthead. WP Nel, however, is one of the tournaments top tightheads, both in the set-piece and loose.
4 Devin Toner
The 6’10 lock aggravated an ankle injury and has undergone surgery for the issue suffered in Ireland’s 32-20 loss to England and will be sidelined for two months. Has missed just seven games since Schmidt took charge of Ireland.
5 Maro Itoje
A knee ligament tear threatened to sideline the lock for the entire tournament, but the early prognosis proved inaccurate and it seems that he will almost certainly feature before the Six Nations concludes. Currently he remains ‘sans action’.
6 John Barclay
Barclay is recovering from a ruptured Achilles he suffered last May, and while Cockerill said he expects the 32-year-old to make his debut for Edinburgh this year, he is out of the frame for the start of Scotland’s Six Nations.
Turnovers are a ? way to win a match! Here are the leaders in this department so far…
1?? Josh Navidi
2?? John Barclay
3?? Owen Farrell
Find out more stats – https://t.co/RMe7tUFYhs pic.twitter.com/3ytz4HRE2t
— Guinness Six Nations (@SixNationsRugby) March 3, 2018
7 Sam Underhill
Underhill, who underwent ankle surgery seven weeks ago, will return to the field in five weeks provided his rehabilitation continues at the rate it has. We could easily have chosen the outstanding Hamish Watson here.
8 Taulupe Faletau
The 28-year-old Bath backrow underwent surgery on a broken arm, a second surgery in recent months and he will not feature in this year’s tournament. Maybe the only Number 8 to truly rival Billy Vunipola in Europe.
Possible bench players: Hamish Watson, Tadgh Beirne, CJ Stander, Leigh Halfpenny
Comments on RugbyPass
We’re building a bridge but can't agree where the river is.
2 Go to commentsfirst no arms shoulder or helmet tackle into his rib cage is going to be so very painful even to watch. go back to RU mate.
1 Go to commentsBulls by 5. Plus another 50.
3 Go to commentsJohan Goosen avatar. Cute. Surely someone at RP knows how to do a google image search?
3 Go to commentsCan’t these games play a little earlier? Asking for a friend.
3 Go to commentsIt’s impressive that we can see huge stadiums with attendance in the 40 000 to 50 000 region. It shows how popular this competition is becoming. What is even more impressive is the massive growth in broadcast viewership. The URC is one of the two best leagues in the World, the other being the Top14.
7 Go to commentsChristie is not Sottish, like the majority of the Scotland team.
2 Go to commentsHold the phone, decline over-rated. Is it a one game, dead cat bounce or the real thing? Has the Penney dropped? Stay tuned.
45 Go to commentsTotally deserved win for the Crusaders Far smarter than the Chiefs who seem to be avoiding the basics when it matters Hotham showed them what was missing and Hannah seems a real find - a tad light but that can be fixed over time
8 Go to commentsGreat insight into the performance culture with Sarries and I predict Christie will be a fixture in the Scotland team now for some time to come. However, he is slightly missing his own point around Scotland “being soft” when he cites physicality examples in defence of that slight. The issue is much closer to the example he referenced around feeling off before a game but being told “it doesn’t matter, you can still play well” by Farrell. Until Scotland can get their psyche in that square, they will carry on folding under extreme pressure…
2 Go to comments> We are having to adapt, evolve and innovate more than when we were in Super Rugby where there was only really one style that everybody had to play to gain the most success. Have = able to? Interesting what that one style might be? I thought SA sides still had bad tours now, or at least bad schedule, months away? Those extra few hours flights have to be a killer though, no surprise to see their sides doing so badly at the start of the season each year. I wouldn’t enjoy that unfairness as a supporter.
7 Go to commentsThe problem for NZ, and Aus, is they ripped up the SR model and lost a massive chunk of revenue that hasn’t been replaced. Don’t forget SA clubs went North because they were left with no choice, Argy unceremoniously binned and Japan cast adrift. Now SR wasn’t perfect, far from it, but they’ve jumped into something without an effective plan, so far, to replace what they’ve lost. The biggest revenue potential now lies in Japan but it won’t be easy or quick to unlock, they are incredibly insular in culture as a nation. In the meantime, there is a serious time bomb sitting under SH rugby and if it happens then the current financial challenges will look like a picnic. IF the Boks follow their provincial teams and head north then it’s revenue meltdown. Not guaranteed to happen but the status quo is a very odd hybrid, with the Boks pointing one way and the clubs pointing the other way. And for as long as that remains then the threat is real.
45 Go to commentsI think Etene has had some good tuition, likely while at the Warriors to be a professional that helped his rugby jump, but he was certainly thrown in the deep end way too early. Should have arguably 20 less SR caps, and therefor a way better record that he does at his age, but his development would have been fast tracked by the need to satiate his signing away from league. Again, credit to him and others that he has done it so well. Easy to fall over under that pressure in the big leagues like that but he kept at it when I myself wasn’t sure he was good enough.
1 Go to commentsAwesome story. I wonder what a bigger American (SA) scene might have mean for Brex.
1 Go to comments“Johnny McNicholl and the Crusaders” save a Penney. Who has been in camp this week and showed them how to play?
8 Go to commentsSo, reports of the Crusaders’ demise / terminal decline are perhaps just - slightly - premature/exaggerated…? 🤔 Will we see a deep-dive into that by the estimable Rugbypass scribes, and maybe one or two mea culpas? Thought not.
8 Go to comments1. The Chiefs are rudderless without DMac, which enhances his AB chances 2. Chiefs pack are powderpuffs. The hard men arent there anymore 3. They had their golden title chance last yr and wont threaten this yr. Gone in second round of playoffs.
8 Go to commentsHonestly, why did you have to publish such a foolish article the day they play us? 😂
45 Go to comments> They are not standalone entities. They are linked to an amateur association which holds the FFR licence that allows the professional side to compete in the league. That’s a great rule. This looks like the chicken or egg professional scenario. How long is it going to be before the club can break even (if that is even a thing in French rugby)? If the locals aren’t into well it would be good to se them drop to amateur level (is it that far?). Hope they can reset from this level and be more practical, there will be a time when they can rebuild (if France has there setup right).
1 Go to commentsWhat about changing the ball? To something heavier and more pointed that bounces unpredictably. Not this almost round football used these days.
35 Go to comments