WATCH: Six Nations - The new kids on the block
In the life of a professional rugby player, there’s still a long way to go before the first weekend in February when the Six Nations commences.
With two rounds of Champions Cup action to go, there is still an opportunity for fringe players to push their cause and unfortunately, there will also be a number of injuries between now and then.
Sam Underhill
Sam Underhill is one player who will certainly look to be in the mix for England this year.
Underhill makes his return tonight for Bath in the Champions Cup having been out of action with concussion since Englands clash with Australia on the 18th of November.
Identified by Jones as a potential World Cup player, his performances in the Autumn will only have strengthened his case for inclusion.
Credit Premiership Rugby
Marcus Smith
Teenage sensation Marcus Smith has been a revelation for Quins after bursting onto the scene this season, prompting England head coach Eddie Jones to call him up as an ‘apprentice’.
While Harlequins director of rugby, John Kingston, wants Eddie Jones to resist the temptation to cap the 18-year-old, Jones may feel Rome’s Stadio Olimpico is the ideal time to blood the young flyhalf from the bench.
Smith also just signed his first professional contract last night with Harlequins, giving him a pay rise of roughly 900 percent and making him the highest paid teenager in the world.
His new salary is estimated to be in the region of £230,000 a year.
Credit: Harlequins
Damian Penaud
In France, Damian Penaud will surely make the French squad that Jacques Brunel names to face Ireland on the opening weekend and with five caps already to his name the 21-year-old may even start.
The Clermont youngster, bagged himself five tries from as many games when representing France in the Six Nations at under-20s level in 2016, a repeat of this form is exactly what a stuttering French side currently need.
Credit: Top14
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BA9dO7_3puw
Steff Evans
Steff Evans of Wales also looks odds-on to make an impact on this seasons Championship with injuries to Hallam Amos and George North.
The Scarlets man will return just in time having received a four-week ban, after a mid-air collision on boxing day that seen him red carded against the Ospreys.
Credit Pro14
Torrential rain ?? but that hasn’t stopped @steffevs09
He’s opened the scoring for @scarlets_rugby this evening against @Ospreys Rugby. Catch the action live on @S4C and @SkySports .#GUINNESSPRO14 #SCAvOSP pic.twitter.com/aioFYItPgu
— PRO14 RUGBY (@PRO14Official) December 26, 2017
Jordan Larmour
In Ireland Jordan Larmour has been making a serious case for not only his inclusion in the wider Irish Six Nations squad but potentially getting game time throughout the championship.
Scoring two phenomenal individual tries in the Irish inter-pros this season, against Ulster and Munster.
Credit: Leinster Rugby TV
Comments on RugbyPass
To me TJ is clearly the best 9 in the competition right now but he's also a proven player off the bench, there's few playmaking players who can come off the bench as calm and settled as he is, Beauden can, TJ can and I doubt any of the scrumhalves in contention can, if they want to experiment with new 9s I want him on the bench ready to step in if they crumble under the pressure. The Boks put their best front row on the bench, I'd like to see us take a similar approach, the Hurricanes have been doing similar things with players like Kirifi.
30 Go to commentsROG has better chance to win a WC if he starts training and make himself eligible as a player. He won’t make the Ireland squad but I reckon he may get close with Namibia (needs to improve his Afrikaans) or Portugal. Both sides had 1000:1 odds to win the RWC in 2023 which is an improvement on ROG’s odds of winning a RWC as a coach. Unlike Top 14 teams, national teams can’t go shopping and buy the best players - you work with the available talent pool and turn them into world beaters.
2 Go to commentsthat backline nope that backline is terrible why would you have sevu Reece when he’s not even top 5 wingers in the comp why have Blackadder when there’s better players no Scott barret isn’t an automatic the guy is more of a liability than anything why have him there when you have samipeni who’s far far better
30 Go to commentsAh, good to find you Nick. Agree with everything about Cale. So much to like about his game
49 Go to commentsNot too bad. Questions at 6, lock and HB for me. The ABs will be a lot stronger once Jordan and Roigard return. Also, work needs to be made to secure Frizzell back for next season and maybe also Mo’unga; they’re just wasting time playing in japan
30 Go to commentsOn the title, i wonder for many of those people it is a case something like a belief in working smarter, not harder?
1 Go to commentsForget Sotutu. One of those whose top level is Super Rugby. Id take a punt on Wallace Sititi Finau ahead of Glass body Blackadder.
30 Go to commentsI’m a pensioner so I've been around a bit. My opinion of SBW is he is an elite athlete and a great New Zealander and roll model. He has been to the top and knows what he's talking about. To all the negative comments regarding SBW the typical New Zealand way, cut that tall poppy down.
17 Go to commentsI'm not listening to a guy moralise over others when this is the guy who walked out mid season on Canterbury RLFC when he had a contract with them, what a hypocrite. Those praising him are a joke.
17 Go to commentsI’d put Finau at 6 instead of Blackadder but that’s the only change I’d make. Can’t wait to see who Razor picks.
30 Go to commentsTamati Williams, Codie Taylor, and Same Cane? Not sure about Hoskins Sotutu at test level. Wasn’t that impressive last season. Need a balance between experience and talent/youth.
30 Go to commentsInteresting insight. Fantastic athlete, and a genuine human being.
17 Go to commentsThey played at night in Suva last weekend and it’s an afternoon game forecast for 19 degrees in Canberra this weekend. Heat change is a non issue.
1 Go to commentsWishing Rosie a speedy recovery
1 Go to commentsObscene that SA haven’t been knocking
1 Go to commentsChances of Blackadder being injured seem too high to give him serious consideration. ABs loosie combination finally looked good with 2 committed to tackling and clearing rucks in the centre and Ardie roaming. Hoskins/Ardie together would force one of them into where they don’t excel and don’t get to use their talent, or require a change in tactics. If we continue to evolve last years systems I would take Papali’i and Finau at 6 and 7 (conceding that Blackadder will be injured) and Ardie at 8.
30 Go to commentsArdie’s preferred position 7? Where do they get these writers from? I've no idea where he's playing in Japan, but the previous two seasons he wore the 7 jersey exactly twice.
17 Go to commentsNot good to hear Ulster described as “financially troubled”. Did not think it was getting to that level. I would hope the Irish system of spreading players of talent away from Leinster would kick in now. Better to have a Leinster fringe player with Ulster or Connacht, then getting only a few games a season in Dublin. 10, for example, would seem to be a case for spreading the talent. I would not be at all adverse to a SA man coming in as head coach/DR. Ludeke is worth trying. Certainly got a long and impressive coaching career at this level…..149 games in SR, then Japan, 30 years experience. And Ulster’s ledger of successful SA coaches and players is on the positive side. Is talk of Ruan Pienaar interested in coming back as a coach…..could be a good combination with Ludeke. And Pienaar and family would have no settling in to do, one would judge. He loved life in Ulster when there, by all reports.
1 Go to commentsSome thoughts to consider here, Sam. Thanks
2 Go to commentsI think he is right, SBW is respected in RSA. The guy who never stood up is a worm. Sseems lots of NZ SBW hate, you do the crime do the time.
17 Go to comments