IRELAND AND ARGENTINA got the second window of the Nations Championship rolling on Friday night in Dublin, with Andy Farrell’s men earning a dominant bonus-point win.
That moved Ireland to the top of the Northern Hemisphere table overnight.
So the Irish players can put their feet up for the rest of the weekend and take in the other five games in the tournament, with everyone jostling for the highest possible finishing position in either the Northern Hemisphere or Southern Hemisphere table.
A reminder that the top team in each table will face each other for the Nations Championship title on the final weekend of November at Twickenham in London.
The second-placed team in each table will play off against each other, and so on, with three consecutive days of action in London.
As the Nations Championship continues in the next two days, the second-tier Nations Cup is also back in full swing. Here’s how things are shaping up in both competitions.
__________
Italy v South Africa
Saturday, 11.40am Irish time
Italy’s injury and unavailable list includes Tommaso Menoncello, Juan Ignacio Brex, Michele Lamaro, Louis Lynagh, Riccardo Favretto, Andrea Zambonin, Giulio Marini and Marco Riccioni, all of whom would have been expected to be involved today.
Rassie Erasmus is chasing yet more silverware. Dan Sheridan / INPHO
Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO
There are several more names on a 15-strong injury list, but Italy boss Gonzalo Quesada has still managed to name a respectable starting XV with a fair dollop of experience in it.
The problem with some of those frontliners missing is that the Azzurri are playing against the best team in the world at Juventus Stadium in Turin. Italy, who lost their three Nations Championship games in July, are well and truly up against it.
The Springboks, who beat England, Scotland and Wales a few months ago before getting the better of New Zealand in the Greatest Rivalry series, are now on a mission to claim the inaugural title in this competition.
With clashes against France and Ireland to come in the next two weeks, Rassie Erasmus’ men will be laser-focused on getting off to a flyer against the Italians.
ITALY: Mirko Belloni; Ange Capuozzo, Paolo Odogwu, Leonardo Marin, Monty Ioane; Paolo Garbisi, Alessandro Fusco; Muhamed Hasa, Giacomo Nicotera (captain), Simone Ferrari; Niccolò Cannone, Federico Ruzza, Alessandro Ortombina, Samuele Locatelli, Lorenzo Cannone.
Replacements: Tommaso Di Bartolomeo, Danilo Fischetti, Ion Neculai, Enoch Opoku-Gyamfi, Ross Vintcent, Manuel Zuliani, Stephen Varney, Tommaso Allan.
SOUTH AFRICA: Damian Willemse; Kurt-Lee Arendse, Jesse Kriel, Damian de Allende, Ethan Hooker; Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Morne van den Berg; Ox Nché, Malcolm Marx, Thomas du Toit; Salmaan Moerat, Ruan Nortje, Siya Kolisi (captain), Pieter-Steph du Toit, Jasper Wiese
Replacements: Jan-Hendrik Wessels, Gerhard Steenekamp, Wilco Louw, Lood de Jager, Cameron Hanekom, Paul de Villiers, Grant Williams, Manie Libbok.
__________
Scotland v New Zealand
Saturday, 2.10pm
This will be an emotional occasion for the All Blacks, whose long-serving head of security Logan Cadwallader passed away on Sunday morning after a medical event at their team hotel in Edinburgh. The Kiwis will be aiming to honour him in style.
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All Blacks boss Dave Rennie with Jordie Barrett. Photosport / Brett Phibbs/INPHO
Photosport / Brett Phibbs/INPHO / Brett Phibbs/INPHO
Dave Rennie’s revived All Blacks had a good July window, beating France, Italy and Ireland, so they will be vying with the Springboks for top spot in the Northern Hemisphere table.
Given that the Kiwis don’t have to face France or Ireland again, they will surely feel that their run of games against the Scots, Wales and England presents a nice opportunity to come out on top.
And yet, Gregor Townsend’s Scotland must have been happy with their July efforts, impressing in their win away to Argentina, giving the Springboks some problems in round two, then beating Fiji in their third game. They played some cracking rugby.
Scotland have never beaten the All Blacks, who are favourites here again, but this could be a thrilling contest.
SCOTLAND: Kyle Rowe; Kyle Steyn, Huw Jones, Sione Tuipulotu (captain), Jamie Dobie; Finn Russell, Ben White; Rory Sutherland, Ewan Ashman, Zander Fagerson; Gregor Brown, Scott Cummings; Matt Fagerson, Rory Darge, Jack Dempsey.
Replacements: Gregor Hiddleston, Pierre Schoeman, Will Hurd, Max Williamson, Josh Bayliss, George Horne, Tom Jordan, Blair Kinghorn.
NEW ZEALAND: Beauden Barrett; Will Jordan, Quinn Tupaea, Jordie Barrett, Josh Moorby; Damian McKenzie, Cam Roigard; Ethan de Groot, Codie Taylor (captain), Fletcher Newell; Scott Barrett, Fabian Holland; Tupou Vaa’i, Peter Lakai, Wallace Sititi
Replacements: Asafo Aumua, George Bower, Pasilio Tosi, Christian Lio-Willie, Anton Segner, Cortez Ratima, Timoci Tavatavanawai, Rieko Ioane.
__________
Wales v Japan
Saturday, 4.40pm
After a decent July window that featured a win against Italy and a competitive performance in a loss to Ireland, this looks like Japan’s best chance of a win in this neck of the woods, given that they visit England and Scotland next.
Jac Morgan has been in cracking form in the Prem. Alamy Stock Photo
Alamy Stock Photo
Eddie Jones’ men won the Pacific Nations Cup in September, but he is missing a few good out-halves and back rows, though, so his selection options have shrunk.
Steve Tandy’s Wales will undoubtedly see this as their opportunity to notch another Nations Championship win, having beaten Fiji back in July. Test wins are rare for Welsh rugby these days, so it’s not an opportunity they can miss.
WALES: Blair Murray; Louis Rees-Zammit, Eddie James, Max Llewellyn, Josh Adams; Sam Costelow, Tomos Williams; Nicky Smith, Dewi Lake (captain), Archie Griffin; Dafydd Jenkins, Ben Carter; Alex Mann, Jac Morgan, Aaron Wainwright.
Replacements: Ryan Elias, Rhys Carré, Tomas Francis, Teddy Williams, James Botham, Reuben Morgan-Williams, Dan Edwards, Louie Hennessey.
JAPAN: Kazuma Ueda; Kippei Ishida, Dylan Riley, Samisoni Tua, Inoke Burua; Riku Kitahara, Naoto Saito; Yota Kamimori, Mamoru Harada, Shuhei Takeuchi; Harry Hockings, Warner Dearns (captain); Ben Gunter, Kanji Shimokawa, Jack Cornelsen.
Jake White’s Fiji is still something that we’re getting used to reading and writing. It’s not a match that many would have intuitively made but here we are, with the vastly experienced South African guiding the Flying Fijians towards next year’s World Cup.
France skipper Antoine Dupont. Billy Stickland / INPHO
Billy Stickland / INPHO / INPHO
White started with a bang as his men beat Japan 34-28 in Tokyo last month, and he’ll hope Fiji continue to feel the bounce effect this month as they face France, Ireland and Italy.
Andy Farrell and co. will be watching closely to see how the Fijians are shaping up for next weekend’s visit to Dublin, and also how the French are tracking ahead of next year’s Six Nations.
Fabien Galthié has been shorn of a few top-class operators like Thomas Ramos, Matthieu Jalibert and Emmanuel Meafou, but French rugby’s depth is underlined once again by the team he has picked for this game. A big win for les Bleus in Lyon is forecast.
FRANCE: Théo Attissogbe; Aaron Grandidier-Nkanang, Kalvin Gourgues, Yoram Moefana, Louis Bielle-Biarrey; Romain Ntamack, Antoine Dupont (captain); Jean-Baptiste Gros, Maxime Lamothe, Sipili Falatea; Florian Verhaeghe, Mickaël Guillard; Cameron Woki, Paul Boudehent, François Cros
Replacements: Peato Mauvaka, Jefferson Poirot, Régis Montagne, Charles Ollivon, Tom Staniforth, Esteban Capilla, Maxime Lucu, Émilien Gailleton.
Replacements: Zuriel Togiatama, Peni Ravai, Inoke Ravuiwasa, Peceli Yato, Elia Canakaivata, Frank Lomani, Ben Volavola, Sireli Maqala.
__________
England v Australia
Sunday, 3.10pm
This is an appealing Sunday afternoon fixture to round off the Nations Championship weekend, with England still battling to convince everyone that they’re on the right path towards the World Cup under Steve Borthwick.
Fin Smith starts for England. Steve Haag Sports / Darren Stewart/INPHO
Steve Haag Sports / Darren Stewart/INPHO / Darren Stewart/INPHO
Les Kiss has enjoyed an encouraging opening chapter as Wallabies boss since taking over from Joe Schmidt after the July window of the Nations Championship.
The Wallabies beat Japan twice in Japan, had a win and a draw away to Argentina while playing well, then rocked the Springboks in Perth for Kiss’ first landmark win.
Two disappointing losses against New Zealand have followed, but it’s clear that Australia have the core group of players to cause anyone trouble.
There doesn’t seem to be anything totally clear when it comes to this England team, who won just once in the Six Nations this year to leave Borthwick under intense pressure. Their most recent outing against Argentina saw England emerge from a febrile atmosphere in Santiago del Estero with a win, yet doubts remain whether this English side can go to the next level.
Home advantage should help England, but this looks like being a hotly contested battle.
ENGLAND: George Furbank; Tommy Freeman, Henry Slade, Seb Atkinson, Immanuel Feyi-Waboso; Fin Smith, Jack van Poortvliet; Fin Baxter, Jamie George, Joe Heyes; Maro Itoje (captain), Alex Coles; Ollie Chessum, Ben Curry, Ben Earl.
Replacements: Luke Cowan-Dickie, Ellis Genge, Will Stuart, George Martin, Greg Fisilau, Henry Pollock, Ben Spencer, Marcus Smith.
AUSTRALIA: Tom Wright; Max Jorgensen, Isaac Henry, Len Ikitau, Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii; Declan Meredith, Ryan Lonergan; Angus Bell, Billy Pollard, Allan Alaalatoa; Josh Canham, Lukhan Salakaia-Loto; Jeremy Williams, Fraser McReight, Harry Wilson (captain).
Replacements: Josh Nasser, Isaac Kailea, Taniela Tupou, Rob Valetini, Carlo Tizzano, Tate McDermott, Ben Donaldson, Filipo Daugunu.
__________
Nations Cup
Romania and Tonga got the second window of the second division competition rolling on Friday night, with the Tongans enjoying a 43-38 win in Bucharest.
And there are five more games to come on Saturday and Sunday, with the US aiming to build on their 100% start in July by beating Hong Kong in their game in Bourg-en-Bresse, France.
Georgia are the other side who won three from three in July. They host Canada in Tbilisi on Saturday, while their sixth-round meeting with the US already looks like a big one.
Chile and Portugal were the best of the rest in the opening window, and their clash in Lisbon today could be highly watchable given the attacking talent in both squads.
Samoa, who won just once in July, have ground to make up as they take on Zimbabwe in Wakefield, England today.
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Ireland sit back to enjoy an intriguing Nations Championship weekend
IRELAND AND ARGENTINA got the second window of the Nations Championship rolling on Friday night in Dublin, with Andy Farrell’s men earning a dominant bonus-point win.
That moved Ireland to the top of the Northern Hemisphere table overnight.
So the Irish players can put their feet up for the rest of the weekend and take in the other five games in the tournament, with everyone jostling for the highest possible finishing position in either the Northern Hemisphere or Southern Hemisphere table.
A reminder that the top team in each table will face each other for the Nations Championship title on the final weekend of November at Twickenham in London.
The second-placed team in each table will play off against each other, and so on, with three consecutive days of action in London.
As the Nations Championship continues in the next two days, the second-tier Nations Cup is also back in full swing. Here’s how things are shaping up in both competitions.
__________
Italy v South Africa
Saturday, 11.40am Irish time
Italy’s injury and unavailable list includes Tommaso Menoncello, Juan Ignacio Brex, Michele Lamaro, Louis Lynagh, Riccardo Favretto, Andrea Zambonin, Giulio Marini and Marco Riccioni, all of whom would have been expected to be involved today.
There are several more names on a 15-strong injury list, but Italy boss Gonzalo Quesada has still managed to name a respectable starting XV with a fair dollop of experience in it.
The problem with some of those frontliners missing is that the Azzurri are playing against the best team in the world at Juventus Stadium in Turin. Italy, who lost their three Nations Championship games in July, are well and truly up against it.
The Springboks, who beat England, Scotland and Wales a few months ago before getting the better of New Zealand in the Greatest Rivalry series, are now on a mission to claim the inaugural title in this competition.
With clashes against France and Ireland to come in the next two weeks, Rassie Erasmus’ men will be laser-focused on getting off to a flyer against the Italians.
ITALY: Mirko Belloni; Ange Capuozzo, Paolo Odogwu, Leonardo Marin, Monty Ioane; Paolo Garbisi, Alessandro Fusco; Muhamed Hasa, Giacomo Nicotera (captain), Simone Ferrari; Niccolò Cannone, Federico Ruzza, Alessandro Ortombina, Samuele Locatelli, Lorenzo Cannone.
Replacements: Tommaso Di Bartolomeo, Danilo Fischetti, Ion Neculai, Enoch Opoku-Gyamfi, Ross Vintcent, Manuel Zuliani, Stephen Varney, Tommaso Allan.
SOUTH AFRICA: Damian Willemse; Kurt-Lee Arendse, Jesse Kriel, Damian de Allende, Ethan Hooker; Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Morne van den Berg; Ox Nché, Malcolm Marx, Thomas du Toit; Salmaan Moerat, Ruan Nortje, Siya Kolisi (captain), Pieter-Steph du Toit, Jasper Wiese
Replacements: Jan-Hendrik Wessels, Gerhard Steenekamp, Wilco Louw, Lood de Jager, Cameron Hanekom, Paul de Villiers, Grant Williams, Manie Libbok.
__________
Scotland v New Zealand
Saturday, 2.10pm
This will be an emotional occasion for the All Blacks, whose long-serving head of security Logan Cadwallader passed away on Sunday morning after a medical event at their team hotel in Edinburgh. The Kiwis will be aiming to honour him in style.
Dave Rennie’s revived All Blacks had a good July window, beating France, Italy and Ireland, so they will be vying with the Springboks for top spot in the Northern Hemisphere table.
Given that the Kiwis don’t have to face France or Ireland again, they will surely feel that their run of games against the Scots, Wales and England presents a nice opportunity to come out on top.
And yet, Gregor Townsend’s Scotland must have been happy with their July efforts, impressing in their win away to Argentina, giving the Springboks some problems in round two, then beating Fiji in their third game. They played some cracking rugby.
Scotland have never beaten the All Blacks, who are favourites here again, but this could be a thrilling contest.
SCOTLAND: Kyle Rowe; Kyle Steyn, Huw Jones, Sione Tuipulotu (captain), Jamie Dobie; Finn Russell, Ben White; Rory Sutherland, Ewan Ashman, Zander Fagerson; Gregor Brown, Scott Cummings; Matt Fagerson, Rory Darge, Jack Dempsey.
Replacements: Gregor Hiddleston, Pierre Schoeman, Will Hurd, Max Williamson, Josh Bayliss, George Horne, Tom Jordan, Blair Kinghorn.
NEW ZEALAND: Beauden Barrett; Will Jordan, Quinn Tupaea, Jordie Barrett, Josh Moorby; Damian McKenzie, Cam Roigard; Ethan de Groot, Codie Taylor (captain), Fletcher Newell; Scott Barrett, Fabian Holland; Tupou Vaa’i, Peter Lakai, Wallace Sititi
Replacements: Asafo Aumua, George Bower, Pasilio Tosi, Christian Lio-Willie, Anton Segner, Cortez Ratima, Timoci Tavatavanawai, Rieko Ioane.
__________
Wales v Japan
Saturday, 4.40pm
After a decent July window that featured a win against Italy and a competitive performance in a loss to Ireland, this looks like Japan’s best chance of a win in this neck of the woods, given that they visit England and Scotland next.
Eddie Jones’ men won the Pacific Nations Cup in September, but he is missing a few good out-halves and back rows, though, so his selection options have shrunk.
Steve Tandy’s Wales will undoubtedly see this as their opportunity to notch another Nations Championship win, having beaten Fiji back in July. Test wins are rare for Welsh rugby these days, so it’s not an opportunity they can miss.
WALES: Blair Murray; Louis Rees-Zammit, Eddie James, Max Llewellyn, Josh Adams; Sam Costelow, Tomos Williams; Nicky Smith, Dewi Lake (captain), Archie Griffin; Dafydd Jenkins, Ben Carter; Alex Mann, Jac Morgan, Aaron Wainwright.
Replacements: Ryan Elias, Rhys Carré, Tomas Francis, Teddy Williams, James Botham, Reuben Morgan-Williams, Dan Edwards, Louie Hennessey.
JAPAN: Kazuma Ueda; Kippei Ishida, Dylan Riley, Samisoni Tua, Inoke Burua; Riku Kitahara, Naoto Saito; Yota Kamimori, Mamoru Harada, Shuhei Takeuchi; Harry Hockings, Warner Dearns (captain); Ben Gunter, Kanji Shimokawa, Jack Cornelsen.
Replacements: Kenji Sato, Sojiro Otsuka, Opeti Helu, Michael Stolberg, Tiennan Costley, Kenta Fukuda, Shinya Komura, Jisu Lee.
___________
France v Fiji
Saturday, 8.10pm Irish time
Jake White’s Fiji is still something that we’re getting used to reading and writing. It’s not a match that many would have intuitively made but here we are, with the vastly experienced South African guiding the Flying Fijians towards next year’s World Cup.
White started with a bang as his men beat Japan 34-28 in Tokyo last month, and he’ll hope Fiji continue to feel the bounce effect this month as they face France, Ireland and Italy.
Andy Farrell and co. will be watching closely to see how the Fijians are shaping up for next weekend’s visit to Dublin, and also how the French are tracking ahead of next year’s Six Nations.
Fabien Galthié has been shorn of a few top-class operators like Thomas Ramos, Matthieu Jalibert and Emmanuel Meafou, but French rugby’s depth is underlined once again by the team he has picked for this game. A big win for les Bleus in Lyon is forecast.
FRANCE: Théo Attissogbe; Aaron Grandidier-Nkanang, Kalvin Gourgues, Yoram Moefana, Louis Bielle-Biarrey; Romain Ntamack, Antoine Dupont (captain); Jean-Baptiste Gros, Maxime Lamothe, Sipili Falatea; Florian Verhaeghe, Mickaël Guillard; Cameron Woki, Paul Boudehent, François Cros
Replacements: Peato Mauvaka, Jefferson Poirot, Régis Montagne, Charles Ollivon, Tom Staniforth, Esteban Capilla, Maxime Lucu, Émilien Gailleton.
FIJI: Salesi Rayasi; Selestino Ravutaumada, Iosefo Masi, Vinaya Habosi, Jiuta Wainiqolo; Isikeli Rabitu, Simione Kuruvoli; Eroni Mawi, Tevita Ikanivere (captain), Luke Tagi; Mesake Vocevoce, Isoa Nasilasila; Pita-Gus Sowakula, Kitione Salawa, Nathan Hughes.
Replacements: Zuriel Togiatama, Peni Ravai, Inoke Ravuiwasa, Peceli Yato, Elia Canakaivata, Frank Lomani, Ben Volavola, Sireli Maqala.
__________
England v Australia
Sunday, 3.10pm
This is an appealing Sunday afternoon fixture to round off the Nations Championship weekend, with England still battling to convince everyone that they’re on the right path towards the World Cup under Steve Borthwick.
Les Kiss has enjoyed an encouraging opening chapter as Wallabies boss since taking over from Joe Schmidt after the July window of the Nations Championship.
The Wallabies beat Japan twice in Japan, had a win and a draw away to Argentina while playing well, then rocked the Springboks in Perth for Kiss’ first landmark win.
Two disappointing losses against New Zealand have followed, but it’s clear that Australia have the core group of players to cause anyone trouble.
There doesn’t seem to be anything totally clear when it comes to this England team, who won just once in the Six Nations this year to leave Borthwick under intense pressure. Their most recent outing against Argentina saw England emerge from a febrile atmosphere in Santiago del Estero with a win, yet doubts remain whether this English side can go to the next level.
Home advantage should help England, but this looks like being a hotly contested battle.
ENGLAND: George Furbank; Tommy Freeman, Henry Slade, Seb Atkinson, Immanuel Feyi-Waboso; Fin Smith, Jack van Poortvliet; Fin Baxter, Jamie George, Joe Heyes; Maro Itoje (captain), Alex Coles; Ollie Chessum, Ben Curry, Ben Earl.
Replacements: Luke Cowan-Dickie, Ellis Genge, Will Stuart, George Martin, Greg Fisilau, Henry Pollock, Ben Spencer, Marcus Smith.
AUSTRALIA: Tom Wright; Max Jorgensen, Isaac Henry, Len Ikitau, Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii; Declan Meredith, Ryan Lonergan; Angus Bell, Billy Pollard, Allan Alaalatoa; Josh Canham, Lukhan Salakaia-Loto; Jeremy Williams, Fraser McReight, Harry Wilson (captain).
Replacements: Josh Nasser, Isaac Kailea, Taniela Tupou, Rob Valetini, Carlo Tizzano, Tate McDermott, Ben Donaldson, Filipo Daugunu.
__________
Nations Cup
Romania and Tonga got the second window of the second division competition rolling on Friday night, with the Tongans enjoying a 43-38 win in Bucharest.
And there are five more games to come on Saturday and Sunday, with the US aiming to build on their 100% start in July by beating Hong Kong in their game in Bourg-en-Bresse, France.
Georgia are the other side who won three from three in July. They host Canada in Tbilisi on Saturday, while their sixth-round meeting with the US already looks like a big one.
Chile and Portugal were the best of the rest in the opening window, and their clash in Lisbon today could be highly watchable given the attacking talent in both squads.
Samoa, who won just once in July, have ground to make up as they take on Zimbabwe in Wakefield, England today.
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