Henson Picked For Wales' 6 Nations Squad

Both Wales and Ireland released details of their 6 Nations Squads today, and both coaching parties have gone about it a different way.

In Ireland, head coach Declan Kidney has named 24 players he seems clear will be in the reckoning during the tournament, and named a further 6 in the Ireland 'A' or Wolfhounds team, allowing them an opportunity to further prove their worth for the first squad.

In Wales, Warren Gatland has named a large 35 man squad with the intention of downsizing closer to the tournament.  The overriding headline with his announcement is the inclusion of Gavin Henson in the 35.

29 year old Henson has played only 3 times for his latest club, Cardiff Blues, since returning from the wrist injury that kept him out of the World Cup and has been left out of their crucial Heineken Cup squad for this weekend as the Blues look to top the table and secure an automatic quarter final place.

The 35 man squad also includes Scott Williams, Jonathan Davies, George North, the uncapped Ashley Beck and French based player James Hook in the squad, as well as the currently injured Jamie Roberts with a view to having him included in the latter games of the tournament.  All of these players can play at centre.

Gavin Henson has been icluded in the provisional

Wales 6 Nations squad

So why pick Henson as well?

It has been well touted that George North will play at 13 as he has in the past at junior level, with the choice of Williams, Davies and Hook all playing inside him at 12.  Is his inclusion purely an insurance policy until Roberts is fit again?

It seems that this is backward step in an otherwise progressive looking selection from Gatland. As well as Beck, there are 5 other uncapped players with Rhys Webb, Liam Williams, Rhodri Jones, Lou Reed and Harry Robinson.

Gatland's biggest headache comes in the second row, where first choice picks Alun Wyn-Jones and Luke Charteris are both out through injury.

All-in-all, Gatland has stuck to his successful RWC squad that reached the semi final stage for the first time since 1987.  But with a number of injuries and notable retirements like Shane Williams, there are some excellent opportunities for some new blood to make an impact when the 6 Nations kicks of on 4th February.

Strength In Depth Growing In Scotland

Scottish rugby proved again that it is in good shape after another fine round of Heineken Cup action.  The weekends games saw a lot of the young Scottish talent come to the fore, boosted no doubt by their recent inclusion in Scotland's 6 Nations squad.

At Firhill, a lapse in concentration at the beginning of the second half was all that really separated the Warriors from claiming a result against the reigning European Champions Leinster.  In a spirited display, led by the outstanding Al Kellock who had his best game of the season so far, the Warriors were tireless in their work around the pitch, particularly at the breakdown where they didn't allow the likes of Sean O'Brien or Jamie Heaslip anywhere near the amount of ball they are accustomed to.

Duncan Weir was excellent at fly half, with his kicking boots very much on his feet.  His excellent place kicking was backed up with some well considered kicks into space in around the pitch.  For such a young player in such a crucial position, he showed real level headedness throughout the game, showing everyone that he should be the number one pick at Glasgow over Ruaridh Jackson.  The competition for positions at Glasgow is refreshing to see, and head coach Sean Lineen has done an excellent job with his squad rotations to maintain a high quality of rugby.  It's bittersweet for Lineen that he sees his two top fly halves selected for Scotland duty which could well undermine Glasgow's playoff hopes in the RaboDirect Pro12 league.

Duncan Weir produced a mature display against

champions Leinster

Stuart Hogg, after a shaky start, grew into the game well, with one particularly chase and catch from a Duncan Weir up-and-under being a particular highlight.  Richie Gray had a very good game, setting his stall out early by nicking the first Leinster lineout after a few minutes.  His ball carrying was excellent, covering every inch of the pitch.

Ultimately, Glasgow came up short, losing 16-23 and as a result, fail to qualify for the quarter finals of the competition.  With a win away at Bath next week however, there is every incentive to make it into the Amlin Cup.

Friday night saw Edinburgh travel to Paris to take on Racing Metro 92.  The return fixture at Murrayfield saw one of the greatest games ever in the Heineken Cup when Edinburgh staged the biggest comeback in competition history to win 46-45.

It may have been ambitious to hope for the same, but both teams went out looking for tries.  With the game tied after 3 converted tries each, it was Phil Godman who showed the composure to kick a 35 yard drop goal in the dying seconds to clinch a 24-21 victory. 

Scottish victories in France are rare gems indeed, and this one meant that Edinburgh had pipped Racing on both occasions with an aggregate score over two games of 73-69.

The hunt for the quarter finals is still very much on, and provided they beat London Irish at Murrayfield next week, regardless of Cardiff's result, should mean they qualify as either group winners or one of the two highest scoring second placed teams with 21/22 points.

So both clubs are flying high either domestically or in Europe, and rarely do both prosper simultaneously.  With Glasgow fielding a 100% Scottish side on Sunday, it goes to show the strength in depth that Scotland is amassing as we head into the international season. 

The key for the SRU now is to hold on to that talent and keep it in Scotland.  They let a big fish through the net with Richie Gray securing a deal at Sale from next season, but lessons like that must be learnt if we are to see our players progress and play with each other over the coming years.

Historic Playoff Weekend One To Remember

This weekends round of divisional playoffs will go down in histroy as one of the most exciting.  Each of the 4 games threw up something different and represented every kind of contest in the NFL.

For the three quarterbacks that have generated the most column inches between them, Rodgers, Brees and Tebow, the campaign for Superbowl glory has come to an end.  Instead, it has been the year of the defence, with 2 top defensive displays knocking off prolific offensive teams, and two watertight defenses coming together in a slugfest in Baltimore.

The one result that went to the form book was in New England, where the Patriots led by Tom Brady, who has found some dominating form in the latter part of the season and into the postseason, tore apart Tim Tebow and the Broncos.

For reaction on the outstanding 49ers victory, see my prevoius blog here.

But let's start at Green Bay, where the Superbowl favourites and NFC #1 seeds the Packers were looking to overcome a resurgent New York Giants team led by Eli Manning.

In essence, Green Bay lost to the better team, and lost by a convincing scoreline.  The majority of the credit should go to the Giants defence who forced Rodgers and his receivers into some uncharcteristic mistakes.  The fact that Rodgers, as he was in the 38-35 contest against the Giants in the regular season, was the top rusher in the Packers team with 66 yards, tells you how much the Giants closed down the options for the top QB in the league, forcing him to make the plays himself.

There were fumbles from Greg Jennings (one of which was not spotted by the referee and was judged he was down prior to the ball being released, leading to a scoring play), John Kuhn and Ryan Grant.

Many questions will get asked about whether the Packers were ready.  Rodgers himself hadn't played for 3 weeks after sitting out the final game of the regular season for Matt Flynn to step in and produce one of the finest QB displays of the season.  Greg Jennings was returning from injury after 5 weeks out as well.  Compare this to the Giants, whose momentum relied on the fact they have played every week, building on some solid defensive displays since losing to the Packers on December 4th.

That defence combined with the offensive form of receivers Cruz, Manningham and Nicks each giving Eli Manning a variety of good options across the field, the Giants have proved to be a well-oiled match winning team in the last few weeks.  No team will want to play them at the moment, but that's exactly what the San Francisco 49ers have to do next week at Candlestick Park.

A bad day at the office for the Packers, and the Giants roll on.  The last time the Giants won at Lambeau Field in the postseason, they went on to lift the Lombardi trophy against the New England Patriots.  There will now be a lot of people reckoning that that will be the likely match-up this time around.

So how about the Patriots?

Tom Brady and co produced a first half against the Broncos that dispelled any illusions that Tim Tebow could mix it with the elite QB's in the game.  Brady taught Tebow a lesson, and that puts it mildly.

With 5 TD passes in the first half, Brady then went on to complete 1 more to tie the postseason record for 6 TD passes in a game.  In doing so, he also racked up his 36th TD pass in postseasons, going third in the all-time list.  With Rodgers and Brees now out, Brady is now the one truly elite QB left in the reckoning, although Manning may have something to say about it.

Brady provided a masterclass in QB play against the Broncos

Tebow and the Broncos managed only one TD in the match, early in the 2nd quarter to make the score 7-14, only for Brady to respond with 3 more.  Tight end Rob Gronkowski continued his amazing form scoring 3 TD's, claiming 145 of the total 509 yards of Patriots offensive gains.

The Patriots look to be in ominous form and will now face the AFC #2 seeds Baltimore Ravens in the AFC championship game next week, at Foxboro.

The Ravens overcame the Houston Texans in a game that saw two of the best defences in the league square up in Baltimore.

Many people picked the Texans in this one, simply becasue of the outstanding defence, particularly from key players like Brian Cushing and the outstanding JJ Watt.  Both those players had stand out games in a contest that was all about stopping the other guys and see what we could get in offence.  Both teams have inconsistent QB's.  In Joe Flacco, the Ravens have yet to see the potential that their QB has shown only glimmers of this season.  But in the first quarter, it was Flacco who stepped up, throwing short touchdown passes to tight end Kris Wilson and wide receiver Anquan Boldin to give the Ravens a 17-3 lead after 15 minutes.

It was the veteran  Ray Lewis who led the Baltimore defence to force rookie Texans QB TJ Yates into throwing 3 interceptions.  But the Ravens defence couldn't stop Texans running back Arian Foster.  Having not given up more than 100 yards to any player this season, the Ravens couldn't stop Foster rushing for 132 yards in an outstanding display in an otherwise pretty toothless offence.

It was the mistakes that ultimately let this one go the way of the Ravens.  But if they have aspirations of reaching the Superbowl next week, they'll have pick up their game offensively and score more than the 227 yards they achieved yesterday.

With the possible exception of Baltimore, all the remaining teams in the postseason have the potential to go on to Superbowl glory.  The Patriots must now be considered the favourites, but the way the form book has gone so far this postseason, nobody will be holding their breath.

49ers Stun Saints In Playoff Classic

Wow.

I was going to to a blog after all four of the divisional playoff games, but after witnessing the first contest between the San Francisco 49ers and the New Orleans Saints, it was too hard not to open the laptop!

In short, this one was a classic.

The whole build-up this week was about the contest between the prolific Saints offence with record breaking QB Drew Brees and the tough defence of the 49ers.  Who would come out on top? Well, against the majority of expectations, it was the 49ers defence that won the day today.

Drew Brees never really got out of second gear as he struggled all day to get any kind of rhythm.  There were signs of his trademark pinpoint accuracy with his 2nd TD pass to Jimmy Graham, his only 20+ yard completion in the first 3 quarters of the game.

The 49ers defensive coverage was outstanding, providing very few options for Brees to aim for.  Colston struggled to get any ball time and Brees resorted to passing short and running through Darren Sproles.

Defensive linebacker Patrick Willis prevents Jimmy Graham

getting the ball as part of an outstanding defensive display

As much as the 49ers defence dominated, only getting stronger through the game, the special teams also played a crucial role, forcing a couple of turnovers.  It looked for a while that San Francisco weren't capitalising enough on those turnovers, and the Saints eventually dragged the early 49er lead back.

For what was essentially a long and uneventful first 3 quarters,the game came to life in the 4th, particularly as the quarter wore on. 

San Francisco converted a couple of field goals through Dan Akers to take a 23-16 lead, only for the Saints to respond with a Darren Sproles TD to take a lead of 1, their first time leading the game.  With 4:02 left on the clock, 49ers QB Alex Smith took his team down the field including a huge 37 yard passing play to Vernon Davis who was outstanding all day posting180 receiving yards - the most in a game by a tight end in NFL postseason history.

The Saints defence then held the 49ers at the 28 yard line with 3rd down and 9.  Up steps Alex Smith takes the ball himself with brilliant offensive blocking to run down the left side of the field to score a touchdown in spectacular fashion. With all of the euphoria around Candlestick Park, Smith and Co had to quickly regroup to get the 2 point conversion, but failed with some tough defence from the Saints.

2:11 left on the clock, Saints ball.

Two quick first downs get the Saints to their own 37 yard line.  Then Brees throws to Jimmy Graham who runs it in for a 63 yard play and TD.  Saints get the 2 point conversion to take a 3 point lead with little over a minute left on the clock.

Alex Smith took to the field knowing he had to lead his team down the field to at least get a FG opportunity to tie the game and take it into OT.

If Smith had nerves, he sure didn't show it as he passed to the unstoppable Davis for 47 yards and within FG range.  And then, wit 9 seconds left on the clock, Smith drops back in the pocket and then rifles a pass to Davis who collects and falls into the endzone.  TD 49ers.  Game over.

49ers win the game 36-32 after the lead changed hands 4 times in the last 3 minutes and 53 seconds.

The much fancied Saints are out and stretch their miserable playoff record away from the Superdome to 0-5.  The 49ers progress to the NFC Divisional Championship game next week against the winners of tomorrows Giants vs Packers game.

The 49ers have a 5-0 record in Superbowls.  With the defence playing the way they are, the special teams chipping in and Alex Smith increasing in confidence, who's to say they can't make another one next week and go on to take a sixth?

Low Blow

Andy Robinson picked a huge squad of 36 men for the start of the Scottish 6 Nations campaign.  Most of the reaction has been dominated by the inclusion of Stephen Shingler in the set-up which has sparked debate between the SRU and WRU over his eligibility.  The IRB have now got involved to look at the situation, which I can't imagine will be resolved quickly.

With 36, you would safely assume that all positions would be adequately covered.  Indeed, the inclusion of 4 scrum halves and 4 fly halves is perhaps over the top.  But there is one area that looks particularly deficient, and that's in the front row, specifically a tight head prop.

Today saw the news that Glasgow prop Moray Low will be out for the next 8 weeks, meaning he'll miss at least the first 2 games of the tournament, and probably the third even if his recovery goes well.  He may not be the first pick for Robinson, but in such a specialist position, I would have wagered that he would be the number 2 to Euan Murray.

Moray Low - Set to miss most of the RBS 6 Nations

Murray doesn't play rugby on Sunday's for religious reasons, which rules him out of the second and third games of the tournament in Cardiff and at home to France; two games that may be seen as realistic chances of getting points.  So where does that leave Scotland at tight head?

It's not as easy as saying that loose head props can simply transfer across the front row to fill in, though there are some occasions when it's been foced to happen, not least Al Dickinson who has reluctantly filled the gap a few times.

Scotland's options are thin on the ground, and Robinson will be struggling to find a quality replacement for Low and Murray in the first few weeks of the tournament.  The scrum is something that Scotland will be looking to edge over the English on February 4th at Murrayfield, but it looks like Euan Murray might have to play 80 minutes in order to do so.

Robinson has a couple of weeks to look over his options before the first training camp at the end of the month.  I don't envy the decision he has to make.

Avoiding The Real Issues

So, Thierry Henry scores the winner against Leeds in the FA Cup on his comeback to Arsenal and English Football and everyone goes mad. "You couldn't have scripted it". "It was written in the stars".

Nonsense. When will sports commentators get it into their heads that these sorts of stories happen all of the time and my 2 year old cousin could write these 'scripts'?

No doubt, Henry's calm and clinical accuracy with his finish certainly took us and the delirious Gunners fans back to the heyday of the early noughties and the 'Invincibles'. A fine goal from a fine servant to the game. But why on earth was he playing!?

I'm not talking about why he was brought on for the miserable Marouin Chamakh, but the deeper issue of why Arsene Wenger feels it necessary to bring back Henry in the first place? It stinks of desperation from what can now be called a perennially underachieving team.

And they're not the only ones. Manchester Utd can hardly be put in the same 'underachieving' column, but they share many similarities with their London rivals in that they are desperately deficient in certain areas of the pitch, forcing them to recall former players into their ranks.

Henry celebrating after scoring against Leeds

Wenger said after last nights game "It looks like the best transfer market is to get your old players back".  Slight tongue-in-cheek aside, it's easy to think that Wenger actually believes what he's saying given the success he had with the likes of Henry and how little he's had since.
With Henry last night and the surprise appearance of Paul Scholes on the Man Utd bench on Sunday, both teams have displayed their weaknesses, just in case it wasn't already apparent.

Granted, both teams won narrowly, but they both can't have aspirations of chasing silverware this year with their current squads. Both have to invest this month to be contenders.

Having lost the previous 2 games, I would have defied anyone who suggested that the third straight loss for United was a given, even if it was across town at their new fiercest title rivals. Their first half performance showed true class and resolve, but the second half demonstrated their lack of strength in midfield, with Ferguson having to resort to using Scholes who came on and shored things up a bit. Meanwhile, Henry's short term arrival offers little more than allowing one man goal machine Robin van Persie a break from keeping his team competitive at all.

Sir Alex Ferguson has said he is no hurry to buy this transfer window, but I can't imagine for one minute he won't try and get some reinforcements in. However, a player of the level of Paul Scholes will be nigh on impossible to replace so quickly.

I like Man Utd, but as long as Man City have the strength and depth that they do right now, they have to remain favourites to win the Premier League.

Home Field Advantage Proves Crucial In Playoffs

What a wild weekdend.  Wildcard weekend that is.
All four NFL wildcard playoff games produced some thrilling football and even the odd upset.  Ultimately, however, it was the home team that triumphed on each occasion.

What needs to be understood about the NFL is that there is very little support for the away team in any game.  There is no such thing as an 'away end' as there is in football here, and so travelling to another ground across the country can be intimidating and often be the difference between winning and losing. 

Take the Atlanta Falcons.  They had a perfect 8-0 record at the Georgia Dome this season, but couldn't produce the goods away from home, winning only 2 on the road.  It was enough to secure them a trip to the Metlife stadium yesterday to face the NFC #4 seeds the New York Giants.  But after a sluggish start, Eli Manning and the Giants produced a solid display that saw them run out 24-2 winners, the scoreline merely reflecting the Falcons season away from the Dome.  The Giants now go on to meet the Superbowl favourites Green Bay at Lambeau Field.

In Houston, the Texans were looking to use their home field advantage to win their first ever game in the playoffs.  With the number 2 defence in the NFL, the Texans defence dominated over a struggling Cincinnati Bengals team who couldn't produce the goods beyond the first quarter, ultimately losing out to Houston 31-10.  A special mention has to go to  defenseman JJ Watt, who produced a massive performance including an intercept and run in for a touchdown.  The Texans will now take their unbeaten playoff record to Baltimore to face the AFC #2 seeded Ravens.

The two best games of the weekend happened in New Orleans where the Saints took on the Detroit Lions and in Denver where the Broncos hosted the fancied Pittsburgh Steelers.

The encounter at the Superdome in New Orleans was billed as the 'shootout'.  Never before had two 5,000+ yard QB's faced each other in a playoff game.  Drew Brees of the Saints smashed Dan Marino's all time passing yard record for a season, while Matt Stafford came up only 46 yards short of achieving the same feat.

From the first drive, it looked ominous that this would be a high scoring game, with Stafford leading his Lions up the field in 8 downs for 80 yards to open the scoring.  Straight from the kick off, Brees and the Saints looked to to prove that anything Stafford can do, Brees can do better.  It certainly looked that way until a fumble in each of their opening two drives handed possession of the football back to the Lions. 

It looked like it might not be Brees' day in the Superdome with the Lions up 14-0 in the first quarter.  But it wasn't long before the record breaking Brees started to show why he is the top QB in the NFL at the moment, throwing for 466 yards completing 33 of 43 passes.  The Saints ran out eventual comfortable winners 45-28, earning themselves a trip to Candlestick Park to meet the San Francisco 49ers.  A special mention also to Pierre Thomas who was phenomenal running the ball for 66 yards, making plays he had no right in making.  The Saints' running game, something they sorely lacked last season, is firing on all cylinders at the moment.

The story of the weekend though has to come from the Mile High Stadium where Tim Tebow was inspired to earn the Broncos an overtime win over the fancied Pittsburgh Steelers.  It would be fair to say that the Steelers, even with Ben Roethlisberger not at 100% and no Mendenhall to run the ball were favourites coming into a game where the Denver Broncos were looking to reverse their fortunes after 3 straight losses at the end of the regular season.

Tim Tebow - defying the odds

But it was the Broncos that got off to the better start against the number 1 seeded defence in the league, taking a 20-6 lead into halftime.  Roethlisberger then inspired the Steelers after the break, to tie the game at the end of the fourth quarter 23-23.  A good game so far, but not worth the column inches compared to what happened next.

The two teams played the first non-sudden death playoff game in history.  This basically means that after the rule changes, both teams need to get the ball in the extra period providing there wasn't a touchdown by either the offense or defense.

So, up steps Tim Tebow.

The Broncos elected to receive the kick and in doing so started from their own 20 yard line.  What would the first play be?  Play it safe, get the ball down the field and look for a red zone touchdown? Nope.  Tebow hurls the ball long to Demaryius Thomas who runs it in for an 80 yard touchdown.  1 down, 1 pass, 11 seconds, making it the shortest period of overtime in NFL history.  That's how you finish a game.

Through the adversity of losing the previous 3 games and the one way traffic in the second half in this one, Tebow produced the goods when it mattered.

Can he take this on when the Broncos go to New England to meet the Patriots and Tom Brady next week?  The Pats will be fancied by the majority, but as with all of the highest scoring teams this year, they leak points.  After yesterday's efforts, anything can happen.

Brees and the Saints will be most likely to upset a home crowd.

Will It Be Scotland The Brave?

What have we learned from Thursday's announcement by Scotland head coach Andy Robinson of the 36 man squad for the RBS 6 Nations?

Well, on the face of it, it's encouraging. Sure, there is a promising influx of young talent, all of whom have earned their places with solid and consistent performances so far this season, not least Duncan Weir, Stuart Hogg, Fraser McKenzie and Rob Harley and a mention to London Irish's Steven Shingler who if I'm honest I don't know a great deal about. But with a massive 36 names being announced I fear that most, if not all of these names won't get a shot at first team action, particularly if Scotland have a good start to the tournament.

Glasgow's 19-year-old Stuart Hogg has earned himself a shot

at a Scotland cap

The 6 Nations schedule is particularly tough this year, certainly compared to last year in my opinion. Firstly, we have only 2 home games, starting with England in the opening weekend. A trip to Wales is then followed by the second home game against provisional favourites France and then there is a trip to Dublin and then a finish in Rome - a fixture clearly seen by the organisers (perhaps fairly given recent seasons) as the competition to avoid the wooden spoon; something to fight for on the final weekend.

If Scotland get off to a good start by beating England (remember the English haven't won in Scotland since 2004), then I would be surprised if Robinson changes the setup for risk of losing the next game.

It is widely thought that he won't field the promising newcomers to the international setup on February 4th, and if that is the case, what chance will they have for the rest of the tournament?

'Even' numbered years have always provided the best opportunities for a top 3 place, or even a grand slam (see 1984 & 1990). With England and France at home, recent coaches have always played their 'go-to' men knowing that home victories in those fixtures could set up a successful tournament.

Alternatively, if it does come down to avoiding propping up the table come the final weekend this year, I also don't see Robinson fielding an experimental team for the risk of embarrassment.

There is precedent. When Robinson took the England job following the 2003 RWC, he was forced to name lots of new players in the squad in the wake of multiple test rugby retirements. However more often than not he would revert to type and select those players he had been coaching under Clive Woodward.

I think the inclusion of players like Dan Parks and particularly Simon Danielli goes a long way to letting us know that Robinson intends on playing a similar game. I bet he's even secretly rueing the recent decision by Chris Paterson to retire from international rugby.

I hope I'm wrong. Scottish rugby has a huge opportunity to build on recent and ongoing domestic success and with 2 years until the next Lions tour and 4 until the next RWC, surely now is the optimum time to be blooding young talent in the test arena? I guess we'll find out in less than a month's time.