My team for Round 1

Pos	Player Name	Team	Sell player
FR	Ross Ford	SCO	995000
FR	Dimitri Szarzewski	FRA	1170000
LK	Ian Gough	WAL	910000
LK	James Hamilton	SCO	890500
LF	Andy Powell	WAL	800000
LF	Sergio Parisse	ITA	1155000
HV	Lionel Beauxis	FRA	840000
HV	Stephen Jones	WAL	1170000
CT	Florian Fritz	FRA	990500
CT	Riki Flutey	ENG	740000
OB	Shane Williams	WAL	1160000
OB	Lee Byrne	WAL	1105000
			11926000

French and Irish teams for Croke Park showdown

France has beaten Ireland in their last two clashes in Dublin, at Lansdowne Road in 2005 and Croke Park in 2007.

The squads:

FRANCE: Clement Poitrenaud, Julien Malzieu, Florian Fritz, Yannick Jauzion, Maxime Medard, Lionel Beauxis, Sebastien Tillous-Borde; Lionel Faure, Dimitri Szarzewski, Benoit Lecouls, Lionel Nallet (captain), Sebastien Chabal, Fulgence Ouedraogo, Thierry Dusautoir, Imanol Harinordoquy.

Replacements: Louis Picamoles, Romain Millo-Chluski, Benjamin Kayser, Nicolas Mas, Morgan Parra, Benoit Baby, Cedric Heymans.

IRELAND: Robert Kearney; Tommy Bowe, Brian O'Driscoll (capt.), Paddy Wallace, Luke Fitzgerald; Ronan O'Gara, Tomas O'Leary; Jamie Heaslip, David Wallace, Stephen Ferris; Paul O'Connell, Donncha O'Callaghan; John Hayes, Jerry Flannery, Marcus Horan

Replacements: Rory Best, Tom Court, Malcolm O'Kelly, Denis Leamy, Peter Stringer, Gordon D'Arcy, Geordan Murphy

England Squad to face Italy at Twickenham on Saturday

Squad to face Italy at Twickenham on Saturday

15 Delon Armitage (London Irish)
14 Paul Sackey (London Wasps)
13 Mike Tindall (Gloucester)
12 Riki Flutey (London Wasps)
11 Mark Cueto (Sale Sharks)
10 Andy Goode (Brive)
9 Danny Care (Harlequins)
1 Andrew Sheridan (Sale Sharks)
2 Lee Mears (Bath)
3 Phil Vickery (London Wasps)
4 Steve Borthwick (Saracens) captain
5 Nick Kennedy (London Irish)
6 James Haskell (London Wasps)
7 Steffon Armitage (London Irish)
8 Nick Easter (Harlequins)

Replacements
16 Dylan Hartley (Northampton Saints)
17 Julian White (Leicester Tigers)
18 Tom Croft (Leicester Tigers)
19 Joe Worsley (London Wasps)
20 Ben Foden (Northampton Saints)
21 Shane Geraghty (London Irish)
22 Mathew Tait (Sale Sharks)

Italy squad:

Forwards: Mauro Bergamasco, Marco Bortolami, Martin Castrogiovanni, Santiago Dellape, Carlo Festuccia, Jean-Francois Montauriol, Carlos Nieto, Fabio Ongaro, Sergio Parisse, Salvatore Perugini, Tommaso Reato, Ignacio Rouyet, Josh Sole, Alessandro Zanni.
Backs: Andrea Bacchetti, Mirco Bergamasco, Gonzalo Canale, Gonzalo Garcia, Andrea Marcato, Andrea Masi, Luke McLean, Matteo Pratichetti, Kaine Robertson, Giulio Toniolatti.

End results for Barags15 in International Tours 2008

Another competition ends and thanks for a great last weekend, I finaly clinched 67th place. Next goal is to make the top 50. I'll need to get better starts to achieve this though.

Points
Standard 9,470
Try Bonus 100
Total Points 9,570

Resources
Team Value $12,310,000
Cash in Bank $65,500
Total Value $12,375,500
Profit/Loss $ 375,500

Round Details
Draw Points TB Div World Value
Rnd 1 1,615 4 744 12,000,000
Rnd 2 2,575 2 318 12,000,000
Rnd 3 1,840 2 325 12,000,000
Rnd 4 3,540 1 67 12,000,000

My Team for Round 1

I have selected 5 All Blacks including great value for money Read, Donald and Boric, 3 Springboks, 2 Wallabies and 2 Pumas for this week's games.

I have it that Smit will throw lienouts for SAF so I have selected him alongside Mealamu. I had plenty of options at LK but chose Albacete over Botha as I expect the Springboks to have trouble against the tall Welsh lineout. In the loosies, Schalk Burger is a given and will gain cash. Hernandez is the key playmaker for Argentina and brilliant kicker. Mortlock is kicking so will be a given for this game. Cooper is great value for money. At wing, I would have preferred Habana to Jantes, but didn't have the cash.

Pos Player Name Team
FR Keven Mealamu NZL
FR John Smit SAF
LK Anthony Boric NZL
LK Patricio Albacete ARG
LF Kieran Read NZL
LF Schalk Burger SAF
HV Stephen Donald NZL
HV Juan Martin Hernandez ARG
CT Adam Ashley-Cooper AUS
CT Stirling Mortlock AUS
OB Joe Rokocoko NZL
OB Conrad Jantes SAF

Total team value: 11 975 000

Teams for Round 1

Internation rugby test matches are underway again this weekend, with thefirst 4 clashes for Testrugby fans. Here are the teams for the games and my opinion on the results:

France: Médard - Malzieu, Jauzion, Baby, Heymans - (o) Skrela, (m) Elissalde - Harinordoquy, Picamoles, Dusautoir - Millo-Chluski, Nallet (cap.) - Lecouls, Szarzewski, Barcella
Res: Kayser, Mas, Chabal, Ouedraogo, Parra, Traille, Palisson

Argentina: Stortoni - Leonelli, Tiesi, F. Contepomi (cap.), Agulla - (o) Hernandez, (m) Vergallo - Galindo, Fernandez Lobbe, Durand - Albacete, Alvarez-Kairelis - Orlandi, Ledesma, Roncero
Res: Basualdo, Ayerza, Lozada, Campos, Figuerol, Aramburu, Carballo

France by 8. Expect a kicking game from Argentina with fabulous Hernandez as playmaker. Enterprising French team should get their revenge in Marseilles after successives losses at the world cup. Watch out for Médard, Heymans, Dusautoir for French. Albacete and Hernandez for the Pumas.

Italy: 15 Andrea Masi, 14 Kaine Robertson, 13 Gonzalo Canale, 12 Gonzalo Garcia, 11 Mirco Bergamasco, 10 Andrea Marcato, 9 Pablo Canavosio, 8 Sergio Parisse (captain), 7 Mauro Bergamasco, 6 Josh Sole, 5 Marco Bortolami, 4 Carlo Antonio Del Fava, 3 Carlos Nieto, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 1 Salvatore Perugini.
Re: 16 Fabio Ongaro, 17 Matias Aguero, 18 Tommaso Reato, 19 Alessandro Zanni, 20 Giulio Toniolatti, 21 Luciano Orquera, 22 Matteo Pratichetti.

Australia : Adam Ashley-Cooper - Lachie Turner, Stirling Mortlock (c), Timana Tahu, Digby Ioane - Berrick Barnes, Luke Burgess - Richard Brown, Phil Waugh, Dean Mumm - Hugh McMeniman, Mark Chisholm - Matt Dunning, Stephen Moore, Ben Alexander.
Res: Tatafu Polota-Nau, 1Sekope Kepu, Wycliff Palu, David Pocock, Matt Giteau, Quade Cooper, James O'Connor.

Australia by 25. The Aussie forwards are up for a challenge, but it should be a great chance for the Aussie backs to shine. Watch out for Ashley Cooper and Tahu to break the line. Mortlock should kick. Parisse is one of the best loosies in the world.

Scotland: 15 Chris Paterson, 14 Thom Evans, 13 Ben Cairns, 12 Nick De Luca, 11 Sean Lamont, 10 Phil Goodman, 9 Mike Blair (c), 8 Simon Taylor, 7 John Barclay, 6 Jason White, 5 Jim Hamilton, 4 Nathan Hines, 3 Euan Murray, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Allan Jacobson,
Res: 16 Dougie Hall, 17 Alasdair Dickinson, 18 Matt Mustchin, 19 Scott Gray, 20 Rory Lawson/Mark McMillan, 21 Dan Parks, 22 Hugo Southwell.

New Zealand: 15-Isaia Toeava, 14-Anthony Tuitavake, 13-Richard Kahui, 12-Ma'a Nonu, 11-Josevata Rokocoko, 10-Stephen Donald, 9-Piri Weepu, 8-Liam Messam, 7-Adam Thomson, 6-Kieran Read, 5-Ali Williams 4-Anthony Boric, 3-John Afoa, 2-Kevin Mealamu (capitaine), 1-Jamie Mackintosh.
Res: 16-Corey Flynn, 17-Neemia Tialata, 18-Ross Filipo, 19-Richie McCaw, 20-Andy Ellis, 21-Dan Carter, 22-Cory Jane.

All Blacks by 15. The first half should be tight, but the strength of the fowards and pace of the backs should finaly give All Blacks the edge. I am looking forward to seing Kieran Read and Boric on the field. Cheap players for testrugby that will score good points. Mealamu will be all over this game to prove he should be the number ONE hooker. S Lamont is an interesting player.

Wales: Byrne - Halfpenny, Roberts, Henson, S. Williams - (o) S. Jones, (m) Cooper - M. Williams, Powell, R. Jones (cap) - Evans, AW Jones - A. Jones, M. Rees, Jenkins
Res: Hibbard, Du. Jones, Gough, Da. Jones, Peel, Hook, Shanklin

South Africa: Jantjes - JP Pietersen, Jacobs, J. de Villiers, Habana - (o) R. Pienaar, (m) du Preez - Smith, Spies, Burger - Matfield, Ba. Botha - Smit (cap), B. du Plessis, Mtawarira
Res: Mujati, Steenkamp, Bekker, Kankowski, Januarie, Steyn, Fourie

Springboks by 3. Possibly the most even game of the weekend. Wales can be tough on home soil. Springboks have fielded one of the best possible teams. Williams is the most thrilling player on a rugby field (possibly in the world), while the Springbok forwards will dominate (Smit, du Plessis).

Your bets?