Team for Scotland

Front Row:

I'll start with the tighthead side, as I think my loosehead pick will be easier to explain given the rest of the front row.

Mike Ross has played a lot of rugby, and seems to get a number of knocks in every game. Declan Fitzpatrick is drastically short of match time. Logic dictates that Fitzpatrick should play. It'll give him match fitness and experience that could be vital, and help everyone be less worried about Mike Ross's backup, which will take pressure off Ross.

Rory Best is in great form, I would keep him in the team and allow him to continue, but with the intention to bring on Cronin early than Kidney has been doing.

Given that Healy could and should be cited, this makes things a little easier actually. I always wanted both Kilcoyne and Court to feature in this 6 Nations, and this could be the game where that happens. There isn't much between them, and with there being an Ulster hooker and tighthead, and with "doubts" about Fitzpatricks scrummaging ability, Court would slot in seamlessly, and provide a better scrummaging capability with Kilcoyne to come on at 50 or 60 minutes for a bit more impact in the loose.

Second Row

With McCarthy being ruled out, O'Callaghan will be brought into the XV with either Tuohy or Henderson on the bench. I'd almost consider bringing Tuohy in to the XV given that he's youngish and needs experience. He will be a future regular and has always impressed. Dropping O'Callaghan is harsh, especially as he has been good this season for Munster.

Back Row:

I would rest either Heaslip or O'Brien, and probably O'Brien, Heaslip needs as much exposure as captain to learn the job. Although is form on Sunday was shocking and could do with a week off. Henry to come in for O'Brien as a straight swap. Although I would like Tommy O'Donnell to be involved, but that is far too left field for Kidney.

Henry wouldn't bring as much ball carrying abilities as O'Brien, which means Heaslip needs to step up, and O'Brien to provide a big impact off the bench.

Scrumhalf:

No change. Murray was one of the few to slightly impress at the weekend and seems to be returning to something approaching acceptable form. He needs a chance to continue this. That and the fact that Reddan hasn't been good this season. Left field suggestion would be for Marmion to appear off the bench, but lets keep it (relatively) realistic.

Outhalf:

ROG will start. No question. One of my biggest preferences is for the bench player to offer something different than the player in the team that he is covering. Much like Boss/Reddan or Cronin and Strauss at Leinster. In that regard, I think that Jackson is too similar to O'Gara to be his cover. He most likely will be, but in my mind Jackson is a younger, less experienced and therefore less practised version of ROG. My preference would be for either Madigan who could be a gamechanger, although Keatley had a man of the match performance on Saturday.

One alternate option is, now that Luke Marshall is back to fitness, to have him cover both 10 and 12 on the bench. His injury was ill timed, and he should be involved at some stage in the championship. I also love the idea of having a bench player covering both 10 and 12 proficiently.

Inside Centre:

Having said all that about Marshall, I would still keep D'Arcy at 12. PROVIDED his is 100% fit. Otherwise I'd put McFadden straight into 12. D'Arcy is in great form, but there is no need to risk him after what appeared to be a few niggles against Scotland, and he will be needed elsewhere.

Outside Centre:

I really don't know what to say here. BOD will be having some fortnight. It's really up to the man himself whether he can play. A rest might benefit him, but Ireland still need his spark.

Wingers:

With Zebo out, and Gilroy not getting involved enough for my liking, albeit in unfavourable conditions. Both wings could be up for grabs.
Earls did enough on Sunday for Kidney to put him straight in, and it's unlikely Gilroy will lose his place. I would like to see Fitzgerald involved, and it's between McFadden and himself for a bench position.

Fullback

Rob Kearney needs a run of games to get his confidence up, and get match fit. He is on the road to best form, but is nearly there.

My 23:
1. Court, 2. Best, 3. Fitzpatrick, 4. Tuohy, 5. Ryan, 6. O'Mahony, 7. Henry, 8. Heaslip (C). 9. Murray, 10. O'Gara, 11. Earls, 12. D'Arcy, 13. O'Driscoll, 14. Gilroy, 15. Kearney.
16. Cronin, 17. Kilcoyne, 18. Ross, 19. Henderson, 20. O'Brien, 21. Marmion, 22. Marshall, 23. Fitzgerald

Ooh Ah Luke McGrath

Luke McGrath seems to me to be the main contender from this season's 20's that could make the step up to the professional ranks.

Sometimes I think I can be a bit biased about things, and I probably am, maybe even about this as McGrath went to my old school St. Michael's in Dublin.

Last year he shared scrum-half duties with Kieran Marmion, who has since gone on to bigger and better things with Connacht, with McGrath starting twice and Marmion three times in the 6 Nations, and Marmion gaining the upper hand in the JWC, starting all but one of the games.

Now, to me, It doesn't seem like a huge jump to suggest that Mike Ruddock, who would have the best chance at looking at the upcoming talent in the ranks, seemed to only slightly think that Marmion was better than McGrath.

Given what Marmion has gone on to achieve, it wouldn't be a huge step to conclude that McGrath might go on a do something similar. He's had two full Leinster caps already in the Rabo, as well as captained Ireland and Leinster at U18 and U20 level, suggesting huge leadership ability.

However, watching him and the rest of the 20's this season  you can clearly see that he is the heartbeat of the side, and without him they would be on the end of some hidings.

Watching him during the game, he controls is forwards the way Stringer did at his best, he has a good pass off both hands, and can pass without taking steps (even if that has started to creep into his game a bit recently). As he showed several times against Wales though, he isn't afraid to have a snipe around the fringes, and usually makes yards and retains the ball.

It's in defence that he really stands out. He covers the play extremely well, and isn't afraid at 5'9'' and 84kg to take on people a lot bigger than him, and stop them with great tackling technique. It's almost scary the amount of key covering tackles he makes which suggests that the rest of the team's defence isn't brilliant. At the breakdown as well, he is like D'Arcy or O'Driscoll and he small size makes it easy for him to get over the ball and generate a few turnovers.

Comments from dementedmole:

"Luke McGrath stood in for the injured John Cooney for Leinster ‘A’ in the cracking British & Irish cup semi-final against Munster ‘A’ that went into extra time in the RDS on Good Friday. The youngster stepped up to the mark well and bagged a try, outplaying his 26-year old opposite number Duncan Williams for most of the game. With another season at this level in front of him, and another very capable scrum-half in Kieron Marmion in the squad for the tournament, The Mole thinks it likely that we’ll see both No9s used in the way that Leinster have used Eoin Reddan and Isaac Boss over the last two seasons.

EDIT: McGrath also made his senior Leinster debut this year, coming off the bench to replace Eoin Reddan for eleven minutes against Newport Gwent Dragons in early May."

"Luke McGrath – The highly regarded McGrath has another season at U20 next year. His defence against England was tenacious and he showed his kills earlier in the tournament with a neatly taken drop goal. McGrath put a reasonable tempo on the game in the 6 Nations and has had exposure at ‘A’ level for Leinster, as well as playing for UCD in Division 1B. Boss and Reddan have nailed down the first two slots in the Leinster depth chart but both players are closer to the end of their career than the beginning and McGrath will be hoping to get some squad exposure next season."

Ross Moriarty gets 7 Weeks for tip tackle

Ross Moriarty, the English under 20s flanker who was sent off for the tip tackle on Luke McGrath, has got a 7 week ban.

There has been outrage among the few twitter people that cared, but hang on.

This is 7 week ban, meaning he is out of the rest of the 6 nations. The only other 20's games this year are the JWC, which would mean the ban would either have to be split like Andrew Hore's or extremely long.

As mentioned in a previous post, not all under 20's make it in professional rugby. If this ban had covered both the rest of the 6 Nations and JWC, theoretically, that could be the end of someone's career. Is that still cause for outrage?

Admittedly, having looked Ross Moriarty up for this piece, I've found out he's 18 years old, meaning he has at least 1 more year of 20's, and he's played 5 times for Gloucester full team this season, meaning he probably will make some career in the professional ranks. This is a Gloucester side that is performing this season.

It also looks like Moriarty has previous in this line of offending: