Hook is back
11 Mar 2008
James Hook has returned as flyhalf for Wales’ Grand Slam decider against France on Saturday.
Hook replaces Stephen Jones, while the only other change sees Huw Bennett return at hooker for Matthew Rees. If Wales win it will be their first Grand Slam since 2005, while they can still win the 6 Nations Championship even if they lose by 19 points or less.
Wales – 15 Lee Byrne (Ospreys),14 Mark Jones (Llanelli Scarlets), 13 Tom Shanklin (Cardiff Blues), 12 Gavin Henson (Ospreys), 11 Shane Williams (Ospreys), 10 James Hook (Ospreys), 9 Mike Phillips (Ospreys), 8 Ryan Jones (Ospreys, capt), 7 Martyn Williams (Cardiff Blues), 6 Jonathan Thomas (Ospreys),5 Alun Wyn Jones (Ospreys), 4 Ian Gough (Ospreys),3 Adam Jones (Ospreys) 2 Huw Bennett (Ospreys),1 Gethin Jenkins (Cardiff Blues).
Subs: 16 Matthew Rees (Llanelli Scarlets), 17 Duncan Jones (Ospreys),18 Ian Evans (Ospreys), 19 Gareth Delve (Gloucester), 20 Dwayne Peel (Llanelli Scarlets), 21 Stephen Jones (Llanelli Scarlets), 22 Sonny Parker (Ospreys).
O’Gara leads Irish
Ronan O’Gara will captain Ireland for the first time in their clash against England at Twickenham.
O’Gara takes over from the injured Brian O’Driscoll, while Geordan Murphy will return at fullback if he passes a fitness test.
Ireland – 15 Murphy, 14 Bowe, 13 Horgan, 12 Trimble, 11 Kearney; 10 O’Gara (capt), 9 Reddan, 8 Heaslip, 7 D Wallace, 6 Leamy, 5 O’Connell, 4 O’Callaghan, 3 Hayes, 2 Best, 1 Horan.
Subs: 16 Jackman, 17 Buckley, 18 M O’Driscoll, 19 Easterby, 20 Stringer, 21 P Wallace, 22 Fitzgerald.
Scots change two
Scottish wing Simon Danielli will make his first start in three years in their wooden spoon match against Italy in Rome.
Danielli and hooker Fergus Thomson replace the injured duo of Rory Lamont and Ross Ford respectively.
Scotland: 15 Hugo Southwell (Edinburgh), 14 Simon Danielli (Ulster), 13 Simon Webster (Edinburgh), 12 Graeme Morrison (Glasgow Warriors), 11 Nikki Walker (Ospreys), 10 Chris Paterson (Gloucester), 9 Mike Blair (Edinburgh, capt), 8 Simon Taylor (Stade Francais), 7 Allister Hogg (Edinburgh), 6 Alasdair Strokosch (Gloucester), 5 Scott MacLeod (Llanelli Scarlets), 4 Nathan Hines (Perpignan), 3 Euan Murray (Northampton Saints), 2 Fergus Thomson (Glasgow Warriors),1 Allan Jacobsen (Edinburgh).
Subs: 16 Scott Lawson (Sale Sharks), 17 Alasdair Dickinson (Gloucester), 18 Craig Smith (Edinburgh), 19 Jason White (Sale Sharks), 20 Kelly Brown (Glasgow Warriors), 21 Rory Lawson (Gloucester), 22 Dan Parks (Glasgow Warriors)
16 Comments
11 Mar 2008, 15:02 pm
Best Flyhalf in the NH at the moment. Great player. Pity we dont have somebody like him in SA
11 Mar 2008, 15:19 pm
Rubbish dude …
Even Hougaard is better than Hook.
11 Mar 2008, 15:24 pm
2
Hook knows how to carry the ball…nevermind to the advantage line!
11 Mar 2008, 15:32 pm
#2 Badeesh
It is very apparent that your knowledge of rugby is the equivalent of the square root of **** All
11 Mar 2008, 15:49 pm
wow amazing, if someone disagrees, attack their intelligence! why didn’t i think of that?!?!
Hougaard won the Super 14 last year, and his backline had one of the top attacking records of the tournament… He has bad habits, and needs to be reminded to play closer to the gain line constantly, it’s true. But Hook hasn’t done that much to impress me.
Even his coach can’t decide if Stephen Jones might not be a better bet.
11 Mar 2008, 15:55 pm
Fight nicely girls!
11 Mar 2008, 16:34 pm
5 Explain to me how they had one of the best attacking records? They scored the second most tries but most of it was forwards and then the reds game acounted for about 9 of those tries! That game was a freak of nature! Why didnt they do it every game? Hougaard is k@k! Finish! Hook is a much better flyhalf than him!
If you talk attack then you talk line breaks!!!!!
11 Mar 2008, 16:55 pm
To say Hougaard is better than Hook is a bit of a joke. If you said Butch , or Michalack , or Nick Evens then cool I agree,Hougaard hasn’t performed at international level. Sure at Super 14 he was awesome for the Bulls. But he hasn’t made the step up to international rugby with any success.Narrow minded fool
11 Mar 2008, 17:41 pm
where is big hit? I want to hear what he has to say (read whine) about Wilkinson being dropped…
11 Mar 2008, 18:14 pm
Why is their so much animosity towards me? Are you people just angry and want to vent?
James Hook hasn’t stamped his authority on the international game either yet! His coach is still grooming him, and this can be seen in the fact that he picks Stephen Jones half the time.
Hougaard has proven time and again he is capable of controlling a game, even more so behind a dominant pack. Even if Hook shades him in the attack department, Hougaard drops him in the dust when it comes to tactical nouse and using a dominant pack to drive home your advantage.
Hougaard is also a proven goal kicker, whereas Hook is in the young percy mould at this point. Awesome when it’s all working but whooo aaa if it goes wrong. He lacks consistency in this regard, and although he is starting to break free of this, it was a huge problem for him before the arrival of the new coaching set up.
To say Evans is better, although totally true, would also then be rebutted because he is also yet to prove himself internationally, in that case.
let me rephrase that attacking thing. The Bulls WON the super 14 with Hougaard at flyhalf, he played the perfect blend of attack and control for that season.
I’m sorry, but watch the World Cup loss to Fiji again and then rate Hook. Until he proves to me that he has shed the terrible inconsistency and mental problems I saw that day, he will only ever be a prodigious talent and absolutely not something to be jealous of.
We have several of those in South Africa.
11 Mar 2008, 18:16 pm
Earl Rose … Peter Grant … etc etc etc
11 Mar 2008, 18:18 pm
9
Oh that boy Biggles can invent excuses, he could single-handedly turn that bad habit into an international sport. At least he will be unequalled, giving him the chance to gloat and gloat and gloat. Im sure he believes the sky is down and reality is an illusion.
How can you say Eng lost:
* coz they did not turn up
* it was wet
* Paterson is not missing his goals [please]
* Eng played away from home
The next excuse he is gonna use is, Eng played with stiff d**ks.
11 Mar 2008, 18:26 pm
as an aside, yes, i do rate him as an incredible talent, anyone with any rugby knowledge would watch him play n think ****, this boy can move.
I just disagree with the statement that we do not have the same talent amongst our own players.
it’s just completely and utterly not true.
11 Mar 2008, 19:33 pm
badeesh,
It is when you look at your flyhalves. Flyhalf talent is not a position that other countries envy when they look at South Africa. It’s just not one of your strengths, as can be seen by the Stormers and Sharks bringing in foreign flyhalves
11 Mar 2008, 22:34 pm
.
12 Mar 2008, 07:35 am
Hook is not bad but has a long way to go. His tactical kicking can still improve. The World Champions made him look ordinary in the match at the end of last year. Henson(babyface) actually makes Hook look good.
You guys can’t compare Hook and Hougaard, two very different kinds of flyhalves.
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