So Round 1 went pretty much according to plan depending on who you speak to. According to my Superbru is went 100% according to plan. 
This weeks match ups will be a little easier to predict although some pundits are expecting a nailbiter in the England v Italy clash. 
Supposedly the favourites for the title are France, my money would actually be on Wales or England at the moment. With the inexperienced side that England has they will only get better every week.
Italy: 15 Andrea Masi, 14 Giovanbattista Venditti, 13 Tommaso Benvenuti, 12 Gonzalo Canale, 11 Luke McLean, 10 Kris Burton, 9 Edoardo Gori, 8 Sergio Parisse (captain), 7 Robert Barbieri, 6 Alessandro Zanni, 5 Marco Bortolami, 4 Quintin Geldenhuys, 3 Martin Castrogiovanni, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 1 Andrea Lo Cicero.
Replacements: 16 Tommaso D’Apice, 17 Lorenzo Cittadini, 18 Antonio Pavanello, 19 Mauro Bergamasco, 20 Fabio Semenzato, 21 Tobias Botes, 22 Luca Morisi.
England: 15 Ben Foden, 14 Chris Ashton, 13 Brad Barritt, 12 Owen Farrell, 11 David Strettle, 10 Charlie Hodgson, 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Phil Dowson, 7 Chris Robshaw (captain), 6 Tom Croft, 5 Tom Palmer, 4 Mouritz Botha, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Dylan Hartley, 1 Alex Corbisiero.
Replacements: 16 Rob Webber, 17 Matt Stevens, 18 Geoff Parling, 19 Ben Morgan, 20 Lee Dickson, 21 Jordan Turner-Hall, 22 Mike Brown.
Date: Saturday, February 11
Venue: Stadio Olimpico, Rome
Kick-off: 17:00 (18:00 RSA)
Referee: Jérôme Garces (France)
Assistant referees: George Clancy (Ireland), Neil Paterson (Scotland)
TMO: Tony Redmond (Ireland)
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France: 15 Maxime Medard, 14 Vincent Clerc, 13 Aurelien Rougerie, 12 Wesley Fofana, 11 Julien Malzieu, 10 Francois Trinh-Duc, 9 Morgan Parra, 8 Louis Picamoles, 7 Imanol Harinordoquy, 6 Thierry Dusautoir (captain), 5 Yoann Maestri, 4 Pascal Pape, 3 Nicolas Mas, 2 Dimitry Szarzewski, 1 Jean-Baptiste Poux.
Replacements: 16 William Servat, 17 Vincent Debaty, 18 Lionel Nallet, 19 Julien Bonnaire, 20 Julien Dupuy, 21 Lionel Beauxis, 22 Maxime Mermoz.
Ireland: 15 Rob Kearney, 14 Tommy Bowe, 13 Keith Earls, 12 Gordon D’Arcy, 11 Andrew Trimble, 10 Jonathan Sexton, 9 Conor Murray, 8 Jamie Heaslip, 7 Sean O’Brien, 6 Stephen Ferris, 5 Paul O’Connell (captain), 4 Donncha O’Callaghan, 3 Mike Ross, 2 Rory Best, 1 Cian Healy.
Replacements: 16 Sean Cronin, 17 Tom Court, 18 Donnacha Ryan, 19 Peter O’Mahony, 20 Eoin Reddan, 21 Ronan O’Gara, 22 Fergus McFadden.
Date: Saturday, February 11
Venue: Stade de France, Paris
Kick-off: 21.00 (22.00 RSA)
Referee: Dave Pearson (England)
Assistant referees: Wayne Barnes (England), Andrew Small (England)
TMO: Geoff Warren (England)
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Wales: 15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 Alex Cuthbert, 13 Jonathan Davies, 12 Jamie Roberts, 11 George North, 10 Rhys Priestland, 9 Mike Phillips, 8 Toby Faletau, 7 Sam Warburton (captain), 6 Dan Lydiate, 5 Ian Evans, 4 Ryan Jones, 3 Adam Jones, 2 Huw Bennett, 1 Gethin Jenkins.
Replacements: 16 Ken Owens, 17 Paul James, 18 Lou Reed, 19 Andy Powell, 20 Lloyd Williams, 21 James Hook, 22 Scott Williams.
Scotland: 15 Rory Lamont, 14 Lee Jones, 13 Nick De Luca, 12 Sean Lamont, 11 Max Evans, 10 Greig Laidlaw, 9 Chris Cusiter, 8 David Denton, 7 Ross Rennie, 6 Alasdair Strokosch, 5 Jim Hamilton, 4 Richie Gray, 3 Geoff Cross, 2 Ross Ford (captain), 1 Allan Jacobsen.
Replacements: 16 Scott Lawson, 17 Ed Kalman, 18 Alastair Kellock, 19 John Barclay, 20 Mike Blair, 21 Duncan Weir, 22 Stuart Hogg.
Date: Sunday, February 12
Venue: Millennium Stadium, Cardiff
Kick-off: 15.00 (17.00 RSA)
Referee: Romain Poite (France)
Assistant referees: Peter Fitzgibbon (Ireland), Simon McDowell (Ireland)
TMO: Giulio De Santis (Italy)
My picks England, France and Wales
France v Ireland is going to be a close one
@Mutley (Comment 1) : same or me
It looks like it is snowing Rome, most probably ice rain just before the game….. eish
No points yet after 14 min
Italy are so devoid of ideas that they even kick when they have front foot ball on England’s 22.
Eng 3 – 0 Italy
27min
3-0 to eng. Farrell penalty.
Castro off. Italy severely weakened.
Farrell PK
ENG 6 – 0 Italy
37min
Try from Veditti after a fumble from Eng
Conversion over
ENG 6 – 5 Italy
39 min
Italy leading at half time….
Go Italy….
Forza Italia!
I feel sorry for Italy, if they had a semi-competent fly-half at club level, well then they might have been able to push on.
Italy win and Mallets got da job .
Ironic, eh?
Through Benvenuti Italy score on the half time under posts
ENG 6 – 12 Italy
HALF TIME
Parisse was looking good. Way better than Pierre-I-am-the-future-all-time-greatest-8-Spies.
@King Shark (Comment 17) :
Im sure he is a better 8th man than you …
Is that snow /ice or conffetti ../
England is also about as crap as they come. Were it not for the Scots’ must-lose attitude, they would not have won last week.
Its wierd I despise the Italian football team but have a Cheetah like(secondteam)warm spot for their Rugby Team …aaaai
@King Shark (Comment 21) :
To be fair they rebuilding … but u correct England are pants and Wales France and Ireland will prove it … but they will get alot better as soon as Mallet gets his hands on it .
@csb (Comment 18) : not too tough to beat me
but I know of a certain lion (refer to your avatar) that kicks his but!
No yellow card …. really !
Italy 15 -6
another PK for Italy, over this time
ENG 6 – 15 Italy
47 min
Should have been a yellow
@csb (Comment 18) : and off course, I only played double digit positions
@King Shark (Comment 24) :
I can ‘t wait for him to rip thru this season along with Minnie, Rhodes and Whitley all x Sharks …. we have a world class back row.
and the poms score !!!!
Come Italy
@King Shark (Comment 28) :
Fancy …
bugger 15-13 Italy.
Hodson does like last week, charge down try
Farrell coverts
ENG 13 – 15 Italy
50 min
I was a 9 and 12 … the good looking ones
Bloody try… Want the upset!
Great clearance ..come Italy you can win this dammit !
Can’t believe Lwrence Dallagio said that Parisse deliberately ran into Croft
@King Shark (Comment 33) :
Me too and its there .. pitch looks shocking !
@csb (Comment 32) : Hahaha! If you were a blackout rugby player you would have high agility and handling.
Eng goes ahead through a PK
ENG 16 – 15 Italy
55min
Come Italy do it for Mussolini
@csb (Comment 36) : you talking about the snow or the pitch itself?
@King Shark (Comment 37) :
Low centre of gravity and a keen eye
@Franshark (Comment 40) :
Both ….I think .is it snow ? the pitch looks well like a football pitch short grass..
Truth is Eng should have a man in da bin.
@csb (Comment 42) : its snow, it was solid white at the start of the game
Jassie boys it looks cold there. At least their beers wont get warm!
a penalty for Eng @ scrum time, straight in front
Farrell slots it
ENG 19 – 15 Italy
66 min
Here is where they should take the lineout ..take the game to the opposition ..and it misses horribly !!!
@csb (Comment 47) : decision making… Eish. One reason why I do not back Schalk Burger as bok captain.
Penalty my F%^&*en arse. That Touch judge is making shit up as he goes along.
And karma penalises Italy with a pathetic kick.
Eng scrap past Italy …not good enough.
England will have to improve against the likes of Wales,France and Ireland.
ENG 19 – 15 Italy
FULL TIME in the snow
Final score 19 – 15 England.
England are crap this season, to struggle like that against Italy and Scotland is very telling.
Wales are going to club them like baby seals.
That’s 1 of 1
@KSA Shark © (Comment 53) : I picked Eng to win by 17
@Franshark (Comment 55) : 18 for me.
Got England by 2
SB standings after this game:
1 JarsonX 4 2.0 1.00 1.0 8.00
2 BLOU BLOU BUL 4 2.0 0.25 1.0 7.25
3 Maverick 4 1.5 0.00 1.0 6.50
- pokkel 4 1.5 0.00 1.0 6.50
- Whindy 4 1.5 0.00 1.0 6.50
- pom 4 1.5 0.00 1.0 6.50
- berroos 4 1.5 0.00 1.0 6.50
- Sandshark 4 1.5 0.00 1.0 6.50
- franshark 4 1.5 0.00 1.0 6.50
- Woodster 4 1.5 0.00 1.0 6.50
@JarsonX (Comment 58) : hey look my names also there
Now France and Wales also needs to win
I see the Stormers managed to beat the Mighty Kings just 38-13 a close game by Kings standards
France vs Ireland. Matched postponed due to frozen pitch
They just announced that this game is postponed till a later date due to a frozen pitch …..
ouch to all the people that flew all the way to France to see this game….. see you all later for the sevens
@Mutley (Comment 61) :
Woohoo!
I didn’t get to see it though, damn broadcasting. Does anyone know who the man of the match was?
@Mutley (Comment 61) : The Kings must be having the time of their lives, being the punching bag for the superstars… next its the Sharks turn….. shame
@Leviathan (Comment 64) : you new? welcome at SW,
Damn weather!
Anyone got an SA IP address they can lend me?
Sky aren’t showing the Sevens, and the supersport online thing is only valid in Afica
@Franshark (Comment 66) :
Not new per se. I’ve been swimming in these waters for a few months now, but I rarely surface on the comments section.
Now that my witty metaphor is complete, I’m a Capetonian with the face of an angel, the mind of satan and a body sculpted from solid cake mix.
Stormers fan by day, masked vigilante by night, I fight for the cause of truth, freedom and fewer fat bastards eating all the pie.
I am Leviathan, gaze upon my works ye mighty and…DESPAIR.
@Leviathan (Comment 69) :
Sam Warburton out with a dead leg, Aaron Shingler replaces him with Ryan Jones captain.
@Leviathan (Comment 69) :
If only we all had an intro like that!?
@Leviathan (Comment 69) : Awesome intro. So how about an avatar?
Wales looking dangerous. Serious attacking intent.
Wonderful first quarter for Scotland esp considering they’re away from home.
3-0 for the Scots after a great passage of attacking play.
And in other news: the t-rex cake was a resounding success! Wife seized the remote during a moment of weakness… I need pvr.
The Scottish distribution has been of a very high standard
Penalty each at half time. Scots doing well.
NH rugby sucks big time! Friggen boring. The commentators get excited because Scotland were about to score their 1st try in 5 games…..and then they didn’t!
I’m so hungry for rugby but this does nothing for me.
@Pokkel (Comment 80) : Disappointing for my 1st game on my new LED TV.
I must say I really enjoy Mallet’s in studio viewpoints. He adds a lot more insight than a lot of the SS locals who struggle to analyse games in a meaningful way.
@King Shark (Comment 73) :
I don’t really know how to upload one.
Wonder if I can find a picture of a ninja ferret somewhere around here?
Hi guys, what’s happening, hows the game so far, missed the first half
Wales 14 score,
conversion over
Wales 10 – 3 Scotland
44 min
@Leviathan (Comment 83) : do you make use of a pc
Halfpenny for PK
Over
Wales 13 – 3 Scotland
46 min
13-3 for Wales. Scots cannot buy a win. Yellow carded too.
Scott’s PK
Wales 13 – 6 Scotland
48 min
13-6
Halfpenny in for a try,
And converts his own try
Wales 20 – 6 Scotland
52 min
Second scot in the sin bin- rory lamont
another sin bin for the Scott’s 13 and 15
Pity 6N has no bonus points…
Wales scrum 5m out
13 back on
De luca back so scots ony one man down.
Brace for Halfpenny.
halfpenny in for his 2nd try
And wales and halfpenny reaping the rewards of playing against 14 scots as he scores his 2nd try.
Things are looking ominous for Scotland.
Conversion over
Wales 27 – 6 Scotland
57 min
Wales back in Scottish 22.
Pen to scots in their 22
Bad bad call by the ref as scots are denied a try
pity for Scott’s that the rev can’t ask if that was a knock
Try!!!!! Scotland
this time they score
Try scorer converts
conversion over
Wales 27 – 13 Scotland
65 min
Scotland coming back strongly
Pen to wales
@bergshark (Comment 106) : its bad, but he can only call what he can see
Halfpenny kicks ..and it is miss
missed PK
9 min left and the scots trail by 14
can’t believe that this Hogg guy is not starting for Scotland
Hogg calls for the mark and kicks it up to the welsh 10m line.wales line out.
Scots have pen adv
Almost another scottish try but the bounce of the ball eludes the flyhalf.hint of obstructive running though
Pen adv to scots in welsh 22
Just under 3 mins left
@bergshark (Comment 110) : oopsie,no it wasn’t :$
FULL TIME
Wales 27 – 13 Scotland
Considering the Scots reputation for incredibly burly men in skirts swinging seven foot claymores, it’s amazing how weak they are in the physical exchanges.
Rest in peace Whitney
Ok 2 from 2
The round 2 game that was abandoned cause off the frozen pitch between France and Ireland is now on SS1
And the HALF TIME score is
France 6 – 17 Ireland
FULL TIME
France 17 – 17 Ireland
@Franshark (Comment 131) : The final nail in my SB coffin for the weekend.
