6 Nations affects which Rabo team the most.

I want us to take into account the following

Number of first team players lost
Then who are the repalcements for those players

If they are losing key areas eg. the front row, the back row etc.

I would say Treviso are the worse hit with Connacht probably the least affected.

Obviously injuries will have to play a part awell such as having your first choice second row out injured and your second choice away on international duty leaving you with boys.

I'd say based on this year, Glasgow, Treviso and Leinster are hardest hit.

Glasgow will be without two full front rows, most of their half backs, their first choice centres, wingers and full back as well as their captain. 20 players in the Scottish squad, after the newest call-ups today...

The front row is one are if you have boys on you'll lose.

It makes their win over Dragons more impressive

Everyone is struggling. Can't deny it. Hard to say if any one team is more affected than t'other.

Edinburgh aren't affected at all. Equally bollix with or without our international players.

I went for Treviso. They lose a whole bunch of players and the replacements are usually duff.

In the past Edinburgh and galsgow were really badly affected as two teams provided the bulk of the international squad compared to 4 for ireland and wales. However this year they have strengthened the squads and with half an eye to the international window so getting good players who will not get international callups. Seems to have worked as well.

TJ wrote:However this year they have strengthened the squads and with half an eye to the international window so getting good players who will not get international callups. Seems to have worked as well.

When you say "they" you mean Glasgow......

:-) Mind you I haven't noticed any dip in Edinburghs performance...............

Treviso by far, they lost first choice players in each position from 1 to 15 and 2 or 3 players on the bench.

The Dragons, no question. Our players do not get called up though, generally. Instead I think they go on the lash during the 6 nations which renders them more useless than usual. That's how it seems anyway. They were all half cut vs Glasgow (taking nothing away from Glasgow mind !

I am with Griff on this.The results speak for themselves!

The Scarlets lose a pretty few.
First and second choice hookers, at least one backrow forward, frequently the scrum half, outside half (injured now I know), inside centre, outside centre, wing and fullback. So our scrum gets knackered and our entire first choice backs apart from one wing.

Ulster are missing 25 players total - injuries and International call ups - that is huge

Mostly injuries though jeff!!!

Hard to argue against Treviso, hardest hit and squad depth is one of the lowest anyway. Leinster and Glasgow lose players too but have far more depth and bigger budgets in comparison.

Funny how the Dragons have struggled since the 6N started, I think there are a certain few players really struggling with not being picked, Evans, Prydie, Evans and Evans are especially dire in comparison to January form!!

Mostly - but 12 Ulster players have been called up for Irish 6N squads.

(10 for the current squad)

Ospreys

Adam
Hibbard
AWJ
Ianto
Ryan
Tipuric

That's just the forwards - which of course is the bedrock of your team

Also i think there is something wrong, i mean Parisse and Beattie and others probably were playing for their clubs in top 14 last weekend, why this doesn't happen in the rabo?

One situation affects the other. More players unavailable due to internationals means more pressure to rush players back from injury. More chance of them getting re-injured.

I opposed the inclusion of the Italian sides in that I thought it would be too many fixtures. But with less fixtures and- most likely- less sides in the premier ERC competition, the league may not be sustainable. The future of the Pro12 is one thing. For now, we just have to battle on. No excuses.

overlordofthewest wrote:The Scarlets lose a pretty few.
First and second choice hookers, at least one backrow forward, frequently the scrum half, outside half (injured now I know), inside centre, outside centre, wing and fullback. So our scrum gets knackered and our entire first choice backs apart from one wing.

I think we lose a few, but I am not sure it hampers us as such. If you look at the last few weeks we have had pretty much our first choice pack (bar hookers) and the backs we have been feilding are so keen to prove they are up to ousting the slightly out of form international player that they are upping their game. I actually think the International windows may be of a benifit to us.

RubyGuby wrote:Ospreys

Adam
Hibbard
AWJ
Ianto
Ryan
Tipuric

That's just the forwards - which of course is the bedrock of your team

You forgot Bevington and Goode too.

Bevington - Hibbard - Jones
Evans - AWJ
Goode - R Jones - Tipuric

That is a pretty handy pack right there, and would probably be capable of beating Connacht

VinceWLB wrote:Also i think there is something wrong, i mean Parisse and Beattie and others probably were playing for their clubs in top 14 last weekend, why this doesn't happen in the rabo?

It does happen in the Rabo - at least as far as the Irish are concerned.

Ulster were able to play Court, Stephenson, Henry, Henderson, L.Marshall, Cave, Jackson, Fitzpatrick against Zebre - only the starting 15 are not allowed to play in the off weekends - in our case Best and Gilroy.

Well it's certainly not a Welsh region - you'd need a microscope to notice a dip in performance. All our regions were rubbish at the start of the season, rubbish during the AI's and still rubbish now.

I think it a will come down to miss,

Team 'A' could be missing loads of players but have the depth and quality to still field a very good team.

Team 'B' could only miss one or two players but they could be the heartbeat of the team, and irreplaceable for them.

In that regards I'd same Treviso, as they miss a lot like Team 'A' and those missing arn't replaced by quality like team 'B'.

Poor Treviso, but they'll learn fro this year and focus on depth for next year.

geoff998rugby wrote:

VinceWLB wrote:Also i think there is something wrong, i mean Parisse and Beattie and others probably were playing for their clubs in top 14 last weekend, why this doesn't happen in the rabo?

It does happen in the Rabo - at least as far as the Irish are concerned.

Ulster were able to play Court, Stephenson, Henry, Henderson, L.Marshall, Cave, Jackson, Fitzpatrick against Zebre - only the starting 15 are not allowed to play in the off weekends - in our case Best and Gilroy.

Yeah but Parisse and Beattie are definite starters for Italy and Scotland and they started with their club too, you don't see Heaslip playing for Leinster, or maybe it's just top 14 sides that don't care much about their players' management.

VinceWLB wrote:

geoff998rugby wrote:

VinceWLB wrote:Also i think there is something wrong, i mean Parisse and Beattie and others probably were playing for their clubs in top 14 last weekend, why this doesn't happen in the rabo?

It does happen in the Rabo - at least as far as the Irish are concerned.

Ulster were able to play Court, Stephenson, Henry, Henderson, L.Marshall, Cave, Jackson, Fitzpatrick against Zebre - only the starting 15 are not allowed to play in the off weekends - in our case Best and Gilroy.

Yeah but Parisse and Beattie are definite starters for Italy and Scotland and they started with their club too, you don't see Heaslip playing for Leinster, or maybe it's just top 14 sides that don't care much about their players' management.

Surely this has something to do with the WRU & IRFU have agreements with their Regions and Provinces which allows the players not to be played, AWJ played 60 minutes.

They do not have agreements with any clubs outside of the control.

Glasgow is also losing two key players to the Scotland U20 squad in Ickle Jonny and the Messiah.

Ulster and Treviso also seem to be eating it during this window.