‘Six Nations draw favours Wales’ – Joe Schmidt

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Ireland head coach Joe Schmidt believes Wales are the team to beat in this year’s Six Nations and said the draw has been kind to Warren Gatland’s side.

Although Wales only play two matches at home, Schmidt’s charges head to Cardiff in a potential tournament decider in the final round on March 16.

“The draw that Wales have got is a friendly draw for them,” Schmidt told the Irish Examiner.

“I think that Gats said it publicly recently that it is well set up for them and if they can win that first game he said, ‘I think we will win the Championship’.

“It was a bit like us last year, we went away France first up, won that one and, while we didn’t probably say it as publicly or as openly as Gats did, we knew we were in with a chance to win the Championship because we felt we’ve defended our home turf really well.

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“We’ve yet to lose a Six Nations game over the last five years there so we’ll be doing our utmost to try and maintain that when England come to town.

“And Wales are the same, they’re very hard to beat in the Millennium.

“We get them after a six-day turnaround after France who always have a toll, it’s always an attritional game against France.

“They’ll back themselves because they were very close to beating England last year, there wasn’t much in that game at all, it was a one-score game, so getting England at home…I think it is wide open.”

Elsewhere, there’s been another busy day in the rugby union game as the other four teams announced their sides for the opening round of the 2019 Six Nations.

What’s on the site

Manu Tuilagi has returned to the England starting line-up for the first time in over four years. He will be at centre alongside Henry Slade while Elliot Daly fends off the competition from Mike Brown to feature at full-back.

Talking of the 15 shirt and Robbie Henshaw will be opposite Daly after Joe Schmidt selected his side to face the Red Rose. Other than that, there are not too many notable picks, although Josh van der Flier does get in ahead of Sean O’Brien, while Dave Kilcoyne gets the nod over Jack McGrath on the bench.

Elsewhere, Scotland have handed a debut to Sam Johnson for the game against Italy, while the Azzurri have picked Michele Campagnaro on the wing, with Tommaso Castello and Luca Morisi combining at centre.

Finally, the Six Nations kicks off on Friday and we have previewed the France v Wales encounter in Paris.

What’s in the news

Head coaches Warren Gatland and Joe Schmidt have given their thoughts on the Six Nations, with the Ireland boss claiming that the draw favours Gatland and Wales.

Meanwhile, Ulster have announced that they have signed lock Sam Carter ahead of the 2019/20 season. The Wallaby lock has earned 16 caps in total after making his debut against France in 2014.

Finally, Nemani Nadolo has announced his retirement from international rugby after starring for Fiji over the past eight years.

What’s on social media

Even those based in the southern hemisphere are looking forward to the Six Nations. Let’s hope it doesn’t disappoint.

What’s on TV

It is all about the Six Nations for the next month-and-a-half and the games will be shown on either the BBC or ITV. This weekend the former have France v Wales and Scotland v Italy while ITV will broadcast the gargantuan meeting between Ireland and England.

The domestic competitions in Europe are therefore on a break right now but BT Sport are showing the Premiership Rugby Cup, which has Worcester Warriors v Wasps, while the Sevens continues on Sky Sports.

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