This February the Rugby season continues as normal for most of the English teams as they try and get the best out of the domestic matches as they start to come towards the last leg of the season. There is no European Rugby for a couple of months. We do however have the 2012 6 Nations starting this month. So what’s on in February.
6 Nations
Right from the start of February the 2012 6 Nations starts. Each team will be playing 3 times this month. England start away at Scotland before a visit to Italy and then a home match against Wales at the end of the month.
For a detail preview of England’s 6 Nations go to
https://sweetengland.wordpress.com/2012/02/04/6-nations-preview/
Aviva Premiership
Even though the 6 Nations has started that doesn’t mean that the Aviva Premiership stops. The teams might have lost some of their stars player to their country teams but they will still be pushing for all the points they can get. There are 3 League matches being played this month. There are some good matches to look forward to. On the 11th of Feb there is the West London Derby between league leaders Harlequins and London Irish. Newcastle Falcons come down south for an important regulation match against Bath. For Newcastle it is a must win match if they are to stay up. Leicester Tigers go to Sandy Park to see if they can get revenge against an Exeter Chiefs team that beat them at Welford road early in the season.
The next week on Saturday we have the West England derby when Bath host Gloucester. The following day we have 2 mite’s of English rugby facing up. Saracens will look to take out a potential title challenger when the Tigers come to Town. If Tigers lose they will be all but out of the race for 1st.
In the last big match of the month Northampton Saints come to London to face London Irish with both team fighting for the playoffs and with Northampton still hoping they can have a go at the top spot.
The LV Cup
The English and Welsh teams will be playing their last games of the Pools to see who makes it through to the Semi’s. The last Pool Matches are being played on the 4th and 5th of February. If Bath beat Exeter they are defiantly through. They also have a good chance of going through even if they loss. This is because Saracens need to beat Newport Dragons by a bonus point to just draw level with Bath. Then it will be down to tries scored and that could be close. If Exeter do win and they might, due to the home advantage. Then they will be hoping that Northampton are stopped by Wasps which is unlikely. Exeter will probably need the help of a bonus point win.
If Leicester Tigers beat Newcastle Falcons, which they should then they will be in the semi’s. If they don’t then London Irish will have a chance of taking that spot but they will have to beat Gloucester and Gloucester are fighting for qualification themselves. They will be looking to beat Irish and try and overhaul a flying Scarlets. They will need to do so with a bonus point win. Sale are the team facing the Scarlets and they will just be playing for pride because they have no chance to qualify. Harlequins have a very outside chance of qualifying and will need to beat Cardiff blues away. Cardiff are already out and will not be fielding a strong team. With Harlequins being such outsiders for the semi’s there is a chance they may rest players and give the young and inexperienced players a go so that they can keep their big boys fit for the Premiership battle they are going to have over the next couple of months.
What are you looking forward to this month?
SweetEngland 