From the Touchlines: Six Nations predictions

Wales are the form side in this Six Nations. The defending champions have two wins out of two and, despite a mixed display against England two weekends ago, still scrapped out the win.

In contrast, France have struggled to make their mark in this year's tournament. They were beaten and comfortably outplayed by Ireland and were far from convincing against Scotland. But the French are a funny side who flatter to deceive and usually spark into life when you least expect.

It may go against the form book, but we're backing the French to derail Wales at the Stade de France - the first Friday night game in the history of the tournament - and end Warren Gatland's side run of eight consecutive wins in the Six Nations.

Saturday's big game between Ireland and England at Croke Park sees the Irish as strong favourites for victory and, despite a resurgent-looking England two weekends ago, there is little to suggest that they have enough in the tank to beat the Irish.

The final game of the weekend - between Scotland and Italy - should see the Scots come away victorious. If they don't, head coach Frank Hadden might be heading off into the sunset with his P45.

Here's our Six Nations predictions for the weekend:

France 21-19 Wales
Ireland 29-15 England
Scotland 32-18 Italy

Do you agree with our predictions? Post yours below and any comments you have about this weekend's games.

From the Touchlines: Flood is Goode move

Martin Johnson caused a stir when he first unveiled Andy Goode as his first-choice fly-half for England's Six Nations campaign.

A try just 90 seconds into that experiment by his Leicester team-mate against Italy indicated he might well have played a blinder.

But since then, some fine touches and real creative sparks have been overshadowed by a mixture of indecision and some bizarre indiscipline - most noticeably his recent sin-binning.

Johnson has finally seen the light and replaced him with the man who took Goode's shirt at the Tigers, Toby Flood. There might still be those clamouring for Danny Cipriani but, whatever your viewpoint, dropping Goode from the starting XV makes good sense.

Goode hardly holds the creative key to England going towards the 2011 World Cup. That looks likely to be a straight scrap between Flood and Cipriani. And Johnson has not been too proud to admit the Goode trial has not been a wholehearted success.

As the sole change from the team that ran Wales close two weekends ago, it's perhaps harsh that Goode has been marked out as the scapegoat but that's not Johnson's intention.

Perhaps the one area where Johnson could have made an additional change is at No.8. Nick Easter lacks the spark to take England forward in their new attempts at attacking, running rugby. The more ambitious move would have been to move James Haskell to the base of the scrum and bring Tom Croft off the bench. But I guess it's a case of one step at a time...

What are your thoughts on Martin Johnson's latest England squad? Is Toby Flood the right man to start at fly-half? And did the England management need to make other changes in the wake of the Wales defeat? Post your comments below.

Football blog: It's crunch time

We are finally down to the important part of the Champions League - the knockout stages...... oops I mean round of 16 as Uefa have officially called it.

On Tuesday night, Manchester United earned a 0-0 draw against Inter Milan at the San Siro but created enough chances to win the first leg. Meanwhile, Arsenal were also wasteful in front of goal but do hold a narrow advantage in their tie against Roma after a 1-0 victory at the Emirates.

Tonight, it's Liverpool and Chelsea's turn to fly the flag for English clubs. Personally I think 

Liverpool have had their chips. The Reds are in poor form while Real Madrid haven't lost in the league in nine, their last result was a 6-1 win, not the team I’d want to face if I was Rafa Benitez, who is favourite with bookmakers to get the chop.

Elsewhere, Chelsea are still in the Guus Hiddink honeymoon period and that should be enough to see off Claudio Ranieri's Juventus over two legs.

What do you reckon Liverpool and Chelsea fans, am I right or wrong? What are your predictions? Post your thoughts below.

Football blog: Punish cheating Ronaldo

It's high time somebody did something to bring down Cristiano Ronaldo a peg or two. Against Blackburn he scored a brilliant winnner, but his disgusting acts before that should have prevented him having the chance to whack home a glorious free-kick.

The winger's petulant kick at David Dunn is not the first of its kind this season - and, incredibly, referees seem to keep missing them. Are they scared to send him off? Scared of Sir Alex Ferguson?

At least Howard Webb had the decency to book Ronaldo for diving, perhaps the most base form of cheating. Diving is so clearly at the forefront of many players' minds. Morten Gamst Pedersen emphasised this when he decided to fall over after a slight touch on his shoulder. Had he been thinking about scoring the one-on-one instead of shirking the responsibility, he might have earned a point for Blackburn.

A tough stance from Fifa, Uefa and all national governing bodies on this issue is long overdue; handing out a three-game ban to anyone caught diving would be a start, but it will never happen. Fines mean nothing to do these millionaires.

And a clampdown on the dark side of Ronaldo's game might encourage the thrilling Portugal international to concentrate his mind on his dazzling ball skills.

Nelson's Column: England draw Test

A wonderful Test match maybe, but an equally wonderful chance to level the series has been tossed away by a series of blunders from captain Andrew Strauss and coach Andy Flower.

Firstly, an aggressive, confident skipper/coach would have enforced the follow-on. Strauss argued that Andrew Flintoff was unfit and Steve Harmison ill, but only 11 overs were available that night, which James Anderson and Stuart Broad could have bowled. Flintoff was never going to be fit and Harmison was fine next morning. Even if the Windies had made 400, that would have left England needing only 120 to win on a very flat wicket. If you can't get that, you deserve to lose.

Secondly, sending out a nightwatchman when effectively 300 for one was, quite simply, the most idiotic decision made at Test level since Ian Salisbury was recalled years ago. James Anderson did all he could, but his swishing wasted an hour. A crucial hour.

Thirdly, England didn't need 500; 450 would have been sufficient. The extra overs used in the pursuit of those unnecessary 50 runs was again costly.

Despite all this and Flintoff's inability to bowl the number of overs Strauss would have liked, England still should have won. The sad fact is that England don't possess match-winning bowlers. Not one of those five in action in Antigua averages below 29. England should have bowled out the Windies in 130 overs, but Strauss should have given his men 140 at least.

The Premier League title race...Your view

Fulham became the latest team to be brushed aside by the rampaging Red Devils this week when Roy Hodgson’s side were beaten comprehensively at Old Trafford.

Three goals, yet another clean sheet and a sparkling performance helped United to extend their lead at the top to five points.

There doesn’t look to be any stopping Fergie’s troops. Arsenal have been out of the picture for months, Chelsea have hit the self-destruct button and Liverpool just can’t keep up. Meanwhile, despite performing admirably this season, even the most optimistic of Villa fans know that a Champions League spot is their best hope.

It looks like another dominating season for the English, European and World champions with Paddy Power already having the cheek to pay out on United winning the domestic treble.

Do you think the title is in the bag for United? Or will there be a late twist? Send in your comments in the boxes below.

Daily F1 gossip column: your view

Check out Thursday's gossip from our F1 insider who reveals that the sun may not have set on hopes for a night race in Malaysia.

Read more by clicking here and then send in your F1 views using the boxes below.

From the Touchlines: England player exodus

Wasps are reeling from the exit of three of their star men: Riki Flutey, James Haskell (pictured lef), Tom Palmer. Allied to Rafael Ibanez announcing his retirement, and it's been a pretty woeful week for the London club.

But the Wasps exodus is not just worrying for the club alone. The simple fact is that Flutey, Haskell and Palmer were offered triple their salaries to move across The Channel to France and, with the Guinness Premiership salary cap, their current employers just couldn't compete.

There is a partial plus in that it will, in theory, give some younger England talents the chance to break through the ranks at Wasps... but that is scant consolation. Flutey, Haskell and Palmer's departure is bad news for English rugby.

The Guinness Premiership clubs have an agreement with the Rugby Football Union to release England squad members for international training. French clubs don't have the same rules and you can be certain that Brive, who will employ Flutey, and Stade Francais, who will be bankrolling Haskell and Palmer, are unlikely to give up players they are reportedly playing £300,000 a year all that readily.

You can't blame the players for chasing the money in a career that seems to be getting shorter and shorter but unfortunately more and more big cheques being written by French club's money men, more and more big names look certain to dash across The Channel and, for an England team in transition, that can only be detrimental.

What do you make of the player exodus to France? Should Flutey, Haskell and Palmer showed loyalty or are they right to further their careers and bank balances elsewhere?

Nelson's Column: First day abandoned

Cricket moans about the increasing obsession with Twenty20, but events at Antigua will only increase the migration from Test cricket.

Farce doesn't begin to explain the abandonment of day one of the second Test after just 10 balls. A shambles is perhaps more apt. Embarrassing, disgraceful, incompetent all fit the bill too.

Pundits and players alike were aware of the sub-standard, sandy outfield well before Jerome Taylor and Fidel Edwards proved it was impossible to run in and bowl. Neither side were able to train. Shouldn't that raise the alarm?

So why was the venue not changed? Why wasn't the Test delayed until it was fit for use? This is supposedly the pinnacle of the game. Unbelievable stupidity has taken place here. The ICC and the Windies authorities, who blundered so badly when the World Cup was staged in the Caribbean two years ago, have messed it up yet again.

And what about the English fans who saved up their pennies and prepared for a dream holiday in the West Indies? I'm sure they would rather see their team, not the ground and hapless cricket officialdom, turn it into a nightmare.

Can Test cricket survive such embarrassments? Who is to blame? Send in your views using the boxes below.

From the Touchlines: Six Nations predictions

It would be a massive surprise if Warren Gatland didn't have the biggest smile come 7pm at the Millennium Stadium on Saturday. Such is the gulf between his Welsh side and England at present, they would be overwhelming favourites to win even if the match was played at Twickenham.

Against a weak Italy, England had less possession and looked disjointed. Wales, in contrast, appeared fluid and full of running and imagination against a good Scottish side.

Team selections this week make it crystal clear that both teams intend to apply the same sort of gameplan. Wales will run the ball wide to their talented backs, while England - with selections such as Joe Worsley - will aim to trundle through the forwards.

This week Gatland said England's obsession with keeping it tight meant they were Leicester in disguise, although a poorer version of the club outfit. That may seem harsh but his observation that England are too negative and may well have even gone back a step since the November internationals is spot on.

As a result, expect Wales to run rings around England and the scoreline aptly reflecting that. As for the other games, the Scots - for all their promise - are unlikely to unsettle their French hosts at the Stade de France - while Italy will be overpowered by the Irish in Rome.

Anyway, here's our predictions for the weekend:

Wales 27-12 England

France 29-15 Scotland

Italy 10-33 Ireland

Do you agree or do you think we're way off the mark? Post your predictions and comments below.