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Preview: Six Nations B, Round 2

It’s the second round of Rugby Europe’s Championship, sometimes referred to the Six Nations B, as like the “other” one there are six countries taking part.

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The match evoking most interest will be between two Round 1 winners – Georgia and Spain who meet in Tbilisi. It would be a great achievement for Spain if they were to win.

Results, Round 1

Georgia vs Romania, 18-9
Belgium vs Germany, 29-22
Spain vs Russia, 16-14

Fixtures, Round 2

Romania vs Germany
Russia vs Belgium
Georgia vs Spain

Details

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Romania vs Germany

For the second week in a row, Romania are at home this weekend when Germany come to play.

Last year, when the teams met in Romania, the Oaks had a massive victory,85–6

From last week, Romania has made six changes to its starting team and another four to the bench. This has meant the loss of the experience of Catalin Fercu, Valentin Calafeteanu and Andrei Ursache.

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Germany have lost experienced Raynor Parkinson, their flyhalf since 2010 and their main source of points. Hagen Schulkte has moved from inside centre to flyhalf in Parkinson’s place. Wynston Cameron-Dow has moved from outside to inside centre and Vito Lammers comes in at outside centre.

Teams

Romania: 15 Ionel Melinte, 14 Vladut Zaharia, 13 Popa Vladut, 12 Florin Vlaicu, 11 Ionut Dumitru , 10 Daniel Plai, 9 Florin Surugiu, 8 Andre Gorin, 7 Adrian Ion, 6 Mihai Macovei (captain), 5 Marius Antonescu, 4 Johan van Heerden, 3 Alexandru Tarus, 2 Eugen Capatana, 1 Constantin Pristavita
Replacements: 16 Ovidiu Cojocaru, 17 Alexandru Savin, 18 Alexandru Gordas, 19 Dorin Lazar, 20 Cristi Chirica, 21 Alexandru Tigla , 22 Alexandru Bucur, 23 Marius Simionescu

Germany: 15 Harris Aounallah, 14 Nilkolai Klewinghaus, 13 Vito Lammers, 12 Wynston Cameron-Dow, 11 Felix Lammers, 10 Hagen Schulte, 9 Tim Menzel, 8 Sebastian Ferreira (captain), 7 Jacobus Otto, 6 Emil Rupf, 5 Jorn Schroder, 4 Eric Marks , 3 Sammy Fuchsel, 2 Kurt Haupt, 1 Julias Nostadt
Replacements: 16 Dasch Barber, 17 Tobias Williams, 18 Matthias Schosser, 19 Elias Haase, 20 Felix Martel, 21 Morné Laubscher, 22 Eden Syme, 23 Samuel Harris

Date: Saturday, 16 February 2019
Kick-off: 14.00
Venue: Stadion Municipal Botosani, Romania
Expected weather conditions: Cold. Partly cloudy with a high of 7°, dropping to -1°C.
Referee: Nika Amashukeli (Georgia)
Assistant referees: Tornike Gvirjishvili (Georgia), Irakli Tchanukvadze (Georgia)

Russia vs Belgium

Last year, Russia won 48-7.

Russia has made many changes. Only one of the pack has survived from last week, Tagir Gadziev, and he has shifted from lock to flank. Iurii Kushnarev, flyhalf and goal-kicker, is still there, but at fullback in the place of Vasily Artemiev. Vladimir Ostroushko, who scored both of Russia’s tries last week, is no longer there.

The only survivor on the bench is Andrei Polivalov and he has moved from hooker to prop. But experienced Viktor Gresev is on his way back.

The Belgians have done in like manner, changing most of their team. The changes include moving Vincent Hart from flyhalf to fullback and Bertrand Billi from prop to flank.

Teams

Russia: 15 Iurii Kushnarev, 14 German Davydov, 13 Mikhail Babaev, 12 Dmitrii Gerasimov, 11 Vladislav Sozonov, 10 Ramil Gaisin, 9 Vasily Dorofeev, 8 Anton Rudoi, 7 Tagir Gadziev, 6 Andrey Temnov, 5 Evgeny Elgin, 4 Andrei Garbuzov, 3 Innokentiy Zykov, 2 Valery Tsnobiladze, 1 Sergey Sekisov
Replacements: 16 Nazir Gasanov, 17 Andrei Polivalov, 18 Magomed Davudov, 19 Bogdan Fedotko, 20 Viktor Gresev, 21 Alexey Shcherban, 22 Igor Galinovskyi, 23 Aleksandr Budychenko

Belgium: 15 Vincent Hart, 14 Thomas Wallraf, 13 Guillaume Piron, 12 Nathan Bontems, 11 Louis Debatty, 10 Sébastien Guns, 9 Julien Berger, 8 Thomas Demolder, 7 Amin Hamzaoui, 6 Bertrand Billi, 5 Sven D’Hooghe, 4 Moelants, 3 Alexis Cuffolo, 2 Thomas Dienst, 1 Lucas Sotteau
Replacements: 16 Max Dubois, 17 Bastien Gallaire, 18 Guillaume Mortier, 19 Maxime Temmerman, 20 Eliott van Trappen, 21 Tom Cocqu, 22 Isaac Montoisy, 23 Romain Pinte

Date: Saturday, 16 February 2019
Kick-off: 13.00
Venue: Krasnodar
Expected weather conditions: It’s hard to believe that it is actually a warmer part of Russia with a high of 4°C and a low of 1° on a partly cloudy day.
Referee: Cristian Serban (Romania)
Assistant referees: Alexandru Ionescu (Romania), Madalin Girbau (Romania)

Georgia vs Spain

In February 2018, Georgia beat Spain 23-10 in Tbilisi.

By comparison with other teams in the competition, the Lelos of Georgia are circumspect. They have injuries and the four replacements have come from the bench. One of the players who has had to be replaced is the captain Merab Sharikadze.

Spain has also behaved relatively circumspectly. There is a  noteworthy change at flyhalf where Valladolid’s Álvar Gimeno comes in to replace South African Andrew Norton, who is on the bench. Born in Spain, Gimeno went to New Zealand with his parents when he was 12 and developed much of his rugby there. After school in Christchurch, he returned to Spain and played for the Spanish Under-20 team. He was first capped for Spain in 1916 and  is now 22.

Teams

Georgia: 15 Lasha Khmaladze, 14 Giorgi Aptsiauri, 13 Zurabi Dzneladze, 12 Giorgi Kveseladze, 11 Alexander Todua, 10 Tedo Abzhandadze, 9 Vasil Lobzhanidze, 8 Beka Gorgadze, 7 Giorgi Tsutskiridze, 6 Giorgi Tkhilaishvili, 5 Giorgi Nemsadze (captain), 4 Nodar Cheishvili, 3 Levan Chilachava, 2 Shalva Mamukashvili, 1 Guram Gogichashvili
Replacements: 16 Giorgi Chkoidze, 17 Beka Gigashvili, 18 Giorgi Melikidze, 19 Grigor Kerdikoshvili, 20 Giorgi Javakhia, 21 Giorgi Begadze, 22 Lasha Malaguradze, 23 Mirian Modebadze

Spain: 15 Lucas Levy, 14 Jordi Jorba, 13 Andrea Rábago, 12 Richard Stewart, 11 Julen Goia, 10 Álvar Gimeno, 9 Lucas Rubio, 8 Michael Hogg, 7 Victor Sánchez, 6 Lucas Guillame, 5 Manu Mora, 4 Mickaël De Marco, 3 Xerom Civil, 2 Stephen Barnes, 1 Fernando López
Replacements: 16 Joaquín-Manuel Domínguez, 17 Vicente del Hoyo, 18 Mike Walker-Fitton, 19 Oier Goia, 20 Facundo Munilla, 21 Andrew Norton, 22 Federico Casteglioni, 23 Jon Zabala

Date: Sunday, 17 February 2019
Kick-off: 18.00
Venue: Avchala Stadium, Tbilisi
Expected weather conditions: Overcast with a high of 7°C, dropping to 2°C
Referee: Christophe Ridley (England)
Assistant referees: Jack Makepeace (England), Tim Wigglesworth (England)

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