The French team seems the most obvious place to start, with their fixture at home to Italy the most clear cut in terms of which side will win – it’s worth putting the maximum four French players in the side to benefit from the ‘winning team’ points.

No team has yet been able to cut loose against the Italians, so it may not be a try-fest, but I’d still want some French backs in my team. Mathieu Bastereaud has been demoted to the bench for this weekend’s game, so we need to look elsewhere – his replacement David Marty could be a good option with a point to prove after all the over-rated hype about Bastereaud. His centre partner Yanick Jauzion has also been looking promising, and is a favourite with the BBC commentators who usually go for an obvious Man of the Match.

Clement Poitrenaud is also worth a look, and he’s been in great form at full-back looking to run the ball back more often than kicking. If Italy continue with their tactics of kicking deep, Poitrenaud may be able to counter-attack and score some valuable points for your Dream Team.

I’d also pick Morgan Parra as the kicker, just in case France do run up a big score and he’s knocking over conversions all afternoon; and Imanol Harinordoquy is another player in fine form and he’s usually a good candidate for the MoM award as well.

I’ve got a feeling that Scotland v England will be a low-scoring affair, so I’d look at the Ireland v Wales game for more players that could earn you try-scoring points – particularly if Wales remember to play for 80 minutes and it turns into an exciting exhibition of running rugby.

Jonny Sexton is worth considering as your fly-half – he should be better at home than he was at Twickenham, and offers another choice for kicker if you pick Parra. Tommy Bowe has been in try-scoring form, whilst Brian O’Driscoll is another MoM magnet, and a sentimental award on his 100th cap is certainly not out of the question. I would also pick one of the Irish back row, which is one of Ireland’s key strengths – Stephen Ferris or Jamie Heaslip appear to be the best options, since David Wallace has been suffering from a slight dip in form lately.

For Wales, Shane Williams is hard to ignore, although Leigh Halfpenny has also been scoring tries on the other wing – it’s a 50/50 call as to which one you go for, but one of the two is essential. Depending on your other selections from France and Ireland, James Hook could be a good option in the centres, and I’ve got a feeling he and Jamie Roberts will be determined to prove a few people wrong.

Once you’ve filled your quota from these three teams, I’d then fill up the remaining places with English and Scottish players. Dan Cole, James Haskell, Euan Murray, Johnnie Beattie and John Barclay are potential MoM candidates in what will probably be a forward dominated game, but I wouldn’t expect big Fantasy returns from this one.

Let us know what changes you might be making this week, and let’s see if we can help Tom claim the top prize!

Turn up they most certainly have in the tournament to date. Granted they have only turned up for half a game at a time but it has been more than enough to see off Scotland, Ireland and Wales. From the moment Marc Lievremont announced his side for the opening game, the intent to play a direct, abrasive, physical game has been clear. This, allied to the traditional pace, skill and flair which the French cannot help but bring when their tails are up, has produced a level of performance with which their rivals have been unable to live.

Their success, as with many of the most successful teams in the modern era, has been built upon a largely impenetrable defence. Their stifling, smothering blitz defence has squeezed the life out of attack after attack, often some yards back from their origin. Wales’s much-vaunted blitz defence was made to look pedestrian when compared to its French counterpart. Dave Ellis, the France defence coach who hails from similar rugby league stock to Shaun Edwards, must take a great deal of credit, not least because the central element to a successful defensive structure is discipline, something not always readily associated with France.

The habit of taking the foot off the pedal when the game is all but won has meant that the scorelines do not fully record their dominance. A more telling statistic is that they have won the first half of the 3 games by a cumulative margin of 52-9 and six tries to nil. It is hard to argue with that.

Only then have they let up. French supporters must be frustrated by their lack of ruthlessness in the second half of matches but they can have no qualms about the way their side has played in the key passages. The only occasion on which they have been under any real pressure was when a resurgent Wales closed to within a score. But, even with a man in the sin bin, they reasserted their dominance with the minimum of fuss, systematically and efficiently crushing Welsh hopes as soon as they had surfaced. Systematic and efficient – not words you generally apply to the French rugby team but one which certainly applies to this vintage.

There is little sense though that the current success is the fruition of a grand plan, the continuation of a narrative of gradual improvement with the aim of peaking at the World Cup. Marc Lievremont’s selection policy over the past couple of years has been unpredictable at best, downright schizophrenic at worst. If you are a French player playing in the Top 14 and have not been selected for the national team under Lievremont then you are in something of a minority and might as well give up.

This inconsistency of selection has manifested itself in their performances during this period. In the summer they defeated New Zealand in the first test at Carisbrook and only narrowly lost the second test. They followed that with a meek surrender to the Wallabies and in the autumn they followed a decent win against the Springboks with an abject 12-39 surrender to the same All Blacks they had troubled so much in the summer.

Impressive though they have been in the championship, their current form may stem as much from accident as design such has been the haphazard, trial and error approach of the Lievremont regime. Players such as Maxime Medard and Cedric Heymans, so central to the summer success, have been discarded and who is to say that the current players will not suffer the same fate when the next round of internationals arrives.

But there is evidence that, again whether by accident or design, Lievremont has finally settled on a set of core players.

The perennial French problem position of fly half has been filled for the majority of the last year by Francois Trinh-Duc and, while some may have their reservations, he has grown into the role. France have always had a surplus of outstanding scrum halves and currently boast Morgan Parra, Julien Dupuy, Jean-Baptiste Elissalde, Dimitri Yachvili and Frederic Michalak, quite an embarrassment of riches. With Imanol Harinordiquy outstanding at 8 and both William Servat and Dimitri Szarzewski accomplished at hooker, the spine of the team is in good shape. Graft on to that the impact of Mathieu Bastereaud, the mercurial skills of Clement Poitrenaud and the solidity of Yannick Jauzion, not to mention the ferocity and technical excellence of a front row who have decimated all-comers this year, and you have the makings of quite some outfit.

But nobody should get carried away just yet. Although they may have been forced into it by the French themselves, none of the Celtic nations will have been remotely satisfied with their performances. And while you would not know it on the evidence of the championship thus far, the biggest test will be against England. While the English may be technically pretty average and largely devoid of cutting edge, they are rarely found wanting physically and playing the French seems to do something to them. The French meanwhile are aware that their record against England in big games is poor. That fixture should be one hell of a scrap which will tell us plenty about whether this French team are genuine world class contenders.

Before then they take on an improved Italy team who have caused plenty of head-scratching among their opponents thus far. They have only conceded 3 tries in their 3 games and France will have to be patient but they should have far too much in their armoury for the Azzurri.

Even if France do win the Grand Slam, they will need to provide more evidence that they are realistic contenders for the World Cup in autumn 2011. As ever they can beat the best on their day but, as their results in the summer and autumn showed, when their day comes is anybody’s guess. Only when they achieve consistency in performance and selection through consecutive international windows can we really start building up their long-term prospects.

But that is for the summer. Now only Italy and England stand between them and a 3rd Grand Slam in 9 years. Those who put their money on no Grand Slam being won must be sorely tempted to rethink. But we know from ample experience that trying to predict the French is a mug’s game.

By Stuart Peel

The round kicks off with a great prospect as the Chiefs host the Crusaders. Both teams have lost just one game so far, and this will be a tight game between two of last year’s semi-finalists. Home advantage means that I’m leaning towards the Chiefs, but it will be close.

The Stormers host the Hurricanes in what should be another hard-fought affair, but after their confidence-boosting win last week, I’m backing the Cape Town side to beat a ‘canes team that lost to the Cheetahs last week.

The other fixtures look slightly more clear cut, but you never know! Here are my picks for Round 5 of the Super 14 2010:

Game 28: Chiefs v Crusaders: Chiefs by 5
Game 29: Waratahs v Lions: Waratahs by 25
Game 30: Brumbies v Sharks: Brumbies by 11
Game 31: Bulls v Highlanders: Bulls by 21
Game 32: Stormers v Hurricanes: Stormers by 6
Game 33: Reds v Force: Reds by 8

So Lee, before we talk about the Six Nations, tell us a little about the RBS RugbyForce initiative that you’re involved in. It’s about registering your club to receive help to improve the facilities over the weekend of June 5th and 6th. Are you going to be getting your hands dirty?

Yes, definitely. Coming from a background where I was a pretty late developer, I played at the junior level, and I know how hard it is. It’ll be great to get involved.

What were the facilities like for you back then?

It was the usual, with one flood light, everyone training under one light, and when the weather turns, the fields flood.

Have the facilities improved in the area?

Not really, especially not at my old club! There are some in the area where the pitches are getting better, but the RugbyForce scheme is certainly going to help.

Before we talk about playing Ireland at the weekend, just a word on that French match. Twenty points down at half-time – how angry was Shaun Edwards?

It’s the same old story really. We started slow and you can’t afford to do that. You’ve got to make sure you get into a good lead. Hopefully against Ireland now we can do that and win the game. We’ve won there before and it holds no fear for us.

Where do you think Wales have been going wrong so far?

Obviously, the start is where we’ve been going wrong. We’ve been letting teams get into a big lead and we can’t afford to let the likes of France and Ireland do that. It’s a lack of concentration really, we’ve had a couple of interceptions and a couple of mistakes, and if we cut those out, I’m sure we can get a lead and go on and win games.

Is there anything particular that you’ve been working on in training to attack any weak points in the Ireland setup?

Not really. England played very well against Ireland and were unlucky not to win against Ireland, so we can take heart from that, knowing they’re not unbeatable and we’ll just see how it goes.

There has been some talk that the teams that provided the most players to the Lions tour last year have been suffering a little. The Irish have been pulling out some results, but not necessarily as impressive as they might be as Grand Slam champions, and your boys have been looking a little tired in some areas. Do you think that might be what has given France the advantage?

No, definitely not. Look at the Welsh team: in the last 20, we’ve come out as the stronger team. We’ve just got to stop letting teams get into a lead with silly mistakes. If we can cut that out, I’m sure we can get the next two results under our belt.

For more from Lee Byrne, as well as the views of Martin Johnson, Delon Armitage, Riki Flutey and Ben Youngs, tune in to The Rugby Blog Podcast, live on iTunes and The Rugby Blog on Thursday morning.

Wales’ Lee Byrne and Media Wales are supporting RBS RugbyForce, the scheme that can help your local rugby club to improve its facilities. To register your club for the official RBS RugbyForce weekend on June 5-6, visit www.rbs6nations.com/rugbyfoce.

H Southwell (Stade Francais); S Lamont (Scarlets), N De Luca (Edinburgh), G Morrison (Glasgow), M Evans (Glasgow); D Parks (Glasgow), C Cusiter (Glasgow, captain); A Jacobsen (Edinburgh), R Ford (Edinburgh), E Murray (Northampton); J Hamilton (Edinburgh), A Kellock (Glasgow); K Brown (Glasgow), J Barclay (Glasgow), J Beattie (Glasgow).

Replacements: S Lawson (Gloucester), G Cross (Edinburgh), N Hines (Leinster), A MacDonald (Edinburgh), R Lawson (Gloucester), P Godman (Edinburgh), S Danielli (Ulster).

Joe Worsley will make his first start of the 2010 RBS 6 Nations campaign against Scotland at Murrayfield on Saturday, replacing Lewis Moody at openside flanker.

Johnno has made one other change to the starting team, with Louis Deacon starting in the second row instead of the injured Simon Shaw.

On the bench, scrum-half Ben Youngs replaces Paul Hodgson and Courtney Lawes comes in as the second row cover.

ENGLAND TEAM
15 Delon Armitage (London Irish)
14 Mark Cueto (Sale Sharks)
13 Mathew Tait (Sale Sharks)
12 Riki Flutey (CA Brive)
11 Ugo Monye (Harlequins)
10 Jonny Wilkinson (Toulon)
9 Danny Care (Harlequins)
1 Tim Payne (London Wasps)
2 Dylan Hartley (Northampton Saints)
3 Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers)
4 Louis Deacon (Leicester Tigers)
5 Steve Borthwick (Saracens, Captain)
6 James Haskell (Stade Francais)
7 Joe Worsley (London Wasps)
8 Nick Easter (Harlequins)

REPLACEMENTS
16 Steve Thompson (CA Brive)
17 David Wilson (Bath Rugby)
18 Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints)
19 Lewis Moody (Leicester Tigers)
20 Ben Youngs* (Leicester Tigers)
21 Toby Flood (Leicester Tigers)
22 Ben Foden (Northampton Saints)

Ben Foden has to start. He looked threatening throughout his half-hour cameo against Ireland, and his attacking instinct could breathe life into an England side that has fluctuated between being pretty average and absolutely dreadful for quite some time now.

Courtney Lawes is another of those players, and the second row has been a real area of weakness for England. Louis Deacon seems to be one of Johnno’s favourite players, but he and Steve Borthwick do not offer enough dynamism to get England moving forwards – they are able lineout options and probably push a bit in the scrum, but Lawes has offered so much more around the park in his games for Northampton.

Ugo Monye has been disappointing so far this year, and I’d give his shirt to yet another Saints player – Chris Ashton. The Guinness Premiership’s leading try-scorer couldn’t make a stronger case for inclusion, scoring week after week for his club and always looking threatening.

I’d also be tempted to bring in Phil Dowson for James Haskell, but I can’t see it happening and I don’t want to sound too pro-Northampton!

Toby Flood is being reviewed today by the England medical team for a knock that he took on his head playing for Leicester Tigers in the Guinness Premiership and Shane Geraghty has been called up as a precaution.

Olly Morgan has also been included as cover for Delon Armitage who is recovering from his rib injury sustained in England’s match against Ireland.

Dan Hipkiss and Simon Shaw have both been ruled out of the Scotland game, and they are replaced by Mike Tindall and Tom Palmer respectively.

Dan Ward-Smith is being reviewed today regarding an MCL knee injury he sustained at the weekend and Leeds flanker, Hendre Fourie, has been called up as a precaution. The 30-year-old has just been awarded the Gatorade Performance of the Month award for his efforts against Wasps in February, and has been spearheading Leeds’ efforts to avoid relegation in recent weeks.

The team for Saturday will be announced at 12pm tomorrow, and we’ll have it on The Rugby Blog as soon as we know it.

Martin Johnson and Andy Robinson will name their teams on Tuesday for the showdown between the former colleagues this weekend, and there might well be some changes afoot. Injuries to Delon Armitage and Simon Shaw may finally force Johnno’s hand, so it will be interesting to see who he goes for. We’re expecting an update from the EPS squad this afternoon, so check back here for the details.

There’s also a huge game in Dublin on Saturday where Ireland take on Wales, so we’ll have team news there as well as soon as it’s announced.

As well as all the reaction from team announcements and our previews of the game, we’ve got a couple of features coming your way, including an exclusive interview with Lee Byrne talking about RBS RugbyForce among other things.

Then we’ll have the usual predictions articles, and I’ve not been doing too badly – 8 out of 9, which would have been a flawless record had I gone with my head over my heart for the Ireland v England game.

Don’t forget that we are giving away some tickets to Murrayfield to see the Scotland v England match this weekend, so make sure you enter before the deadline on Tuesday – click here for the competition.