With the 6N taking a rest I'll be getting my rugby fix with a couple of interesting REC fixtures again this week. Georgia hosting Germany (1100hrs GMT) should be a formality and an opportunity for both sides to experiment. Germany would be daft to throw all their first choice players into this match.
Belgium hosting Russia (1400hrs GMT) obviously strongly favours Russia, but if Belgium have another big crowd against what must be a demoralised and relatively out of condition Russian side then who knows. I'd favour Russia by about 15-17 points here though, but I'm still completely ignorant about the level of Belgium.
Romania hosting Spain (also infuriatingly listed at 1100hrs GMT, same time as the Georgia match) should be a hum-dinger, assuming the pitch is fit to play on. As much as I've been talking up Spain in these parts since November, and as much as I was impressed by the solid performance of their pack last week in bad conditions, I think their great recent run comes to an end here because:
i) I watched El Salvador play in Russia last year and the Spanish players did not appear to enjoy physical contact in freezing conditions. Hardly surprising if its 10-15 degrees colder than what you are used to. If I'm the Romanian coach I'd put two tacklers in on the ball carrier early in the game to see how the Spanish respond.
ii) Romania didn't look too bad attacking in the first 55mins in Germany, it was their defensive play that was very poor. I don't think the Romanians are going to be all that much in worse physical condition than the Spanish (despite the Spanish league playing during winter).
iii) I think Canada and the USA are still just a little bit ahead of Spain at the moment, and Romania defeated both of them in November.
Romania by 9-11 points to keep automatic RWC qualification alive for them. If they lose this then already they might be keeping half an eye on the repechage route. Unthinkable surely.
