Manly Sea Eagles

The reigning NRL champions swap the beaches of Sydney in summer for the delights of a Yorkshire winter and they will have just days to acclimatise before going head to head with the Super League giants at Headingley (Rhinos 9/2 – Grand Final Outright).

Home advantage and familiarity with the cold would appear to play into the Rhinos’ hooves but Toovey insists his players will just look to “put up with it and put on a good performance”.

“The fields are frozen over there and the snow’s coming down from what we can tell,” he said.

“The conditions here this summer haven’t been great and we’ve trained on wet and boggy fields but obviously nothing to that extent.

“There is nothing you can really do to combat weather like that but we’ll have a few days to get used to it.

“The cold will be a challenge for any Australian side and it’ll be interesting to see how we handle it.”

The NRL champions have won the last three World Club Challenge matches but the Rhinos were the last Super League side to take the spoils thanks to a tight 11-4 win over Melbourne Storm in 2008.

The West Yorkshire side then lost to the Sea Eagles and Storm in 2009 and 2010 respectively before St George Illawarra Dragons beat Wigan Warriors 12 months ago at the DW Stadium.

England

Flood was missing from the squad that travelled north of the border last weekend to secure a 13-6 victory over old rivals Scotland to take the Calcutta Cup back to Twickenham.

Saracens No.10 Charlie Hodgson was the hero for the English as he managed to charge down a Dan Parks clearance before pouncing on the ball to score the only try of the game at Murrayfield.

England (9/1 Grand Slam outright) are now looking ahead to Saturday’s clash with Italy in Rome, as the defending RBS 6 Nations champions hope to continue their winning start to this year’s tournament following a torrid World Cup in New Zealand.

Flood was a regular in the No.10 jersey for the major tournament Down Under but has only just recovered from injury and is now looking to claim his starting role for the clash with the Azzurri.

However, Lancaster believes the Leicester Tigers stand-off will have to work for his shirt back, after Hodgson’s display at Murrayfield.

He said: “I want to make sure people have to work hard to get into the team.

“I think there has to be real competition for the shirt and you have to prize it when you get it – and not let go of it.”

Wales

A penalty from Leigh Halfpenny in the last minute of the game was enough for the Welsh to record a memorable win in Dublin and continue their impressive form from the World Cup in New Zealand last year.

Ireland had led for much of the match and will count themselves unlucky to lose their opening encounter of the Six Nations on home soil.

Wales (3/1 Grand Slam outright) will now set their sights on their next encounter with Scotland on Sunday, in an all-Celtic affair at the Millennium Stadium.

Scotland once again showed plenty of promise but lacked that clinical edge in the red zone during their 13-6 defeat at the hands of England last weekend.

Gatland will be looking to compound the Scots’ misery on Sunday but has insisted his team will need to improve following the narrow victory over Ireland.

The New Zealander said: “We were reasonably lucky. I thought we were only at about 70 per cent.

“The displeasing thing was a bit of a lack of discipline with the yellow card. We got out of jail, but we’ve won our first game of the tournament away from home.

“We were down at half-time in the World Cup  against Samoa, but we kept our patience and finished on top of them. That is what Test match rugby is all about – taking your opportunities.”

St Helens

The Saints were given a tough time in the first half at The Stoop and trailed 18-16 at the break, but rallied in the second to start their Super League campaign with a win.

Jamie Foster scored 18 points in the come-from-behind win but Simmons concedes that things need to be better from his players (Saints 10/3 – Regular Season Outright).

Simmons said: “My word that was a hard one. We really had to pull things together at half-time and turn it around.

“I thought we were too safety-first at times and that allowed them to get numbers in the tackle area.

“There are definite areas we have to look at – our kicking game for one was not the greatest.

“We are planning to rotate the players and everyone will get the chance to prove themselves over these first few weeks.”

St Helens will open their home Super League campaign at their new Langtree Park ground on Friday when they take on Salford City Reds, who were beaten 24-10 by Castleford in their opener on Saturday.

Brian

In freezing conditions, last season’s Super League champions saw off a spirited display from Hull KR to run out 34-16 winners at Headingley.

Following a tight first 40 minutes, Leeds (9/2 – Grand Final Winners) went into the break with a slender 10-8 advantage but showed their quality in the second half to see off the Robins.

Youngster Kallum Watkins ran in a hat-trick of tries, whilst Danny McGuire, Brett Delaney and Brent Webb also crossed for the 2011 Grand Final winners.

Rhinos skipper Kevin Sinfield, making his 400th appearance for the club, also kicked five goals as the home side showed glimpses of their quality.

Coach McDermott said: “We had to fight for it. We had some defensive lapses but other than that, it was good. I would have liked us to play a bit better, but give Hull KR some credit for that.”

Leeds are likely to face a sterner test next weekend when they take on Wigan at the DW Stadium, before meeting NRL champions Manly Sea Eagles the following week in the World Club Challenge.

Warren

Both players have been selected to start Sunday’s Six Nations clash against Ireland in Dublin after lengthy spells on the sidelines with knee injuries.

Centre Roberts has not featured competitively since before Christmas, while fly-half Priestland suffered his injury just two weeks ago during a Heineken Cup clash.

Wales have had a host of fitness concerns heading into this year’s tournament, but Gatland remains confident the players selected are ready for the battle.

The coach revealed: “They haven’t taken a full part (in the training camp), but we are quite happy with the amount of rugby they have got under their belts for this game.”

Wales will be without flanker Dan Lydiate for the clash at the Aviva Stadium, due to an ankle problem, but Gatland has said that the 23-year-old “might be ready” for next week’s clash with Scotland.

Wales have won on just two of their previous six visits to Dublin in the Six Nations (Match Betting – Ireland 4/9, Wales 7/4, draw 20/1), but have beaten the Irish in their last two meetings.

Wigan Warriors’

Wigan finished the 2011 regular season in second place, just a point behind leaders Warrington and six points clear of third placed St Helens.

However, the semi-finals produced two shocks, with St Helens beating Wigan and Warrington losing to eventual Grand Final winners Leeds.

Boss Michael Maguire left the club in the close season while veteran duo Paul Deacon and Andy Coley retired and Joel Tomkins converted to rugby union.

Maguire’s assistant coach Shaun Wane has been promoted as his successor and has introduced a number of young players as they seek to do better than last season (Wigan regular 2012 season 3/1 outright).

Speaking ahead of their Super League opener with Huddersfield on Sunday, Finch has thrown his support behind his new boss but admits last season’s agonising defeat still rankles.

“Both teams [Warrington and Wigan] were probably the stand-out teams all the way through the competition but failed to win those semi-finals and get in the Grand Final, so I’m sure it left a bitter taste in both clubs’ mouths.” he told the BBC.

“We’ve lost a few players but we’ve got a few young guys coming in and hopefully they can step up.

“It’s a bit of a different team with a new coach. There’s definitely some pressure on our club so hopefully we can play well.”

Lancaster pledged to revamp the side when he replaced previous coach Martin Johnson in December and he has demonstrated that by handing debuts to Phil Dowson, Owen Farrell and Brad Barritt for the opener at Murrayfield (Scotland 11/8, draw 20/1, England 4/7 – Match Betting).

The 42-year-old has also named a further five new players on the bench, with Rob Webber, Geoff Parling, Ben Morgan, Lee Dickson and Jordan Turner-Hall all set for their debuts.

That has led to claims he is sacrificing this year’s tournament with a view towards building a team for the future.

Lancaster, however, is insistent he has named a competitive side while acknowledging a significant part of his remit is to plan for the long term.

“If you remember right at the outset I talked about two things – building a team that has longevity, and giving opportunities to new players,” he said.

“It’s about a team for now and a team for the future, we’re trying to achieve both.

“We have got 40 games between now and the next World Cup, and we need to put experience into that group of players so that they have got an opportunity to grow and develop on the international stage, but equally we go to Murrayfield for the first time and experience it and that is part of that journey.

“Equally, we also know that the result is paramount at the weekend, so we need to keep an eye on that.”

The Stobart Super League starts on Friday night, with the Warriors hoping to win the title from defending champions and rivals Leeds Rhinos.

Tomkins helped Wigan reach the play-off semi-finals last season only to be denied by eventual runners-up St Helens.

The England international saw his brother Joel make the switch to the 15-man form of the game ahead of the Super League campaign but Sam decided to sign a new long-term deal at the DW Stadium.

Now the 22-year-old is looking forward to getting Wigan’s campaign up and running with a home clash against Huddersfield Giants on Sunday (Wigan 1/5, draw 25/1, Huddersfield 100/30 – Match Betting).

Tomkins said: “With Joel deciding to leave and go to Saracens, I had to decide what I wanted to do, but I do love it at Wigan and, once [chairman] Ian Lenagan showed the passion to keep me, I was all for signing.

“My contract locks me in for a minimum of three years, so when that time comes around I’ll have a think.

“You want to do as much as you can when you are playing because it is not a long career. After I win one trophy I’m just looking to win another.”

Scotland

The Australian-born stand-off has helped the Scots record some memorable victories over the years, including wins over South Africa, Australia and tomorrow’s opposition.

However, Park’s position in the side has been the focus of some debate north of the border, with the player being labelled as a ‘kicking’ fly-half who lacks creative attacking flair.

With Ruaridh Jackson ruled out of the Calcutta Cup clash this weekend through injury, Park has the chance to be a hero for the Scots (25/1 – Six Nations Outright) once again against the Auld Enemy.

Ahead of the encounter at Murrayfield, the Cardiff Blues playmaker has insisted there is more to his game than just kicking.

Park said: “It is just one of those things that people think.

“It doesn’t bother me. How I play depends on the situation.

“I do like to run with the ball but if the conditions dictate than I will do what I think is best for the team. Ultimately it is about getting the win that counts.”