 Former England and Lions star Guscott is a BBC rugby union pundit
It was an intriguing weekend at both ends of the Guinness Premiership and at the top of the Magners League. Sale Sharks' miserable season went from bad to worse. The 2006 champions' defeat by Northampton marked a new low for the free-falling Lancashire club as they fell to the foot of the table. Leinster assumed top-spot in the Magners League with victory over Cardiff Blues and the Dragons closed in on Munster's play-off spot with a win over the Irish holders in Newport. The Six Nations Championship resumes this weekend and England have a chance to bounce back from their disappointing defeat by Ireland in their Calcutta Cup clash at Murrayfield. Ireland, meanwhile, will continue on their Triple Crown quest when Wales visit Croke Park. If you have a question for BBC Sport rugby union expert Jerry, you can submit it by using the form in the top right-hand corner of the page. He will answer as many as possible next week, while this week's answers appear below. Jeremy, given Sale's run of losses and Leeds' turn of form, do you think that Leeds can stay up? Luke, Northern Ireland Luke, Leeds' run of victories has been extraordinary, as has Sale's run of losses. Momentum is key and with Sale having to play a couple more games without the likes of Mathew Tait and Mark Cueto it's going to be tough for the Sharks. Leeds are fortunate to have a coach like Neil Back - he triumphed through adversity throughout his career, and that has helped him in changing mind-sets at Leeds. Leeds' run-in is more difficult, with more away games than Sale, plus Sharks have a game in hand. I think the relegation battle will go down to the last weekend of matches and Leeds have every chance of staying up.  Back's experience will be invaluable to Leeds's survival bid |
Having been to the Leeds Carnegie games this season, in my opinion the pack is as good as any I've seen at Headingley. With our pack so dominant I can see us staying up. Thoughts? Conor D, UK Conor, I've not seen a great deal of Leeds this season, only highlights, and from what I have seen the Leeds pack is very competitive. Leeds' challenge will be the amount of away games they have and the amount of points they pick up on the road. Back will have to keep the boys charged up after getting off the bottom to maintain their great run of results. The battle is far from over. With only a few games remaining, who do you think will be relegated? I'm a Worcester supporter and, to be honest, I'm worried! Rob Davidson, England Rob, it's going to be close, that much we know, but who is going to fall into the Championship with six or seven games left it's impossible for me to call. Worcester have not had a great season of results, they have the least number of wins - just three - in the Premiership. The matches against Sale and Leeds away from home will go a long way to deciding the Warriors' fate. As the battle at the bottom of the Guinness Premiership table hots up, do you think any of the three likely losers deserve to drop into the Championship and which Championship team do you think deserves to rise up into the Premiership? John Myhill, UK John, I'm a fan of promotion and relegation because, as hard as it is, I feel it is fair. For sides coming up into the Premiership I now think it's harder to prepare because of the play-offs. In previous years a team had a good idea and could plan accordingly but that luxury has disappeared. Looking at the table it will be a final between Bristol and Exeter, may the best team win! With Saracens and London Irish losing form, do you think the Guinness Premiership final will be an all-East Midlands affair between Northampton and Leicester? If so, do you think that the attacking flair of the Saints will see them victorious only two years after gaining promotion? Sam Pearce, England Sam, Leicester are seasoned professionals and to bet against Tigers winning the title is hard, but of all the teams capable of upsetting them Northampton definitely have the ability. With Saracens losing their third consecutive match, do you think that other teams have now worked out how to beat them, or is it merely a drop in form? Ross Paul, England Ross, Sarries need to open up and play a more complete game of rugby rather than the power play of forward strength and kicking. This tactic served them well at the start of the season but teams only have to match them up front and then they begin to struggle. It's too early to say if they will make the play-offs, they will find out a lot about themselves over the next few weeks and whether they have what it takes to make the top four. Do you think the Dragons are serious contenders for a play-off spot? The weekend win against a tidy Munster shows they have qualities. Chris Garrett, Wales Chris, I do think Dragons are serious contenders, finishing in the top four is not going to be easy, though, with Leinster, Edinburgh, Ospreys, Warriors and Munster all ahead of you it will take a minor miracle but good luck. I hope that you are looking forward to the Calcutta Cup game at Murrayfield. It should be a keenly contested affair this time. Who do think will make the difference between the sides on the day? Philip, Luxembourg Philip, I think it will be a cracking game and if Scotland can rediscover the form shown against Wales then they could easily beat England. Dan Parks will be a key figure for Scotland; he will have to nail the penalty opportunities presented. Otherwise, doubt will creep in. I expect Northampton full-back Ben Foden to make the side and he could be the spark the English team has been missing. He will run the ball back and attack at every opportunity. I'm praying he makes the team.  Foden could get his chance against the Scots |
Given England's current lack of momentum and ambition, do you think that the coming match at Murrayfield could prove more difficult than anticipated? Jack Carrington, UK Jack, I'm not sure what you mean by "more difficult than expected". England aren't runaway favourites to win this game. As I said in the previous answer, Scotland are capable of winning this match. England will need an improved performance to beat Scotland away from home. England need to stop running across the field and be more direct in the three-quarters plus more power, pace and passing out of the tackle from their forwards. I was wondering what you thought of Andy Robinson as Scotland coach. I thought he was good to begin with, giving the players a winning mentality. I feel so far in the Six Nations that Scotland just don't look like they want to win. Do you think that Jake White would have been better? Josh, Scotland Josh, I believe AR has done a decent job with what he has to work with. Scotland should have beaten Argentina in the autumn but were still mentally celebrating the victory against Australia. Their match against Wales was there for the taking but they just weren't fit enough and the tiredness brought about bad decisions from the players. In Rome the players couldn't cope with Italy's spoiling tactics and again had a winning position they let go. If Robinson can improve the team's fitness they will get better because they like to play a game that demands supreme fitness. As for Jake White I doubt we will ever know!! We've all had our say on what we think England should do but I am interested in your opinion. If you were England coach what would you be saying to the guys before the next match? Dave Morgan, England Dave, there would be a lot to say to a lot of players but I would start by telling Ben Foden to do what he wants when he gets the ball, and for wings Mark Cueto and Ugo Monye to support him along with the back row. I would tell James Haskell to start running at players like he means to run through them or knock them over rather than have a cuddle and chat (that could be said to most of the English forwards). If Danny Care was starting at scrum-half I would demand he not take any steps before passing the ball to Jonny Wilkinson, and if he did I would bring him off straight away unless he made a good break or scored. I would tell Riki Flutey and Monye to start running hard at Parks. I would tell whoever is calling the backs moves to call more because we've only seen one backs move so far in the Championship. I would tell the team to attack and defend what they see in front of them. I would tell them to sometimes change the attacking flow rather than going the same way all the time. How do you see the Ireland v Wales game going, because if Wales stop trying to force things and defend better in the first half of the game, then it could be very interesting, what do you say? Kyle, Scotland Kyle, if Wales beat Ireland on Saturday it will be a great result no matter how they perform. The game has the potential to be better than Wales v Scotland if Ireland enter into the spirit. Both teams are evenly matched but Ireland just edge it up front and with better ball provided to the Irish backs I expect them to win. Being a neutral I really want Ireland to go for broke in terms of performance and let's see how good they really are because they just haven't clicked in this Championship. They were clinical against England, which was impressive, it would just be nice to see them go for it.
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