Matilda in the snow?

Another heavy weekend of international rugby test action approaches, with the finalists of last years' World Cup facing each other at Twickenham, and the current Tri-Nations champions facing the defending Six Nations title-holders in Cardiff. Canada moves to gloomy Edinburgh to face Scotland. Both teams will be looking to rid themselves of dark clouds, both coming into the match after a pair of losses apiece the past fortnight, but coming off vastly improved performances. The Wallabies could be facing their worst nightmare. No, not the Boks on the high veldt, but instead (if weather predictions are reliable) wrestling in the snow in Paris. (And they think it's tough sledding in Dunedin and Invercargill...) All the action should be fairly close (o-kay, possibly excepting the Canadian test), and the Italy vs. Pacific Islands test portends to be a volatile barnburner featuring high-shots against short-fuses. Check Setanta and Mediazone for schedule times & listings. On with the lineups and previews...

SCOTLAND vs CANADA

Scotland: 1. Allan Jacobsen, 2. Ross Ford, 3. Euan Murray, 4. Nathan Hines, 5. Jim Hamilton, 6. Al Strokosch, 7. John Barclay, 8. Simon Taylor, 9. Mike Blair (c), 10. Phil Godman, 11. Nikki Walker, 12. Nick De Luca, 13. Ben Cairns, 14. Simon Webster, 15. Rory Lamont. Reserves: 16. Dougie Hall, 17. Alasdair Dickinson, 18. Matt Mustchin, 19. Scott Gray, 20. Rory Lawson, 21. Dan Parks, 22. Max Evans.

Canada: 1. Kevin Tkachuk, 2. Mike Pletch, 3. Scott Franklin, 4. Tyler Hotson, 5. Josh Jackson, 6. Jebb Sinclair, 7. Adam Kleeberger, 8. Aaron Carpenter, 9. Ed Fairhurst (c), 10. Matt Evans, 11. Justin Mensah-Coker, 12. Ryan Smith, 13. Ciaran Hearn, 14. Sean Duke, 15. James Pritchard. Reserves: 16. tbc, 17. Frank Walsh, 18. Mike Burak, 19. Sean Michael Stephen, 20. Morgan Williams, 21. Nathan Hirayama, 22 Bryn Keys.

Date: Saturday, November 22, 2008
Venue: Pittodrie, Aberdeen
Kick-off: 14:45 GMT (9:45 a.m. ET (Toronto, New York))
Referee: George Clancy (Ireland)
Touch judges: Alan Lewis (Ireland), Steve Terheege (England)
Television match official: Nigel Whitehouse (Wales)
Assessor: Michel Lamoulie (France)

SCO v CAN Rugby Planet preview
SCO v CAN Rugby Heaven preview

ENGLAND vs SOUTH AFRICA

England: 1. Tim Payne, 2. Lee Mears, 3. Phil Vickery, 4. Steve Borthwick (c), 5. Tom Palmer, 6. James Haskell, 7. Tom Rees, 8. Nick Easter, 9. Danny Care, 10. Danny Cipriani, 11. Ugo Monye, 12. Riki Flutey, 13. Jamie Noon, 14. Paul Sackey, 15. Delon Armitage. Reserves: 16. Dylan Hartley, 17. Matt Stevens, 18. Simon Shaw, 19. Tom Croft, 20. Jordan Crane, 21. Harry Ellis, 22. Toby Flood.

South Africa: 1. Beast Mtawarira, 2. John Smit (c), 3. Jannie du Plessis, 4. Bakkies Botha, 5. Victor Matfield, 6. Schalk Burger, 7. Danie Rossouw, 8. Pierre Spies, 9. Ricky Januarie, 10. Ruan Pienaar, 11. Bryan Habana, 12. Jean de Villiers, 13. Adrian Jacobs, 14. JP Pietersen, 15. Conrad Jantjes. Reserves: 16. Chiliboy Ralepelle, 17. Brian Mujati/CJ van der Linde, 18. Andries Bekker, 19. Ryan Kankowski, 20. Heinrich Brussow, 21. Francois Steyn, 22. Jaque Fourie

Date: Saturday, November 22, 2008
Venue: Twickenham
Kick-off: 14:30 GMT (9:30 a.m. ET (New York, Toronto))
Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)
Touch judges: Alan Rolland (Ireland), Romain Poite (France)
Television match official: Peter Allan (Scotland)
Assessor: Tappe Henning (South Africa)

ENG v SA Rugby Planet preview
ENG v SA Rugby Heaven preview

IRELAND vs ARGENTINA

Ireland: 1. Marcus Horan, 2. Jerry Flannery, 3. John Hayes, 4. Donncha O'Callaghan, 5. Paul O'Connell, 6. Stephen Ferris, 7. David Wallace, 8. Jamie Heaslip, 9. Tomas O'Leary, 10. Ronan O'Gara, 11. Robert Kearney, 12. Luke Fitzgerald, 13. Brian O'Driscoll (c), 14. Tommy Bowe, 15. Geordan Murphy. Reserves: 16. Rory Best, 17. Tony Buckley, 18. Malcolm O'Kelly, 19. A.N. Other, 20. Eoin Reddan, 21. Paddy Wallace, 22. Keith Earls.

Argentina: 1. Rodrigo Roncero, 2. Mario Ledesma, 3. Juan Pablo Orlandi, 4. Rimas Alvarez Kairelis, 5. Patricio Albacete, 6. Martin Durand, 7. Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe (c), 8. Juan Manuel Leguizamon, 9. Nicolas Vergallo, 10. Juan Martin Hernandez, 11. Rafael Carballo, 12. Miguel Avramovic, 13. Federico Martin Aramburu, 14. Francisco Leonelli, 15. Horacio Agulla. Reserves: 16. Alberto Vernet Basualdo, 17. Marcos Ayerza, 18. Esteban Lozada, 19. Alvaro Galindo, 20. Agustin Figuerola, 21. Santiago Fernandez, 22. Bernardo Stortoni.

Date: Saturday 22 November, 2008
Venue: Croke Park, Dublin
Kick-off: 14.45 GMT (9:45 a.m. ET (Toronto, New York))
Referee: Bryce Lawrence (New Zealand)
Touch judges: Mark Lawrence (South Africa), Rob Debney (England)
Television match official: Graham Hughes (England)
Assessor: Steve Hilditch (Ireland)

IRE v ARG Rugby Planet preview
IRE v ARG Rugby Heaven preview

WALES vs NEW ZEALAND

Wales: 1. Gethin Jenkins, 2. Matthew Rees, 3. Adam Jones, 4. Alun-Wyn Jones, 5. Ian Evans, 6. Ryan Jones (c), 7. Martyn Williams, 8. Andy Powell, 9. Gareth Cooper, 10. Stephen Jones, 11. Shane Williams, 12. Jamie Roberts, 13. Tom Shanklin, 14. Leigh Halfpenny, 15. Lee Byrne. Reserves: 16. Richard Hibbard, 17. John Yapp, 18. Luke Charteris, 19. Dafydd Jones, 20. Dwayne Peel, 21. James Hook/Dan Biggar, 22. Andrew Bishop.

New Zealand: 1. Neemia Tialata, 2. Keven Mealamu, 3. Tony Woodcock, 4. Brad Thorn, 5. Ali Williams, 6. Jerome Kaino, 7. Richie McCaw (c), 8. Rodney So'oialo, 9. Jimmy Cowan, 10. Daniel Carter, 11. Sitiveni Sivivatu, 12. Ma'a Nonu, 13. Richard Kahui, 14. Joe Rokocoko, 15. Mils Muliaina. Reserves: 16. Hikawera Elliot, 17. John Afoa, 18. Anthony Boric, 19. Kieran Read, 20. Piri Weepu, 21. Stephen Donald, 22. Isaia Toeava.

Date: Saturday 22 November, 2008
Kick-off: 17:15 GMT (12:15 p.m. ET (New York, Toronto))
Venue: Millennium Stadium
Referee: Jonathan Kaplan (South Africa)
Touch judges: Dave Pearson (England), Cobus Wessels (South Africa)
Television match official: Shaun Veldsman (South Africa)
Assessor: Paul Bridgman (England)

WAL v NZ Rugby Planet preview
WAL v NZ Rugby Heaven preview

FRANCE vs AUSTRALIA

France: 1. Lionel Faure, 2. Dimitri Szarzewski, 3. Nicolas Mas, 4. Sébastien Chabal, 5. Lionel Nallet (c), 6. Thierry Dusautoir, 7. Fulgence Ouedraogo, 8. Imanol Harinordoquy, 9. Sebastien Tillous-Borde, 10. David Skrela, 11. Cedric Heymans, 12. Benoit Baby, 13. Yannick Jauzion, 14. Julien Malzieu, 15. Maxime Medard. Reserves: 16 Benjamin Kayser, 17. Benoit Lecouls, 18. Romain Millo Chluski, 19. Louis Picamoles, 20. Julien Tomas, 21. Damien Traille, 22. Alexis Palisson.

Australia: 1. Ben Alexander, 2. Stephen Moore, 3. Al Baxter, 4. Hugh McMeniman, 5. Nathan Sharpe, 6. Dean Mumm, 7. George Smith, 8. Wycliff Palu, 9. Luke Burgess, 10. Matt Giteau, 11. Drew Mitchell, 12. Stirling Mortlock (c), 13. Ryan Cross, 14. Peter Hynes, 15. Adam Ashley-Cooper. Reserves: 16. Tatafu Polota-Nau, 17. Sekope Kepu, 18. Mark Chisholm, 19. David Pocock, 20. Sam Cordingley, 21. Quade Cooper, 22. Digby Ioane.

Date: Saturday, November 22, 2008
Venue: Stade de France, Paris
Kick-off: 21.00 (20.00 GMT) (3:00 p.m. ET (New York, Toronto))
Referee: Craig Joubert (South Africa)
Touch judges: Chris White (England) , David Changleng (Scotland)
Television match official: Giulio De Santis (Italy)

FRA v AUS Rugby Planet preview
FRA v AUS Rugby Heaven preview

ITALY vs PACIFIC ISLANDS

Italy: 1. Matias Aguero, 2. Leonardo Ghiraldini, 3. Carlos Nieto, 4. Tommaso Reato, 5. Marco Bortolami, 6. Josh Sole, 7. Mauro Bergamasco, 8. Sergio Parisse (c), 9. Pietro Travagli, 10. Andrea Marcato, 11. Matteo Pratichetti, 12. Gonzalo Garcia, 13. Mirco Bergamasco, 14. Kaine Robertson, 15. Andrea Masi. Reserves: 16. Fabio Ongaro, 17. Andrea Lo Cicero, 18. Salvatore Perugini, 19. Alessandro Zanni, 20. Pablo Canavosio/Giulio Toniolatti, 21. Luke McLean, 22. Riccardo Pavan

Pacific Islands: 1. Justin Va'a, 2. Tanielu Fuga, 3. Kisi Pulu, 4. Filipo Levi, 5. Paino Hehe, 6. Viliami Vaki, 7. Nili Latu (c), 8. Sisa Koyamaibole, 9. Sililo Martens, 10. Seremaia Bai, 11. Vilimoni Delasau, 12. Epi Taione, 13. Seilala Mapusua, 14. Sailosi Tagicakibau, 15. Kameli Ratuvou. Reserves: 16. Sunia Koto, 17. Tonga Lea'aetoa, 18. Semisi Naevo, 19. Hale T-Pole, 20. Mosese Rauluni, 21. Seru Rabeni, 22. Gavin Williams.

Date: Saturday, November 22, 2008
Venue: Stadio Giglio, Reggio Emilio
Kick-off: 15:00 (14:00 GMT) 9:00 a.m. ET (Toronto, New York) )
Referee: Wayne Barnes (England)
Touch judges: Christophe Berdos, Hugh Watkins (Wales)
TMO: Geoff Warren (England)

ITA v PI Rugby Planet preview
ITA v PI Rugby Heaven preview