Six Nations crunch time

After a fortnights' break, the Six Nations championship gears back up for Round Three. (The break applies to me as well - gotta get back on top of this stuff... missed this mornings' early Hurricanes vs Crusaders match and already playing catch-up...!).

In a very unusual scheduling move, the first of the three 6N matches goes today -- FRIDAY -- rather than the usual Sat & Sun fixtures. With France hosting Wales, it's a big one and a tough ask for the visiting title-holders that'll go a long way to determining the fate of this years' competition.

Ireland versus England is another huge game, and this is the annual weekend where Italy stands it's best chance of winning a game, though playing on the road, it could be the Wooden Spoon match.

Details...

FRANCE vs WALES

France: 15. Maxime Medard, 14. Julien Malzieu, 13. Mathieu Bastareaud, 12. Yannick Jauzion, 11. Cedric Heymans, 10. Benoit Baby, 9. Morgan Parra , 8. Imanol Harinordoquy, 7. Fulgence Ouedraogo, 6. Thierry Dusautoir, 5. Sebastien Chabal, 4. Lionel Nallet, 3. Sylvain Marconnet, 2. Dimitri Szarzewski , 1. Fabien Barcella. Reserves: 16. Benjamin Kayser, 17. Thomas Domingo, 18. Romain Millo-Chluski, 19. Louis Picamoles, 20. Sebastien Tillous-Borde, 21. Francois Trinh-Duc, 22. Clement Poitrenaud.

Wales: 15. Lee Byrne, 14. Leigh Halfpenny, 13. Tom Shanklin, 12. Jamie Roberts, 11. Shane Williams, 10. Stephen Jones, 9. Michael Phillips, 8. Andy Powell, 7. Martyn Williams, 6. Ryan Jones (c), 5. Alun-Wyn Jones, 4. Ian Gough, 3. Adam Jones, 2. Matthew Rees, 1. Gethin Jenkins. Reserves: 16. Huw Bennett, 17. John Yapp, 18. Luke Charteris, 19. Dafydd Jones, 20. Dwayne Peel, 21. James Hook, 22. Gavin Henson.

Date: Friday, February 27
Venue: Stade de France, Paris
Kick-off: 21.00 local (20.00 GMT) (3:00 pm ET (Toronto, New York))
Referee: Mark Lawrence (South Africa)
Touch judges: Alain Rolland (Ireland), Simon McDowell (Ireland)
Television match official: Peter Fitzgibbon (Ireland)

FRA v WAL Rugby Planet preview, click here.

SCOTLAND vs ITALY

Scotland: 15. Hugo Southwell, 14. Simon Danielli, 13. Max Evans, 12. Graeme Morrison, 11. Thom Evans, 10. Phil Godman, 9. Mike Blair, (c), 8. Simon Taylor, 7. John Barclay, 6. Alasdair Strokosch, 5. Alastair Kellock, 4. Jason White, 3. Euan Murray, 2. Ross Ford, 1. Allan Jacobsen. Reserves: 16. Dougie Hall, 17. Alasdair Dickinson, 18. Kelly Brown, 19. Scott Gray, 20. Chris Cusiter, 21. Chris Paterson, 22. Nick De Luca.

Italy: 15. Andrea Marcato, 14. Mirco Bergamasco, 13. Gonzalo Canale, 12. Gonzalo Garcia, 11. Matteo Pratichetti, 10. Luke McLean, 9. Paul Griffen, 8. Sergio Parisse (c), 7. Mauro Bergamasco, 6. Alessandro Zanni, 5. Marco Bortolami, 4. Santiago Dellape, 3. Martin Castrogiovanni, 2. Leonardo Ghiraldini, 1. Salvatore Perugini. Reserves: 16. Franco Sbaraglini, 17. Carlos Nieto, 18. Carlo Antonio Del Fava, 19. Josh Sole, 20. Pablo Canovosio, 21. Andrea Bacchetti, 22. Giulio Rubini.

Date: Saturday, February 28
Venue: Murrayfield, Edinburgh
Kick-off: 15.00 GMT (10:00 am ET (Toronto, New York))
Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)
Touch-judges: George Clancy (Ireland) and Romain Poite (France)

SCO v ITA Rugby Planet preview, click here.

IRELAND vs ENGLAND

Ireland: 15. Rob Kearney, 14. Tommy Bowe, 13. Brian O'Driscoll (c), 12. Paddy Wallace, 11. Luke Fitzgerald, 10. Ronan O'Gara, 9. Tomas O'Leary, 8. Jamie Heaslip, 7. David Wallace, 6. Stephen Ferris, 5. Paul O'Connell, 4. Donncha O'Callaghan, 3. John Hayes, 2. Jerry Flannery, 1. Marcus Horan. Reserves: 16. Rory Best, 17. Tom Court, 18. Mick O'Driscoll, 19. Denis Leamy, 20. Peter Stringer, 21. Gordon D'Arcy, 22. Geordan Murphy.

England: 15. Delon Armitage, 14. Paul Sackey, 13. Mike Tindall, 12. Riki Flutey, 11. Mark Cueto, 10. Toby Flood, 9. Harry Ellis, 8. Nick Easter, 7. Joe Worsley, 6. James Haskell, 5. Nick Kennedy, 4. Steve Borthwick (c), 3. Phil Vickery, 2 Lee Mears, 1. Andrew Sheridan. Reserves: 16. Dylan Hartley, 17. Julian White, 18. Tom Croft, 19. Luke Narraway, 20. Danny Care, 21. Andy Goode, 22. Mathew Tait.

Date: Saturday, February 28
Venue: Croke Park, Dublin
Kick-off: 17.30 GMT (12:30 pm ET (Toronto, New York))
Referee: Craig Joubert (South Africa)
Touch judges: Christophe Berdos (France), Peter Allan (Scotland)
Television match official: Giulio De Santis (Italy)

IRE v ENG Rugby Planet preview, click here.