Italy, Scotland and England have all named their initial squad for the RBS 6 Nations. The common theme is a large initial squad which will be whittled down eventually to the match 22 for the opening games.

The Ireland squad for the 2008 RBS 6 Nations will be named next week, with coach Eddie O’Sullivan expected to name approximately 30 players for the first squad get together which will happen immediately after the final round of pool games in the Heineken Cup.

Ireland will open their campaign against Italy in Croke Park on February 2nd and as ever IrishRugby.ie will keep you up to date with all the news and actions in our dedicated tournament section. Features will include the extrememly popular O2 Match Tracker as well as the return of our feature podcasts and exclusive squad interviews.

England Squad

Backs: Iain Balshaw (Gloucester), Danny Cipriani (Wasps), Mark Cueto (Sale Sharks), Toby Flood (Newcastle), Andy Gomarsall (Harlequins), Charlie Hodgson (Sale Sharks), Jamie Noon (Newcastle), Peter Richards (London Irish), Paul Sackey (Wasps), David Strettle (Harlequins), Mathew Tait (Newcastle), Mike Tindall (Gloucester), Richard Wigglesworth (Sale Sharks), Jonny Wilkinson (Newcastle), Lesley Vainikolo (Gloucester).

Forwards: Steve Borthwick (Bath), Tom Croft (Leicester), George Chuter (Leicester), Louis Deacon (Leicester), Nick Easter (Harlequins), James Haskell (Wasps), Ben Kay (Leicester), Lee Mears (Bath), Lewis Moody (Leicester), Tim Payne (Wasps), Tom Rees (Wasps), Mark Regan (Bristol), Simon Shaw (Wasps), Andrew Sheridan (Sale Sharks), Matt Stevens (Bath), Phil Vickery (Wasps, capt), Joe Worsley (Wasps).

Italy Squad

Forwards: Robert Barbieri (Benetton Treviso), Mauro Bergamasco (Stade Français), Marco Bortolami (Gloucester), Martin Castrogiovanni (Leicester Tigers), Carlo Antonio Del Fava (Ulster), Santiago Dellapè (Biarritz), Carlo Festuccia (Racing Métro Paris), Leonardo Ghiraldini (Cammi Calvisano), Andrea Lo Cicero (Racing Métro Paris), Carlos Nieto (Gloucester), Sergio Parisse (Stade Français), Antonio Pavanello (Benetton Treviso), Salvatore Perugini (Toulouse), Tommaso Reato (Femi CZ Rovigo), Josh Sole (Montepaschi Viadana), Alessandro Zanni (Cammi Calvisano).

Backs: Mirco Bergamasco (Stade Français), David Bortolussi (Montpellier), Gonzalo Canale (Clermont-Auvergne), Pablo Canavosio (Castres), Denis Dallan (Overmach Cariparma), Ezio Galon (Overmach Cariparma), Andrea Marcato (Benetton Treviso), Andrea Masi (Biarritz), Ludovico Nitoglia (Cammi Calvisano), Enrico Patrizio (Carrera Petrarca Padova), Ramiro Pez (Casinò di Venezia), Simon Picone (Benetton Treviso), Matteo Pratichetti (Cammi Calvisano), Kaine Paul Robertson (Montepaschi Viadana), Alberto Sgarbi (Benetton Treviso), Pietro Travagli (Overmach Cariparma).

Scotland Squad

Backs: Mike Blair, Ben Cairns (both Edinburgh), Chris Cusiter (Perpignan), Simon Danielli (Ulster), Nick De Luca (Edinburgh), Thom Evans (Glasgow Warriors), Phil Godman (Edinburgh), Rory Lamont (Sale Sharks), Rory Lawson (Gloucester), Calum MacRae (Edinburgh), Graeme Morrison, Dan Parks (both Glasgow Warriors), Chris Paterson (Gloucester), Hugo Southwell (Edinburgh), Nikki Walker (The Ospreys), Simon Webster (Edinburgh).

Forwards: John Barclay, Johnnie Beattie, Kelly Brown (all Glasgow Warriors), Dave Callam (Edinburgh), Alasdair Dickinson (Gloucester), Ross Ford (Edinburgh), Jim Hamilton (Leicester Tigers), Nathan Hines (Perpignan), Allister Hogg, Allan Jacobsen (both Edinburgh), Alastair Kellock (Glasgow Warriors), Gavin Kerr (Edinburgh), Moray Low (Glasgow Warriors), Scott MacLeod (Llanelli Scarlets), Euan Murray (Northampton Saints), Ross Rennie (Edinburgh), Alasdair Strokosch (Gloucester), Fergus Thomson (Glasgow Warriors), Jason White (Sale Sharks) (c).

RBS 6 Nations 2008

Ireland Fixtures

Sat 2nd Feb 08 14:00
 Ireland   v   Italy Croke Park
 
Sat 9th Feb 08 17:00
 France   v   Ireland Stade de France
 
Sat 23rd Feb 08 17:00
 Ireland   v   Scotland Croke Park
 
Sat 8th Mar 08 13:15
 Ireland   v   Wales Croke Park
 
Sat 15th Mar 08 15:00
 England   v   Ireland Twickenham

Full Fixture List

Sat 2nd Feb 08 
Ireland   v   Italy Croke Park  14:00 
England   v   Wales Twickenham  16:30 
 
Sun 3rd Feb 08  
Scotland   v   France Murrayfield  15:00
 
Sat 9th Feb 08 
Wales   v   Scotland Millennium Stadium 14:00 
France   v   Ireland Stade de France 17:00
 
Sun 10th Feb 08 
Italy   v   England Stadio Flaminio  15:30
 
Sat 23rd Feb 08  
Wales   v   Italy Millennium Stadium 15:00
Ireland   v   Scotland Croke Park 17:00 
France   v   England Stade de France 21:00 
 
Sat 8th Mar 08
Ireland   v   Wales Croke Park 13:15 
Scotland   v   England Murrayfield 15:15
 
Sun 9th Mar 08 
France   v   Italy Stade de France 16:00
 
Sat 15th Mar 08
Italy   v   Scotland Stadio Flaminio 14:00
England   v   Ireland Twickenham 15:00
Wales   v   France Millennium Stadium 17:00