When does Six Nations 2018 start? Dates, fixtures, kick off times, tickets and TV coverage
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January has never been the greatest month, what with the post-festive blues and over-indulgence hangover in full swing.
But as the month draws to a close it's good news for sports fans - as it means we're ever nearer to another healthy dose of Six Nations Championship action!
The annual International Rugby Union tournament returns to our screens and stadiums in February as holders England look to retain their title for the second successive year.
All the big stars will be involved for the 18th series of the competition, with England's Maro Itoje and Chris Robshaw , Scotland's Stuart Hogg , Wales' Leigh Halfpenny and Ireland's Conor Murray all set to feature.
Here's all we know about the event so far...
(Image: Getty Images)
When does the Six Nations start?
The opening weekend of fixtures takes place on Saturday 3rd and Sunday 4th February.
Wales and Scotland will kick off the proceedings at Cardiff's Principality Stadium in the first match at 14:15pm on the Saturday.
England fans will have to wait until the Sunday to watch their team face off against Italy in Rome's Stadio Olimpico, with kick-off scheduled for 4pm local time.
(Image: Action Images via Reuters)
What is the full fixtures schedule for this year's games?
All fixtures are shown in GMT
Saturday 3rd February
Wales v Scotland - 14:15pm
France v Ireland - 16:45pm
Sunday 4th February
Italy v England - 15:00pm
Saturday 10th February
Ireland v Italy - 14:15pm
England v Wales - 16:45pm
Sunday 11th February
Scotland v France - 15:00pm
Saturday 23rd February
France v Italy - 20:00pm
Sunday 24th February
Ireland v Wales - 14:15pm
Scotland v England - 16:45pm
Saturday 10th March
Ireland v Scotland - 14:15pm
France v England - 16:45pm
Sunday 11th March
Wales v Italy - 15:00pm
Saturday 17th March
Italy v Scotland - 12:30pm
England v Ireland - 14:45pm
Wales v France - 17:00pm
(Image: REUTERS)
Which TV channel will be showing the matches?
All the matches will be shown live in the UK on either BBC or ITV.
England's first two and final fixtures are on ITV, with the third and fourth matches over on BBC.
Where are the matches taking place?
Each nation has its own home stadium which will be used for at least two of their group matches.
The only exception to this is France, who will be playing their home ties at the Stade de France in Paris, or the Orange Velodrome in Marseille.
All teams will play each other once throughout the group, meaning an odd number of matches to be played.
England, Scotland and Italy have drawn the short straw this year as they will play the majority of their fixtures on foreign soil.
(Image: Getty Images)
What happened last year?
England reigned supreme last year as they defended their title, yet it still managed to end in disappointment.
Eddie Jones' team charged ahead in the group scoring three wins out of three, leaving only Ireland in any position to catch them.
But they wrapped up another championship the following week as they downed Scotland as challengers Ireland lost to Wales.
Victory left England on the brink of a successive Grand Slam and a world record 19th straight test win going into the final weekend.
However Ireland put a dampener on their party as they defeated England 13-9 in the final group match to finish as runners up, and will be looking to go one better this year.
(Image: Getty Images)
France finished level on points with Ireland last year in third, and will be looking for their first championship since 2010.
And last year's basement boys Italy will be hoping they can do more than just make up the numbers this time round.
Who are the favourites?
Well no surprise that England are firm favourites to complete a hat-trick of crowns as they lead the pack at odds of 10/11.
Bookmakers William Hill fancy Ireland to be the biggest threat again to England's chances, putting them at a tempting 13/8.
Sadly for Italy their chances of a first championship look slim, as they find themselves out at 500/1 to be in pole position come the finish.
Odds are checked before being listed on 26th January. See the full list here or go to our comprehensive guide to odds for the Six Nations 2018.
(Image: Getty Images)
Key matches
France versus Ireland on the opening weekend is certainly one to make the mouth water.
But it's England's first match at Twickenham on the second weekend which promises to be the first big clash of the tournament, as they take on home nations rivals Wales.
A late try from Elliot Daly last year gave England a thrilling win away from home, and this years contest should be right up there for entertainment value.
In week three England travel to Edinburgh for the 124th Calcutta Cup match with Scotland, and on the same day Ireland play host to Wales.
And a twist of fate has thrown England and Ireland together in the final match again following last years historical meet - will it be under the same circumstances?
(Image: PA)
Where can I buy tickets?
Tickets have been in hot demand since they went on sale, but there are still plenty available via Ticketmaster , Stubhub and Seatwave .
SQUADS
WALES
Backs: L Williams (Saracens), G North (Northampton), L Halfpenny (Scarlets), S Evans (Scarlets), A Cuthbert (Cardiff Blues), H Amos (Dragons), J Adams (Worcester), S Williams (Scarlets), O Williams (Gloucester), O Watkin (Ospreys), H Parkes (Scarlets), R Priestland (Bath), R Patchell (Scarlets), D Biggar (Ospreys), G Anscombe (Cardiff Blues), R Webb (Ospreys), G Davies (Scarlets), A Davies (Scarlets).
Forwards: R Evans (Scarlets), W Jones (Scarlets), N Smith (Ospreys), T Francis (Exeter), S Lee (Scarlets), D Lewis (Cardiff Blues), K Owens (Scarlets), E Dee (Dragons), S Baldwin (Ospreys), A Beard (Ospreys), B Davies (Ospreys), S Davies (Cardiff Blues), C Hill (Dragons), A W Jones (Ospreys, capt), J Davies (Scarlets), T Faletau (Bath), E Jenkins (Cardiff Blues), R Moriarty (Gloucester), J Navidi (Cardiff Blues), A Shingler (Scarlets), J Tipuric (Ospreys).
SCOTLAND
Backs: Mark Bennett (Edinburgh), Alex Dunbar (Glasgow), Nick Grigg (Glasgow), Chris Harris (Newcastle), Stuart Hogg (Glasgow), Pete Horne (Glasgow), Ruaridh Jackson (Glasgow), Huw Jones (Glasgow), Lee Jones (Glasgow), Blair Kinghorn (Edinburgh), Greig Laidlaw (ASM Clermont Auvergne), Sean Maitland (Saracens), Byron McGuigan (Sale Sharks), Ali Price (Glasgow), Henry Pyrgos (Glasgow), Finn Russell (Glasgow), Tommy Seymour (Glasgow), Duncan Taylor (Saracens), Nathan Fowles (Edinburgh). Neil Cochrane (Edinburgh) called up.
Forwards: John Barclay (captain, Scarlets), Simon Berghan (Edinburgh), Jamie Bhatti (Glasgow), Magnus Bradbury (Edinburgh), David Denton (Worcester), Cornell Du Preez (Edinburgh), Grant Gilchrist (Edinburgh), Jonny Gray (Glasgow), Richie Gray (Toulouse), Luke Hamilton (Leicester), Rob Harley (Glasgow), Scott Lawson (Newcastle), Murray McCallum (Edinburgh), Stuart McInally (Edinburgh), Gordon Reid (London Irish), D’arcy Rae (Glasgow), Ben Toolis (Edinburgh), George Turner (Glasgow), Hamish Watson (Edinburgh), Jon Welsh (Newcastle), Ryan Wilson (Glasgow).
ENGLAND
Forwards: Tom Dunn (Bath), Jamie George (Saracens), Dylan Hartley (Northampton), Lewis Boyce (Harlequins), Dan Cole (Leicester), Alec Hepburn (Exeter), Kyle Sinckler (Harlequins), Mako Vunipola (Saracens), Harry Williams (Exeter), Nick Isiekwe (Saracens), Maro Itoje (Saracens), George Kruis (Saracens), Joe Launchbury (Wasps), Courtney Lawes (Northampton), Gary Graham (Newcastle), Zach Mercer (Bath), Chris Robshaw (Harlequins), Sam Underhill (Bath), Sam Simmonds (Exeter)
Backs: Danny Care (Harlequins), Ben Youngs (Leicester), George Ford (Leicester), Alex Lozowski (Saracens), Marcus Smith (Harlequins), Owen Farrell (Saracens), Jonathan Joseph (Bath), Henry Slade (Exeter), Ben Te'o (Worcester), Nathan Earle (Saracens), Jack Nowell (Exeter), Jonny May (Leicester), Denny Solomona (Sale), Anthony Watson (Bath), Mike Brown (Harlequins), Harry Mallinder (Northampton)
IRELAND
Forwards: Rory Best (captain, Ulster), Sean Cronin (Leinster), Rob Herring (Ulster), Tadhg Furlong (Leinster), Cian Healy (Leinster), David Kilcoyne (Munster), Jack McGrath (Leinster), Andrew Porter (Leinster), John Ryan (Munster), Ultan Dillane (Connacht), Iain Henderson (Ulster), Quinn Roux (Connacht), James Ryan (Leinster), Devin Toner (Leinster), Dan Leavy (Leinster), Jordi Murphy (Leinster), Peter O'Mahony Munster, Josh van der Flier (Leinster), Jack Conan (Leinster), CJ Stander (Munster)
Backs: Kieran Marmion (Connacht), Luke McGrath (Leinster), Conor Murray (Munster), Ian Keatley (Munster), Jonathan Sexton (Leinster), Bundee Aki (Connacht), Chris Farrell (Munster), Robbie Henshaw (Leinster), Rory Scannell (Munster), Andrew Conway (Munster), Keith Earls (Munster), Fergus McFadden (Leinster), Jacob Stockdale (Ulster), Joey Carbery (Leinster), Jordan Larmour (Leinster)
FRANCE
Forwards: Camille Chat (Racing 92), Guilhem Guirado (Toulon), Christopher Tolofua (Saracens), Eddy Ben Arous (Racing 92), Cedate Gomes Sa (Racing 92), Jefferson Poirot (Bordeaux), Dany Priso (La Rochelle), Rabah Slimani (Clermont Auvergne), Paul Gabrillagues (Stade Francais), Arthur Iturria (Clermont), Felix Lambey (Lyon), Sébastien Vahaamahina (Clermont), Yacouba Camara (Montpellier), Kevin Gourdon (La Rochelle), Anthony Jelonch (Castres), Wenceslas Lauret (Racing 92), Sekou Macalou (Stade Français), Marco Tauleigne (Bordeaux Bègles)
Backs: Antoine Dupont (Toulouse), Maxime Machenaud (Racing 92), Morgan Parra (Clermont), Anthony Belleau (Toulon), Matthieu Jalibert (Bordeaux), Henry Chavancy (Racing 92), Jonathan Danty (Stade Français), Geoffrey Doumayrou (La Rochelle), Rémi Lamerat (Clermont), Benjamin Fall (Montpellier), Teddy Thomas (Racing 92), Virimi Vakatawa (Racing 92), Brice Dulin (Racing 92), Geoffrey Palis (Castres).
Hugo Bonneval (Toulon) and Baptiste Serin (Bordeaux) called up as injury cover.
ITALY
Forwards: Luca Bigi (Benetton), Leonardo Ghiraldini (Toulous), Oliviero Fabiani (Zebre), Simone Ferrari (Benetton), Andrea Lovotti (Zebre), Tiziano Pasquali (Treviso), Nicola Quaglio (Benetton), Marco Riccioni, George Biagi (Zebre), Dean Budd (Benetton), Federico Ruzza (Benetton), Alessandro Zanni (Benetton), Renato Giammarioli (Zebre), Giovanni Licata (Zebre, on loan from Fiamme Oro), Maxime Mbanda (Zebre), Sebastian Negri (Benetton), Sergio Parisse (captain, Stade Francais), Abraham Steyn (Benetton).
Backs: Mattia Bellini (Petrarca), Jayden Hayward (Benetton), Matteo Minozzi (Zebre), Edoardo Padovani (Zebre), Tomasso Benvenuti (Benetton), Tomasso Boni (Zebre), Giulio Bisegni (Zebre), Tomasso Castello (Zebre), Tomasso Allan (Benetton), Carlo Canna (Zebre), Ian McKinley (Benetton), Edoardo Gori (Benetton), Marcello Violi (Zebre).