ENGLAND Backs: Iain Balshaw (Gloucester), Mike Catt (London Irish), Mark Cueto (Sale Sharks), Harry Ellis (Leicester Tigers), Andy Farrell (Saracens), Toby Flood (Newcastle), Shane Geraghty (London Irish), Josh Lewsey (London Wasps), Jamie Noon (Newcastle), Shaun Perry (Bristol), Jason Robinson (Sale Sharks), Peter Richards (Gloucester), Paul Sackey (London Wasps), Mathew Tait (Newcastle), Mike Tindall (Gloucester), Jonny Wilkinson (Newcastle Falcons).

Forwards: Alex Brown (Gloucester), George Chuter (Leicester Tigers), Martin Corry (Leicester Tigers), Louis Deacon (Leicester Tigers), Perry Freshwater (Perpignan), Danny Grewcock (Bath), Magnus Lund (Sale Sharks), Lee Mears (Bath), Lewis Moody (Leicester Tigers), Tim Payne (London Wasps), Tom Palmer (London Wasps), Tom Rees (London Wasps), Steve Thompson (Northampton), Phil Vickery (London Wasps, capt), Dan Ward-Smith (Bristol), Julian White (Leicester Tigers), Joe Worsley (London Wasps).

Coach: Brian Ashton.

Captain: Phil Vickery.

Strengths: Big, strong, brutal pack handing the ball to a pretty robust back division. Almost unmatched at the brute force parts of the game.

Weaknesses: Not much in the way of subtlety and, if Jonny Wilkinson gets injured yet again, no fly-half to direct operations. Too much bludgeon, no rapier and after the autumn series and the sacking of their last coach, will start low on confidence. Plus a lot of key players are injured.

Player to watch: Andy Farrell. The debate is over, he’s a centre and Ashton is just the sort of coach to gamble on his running and offloading skills to give him that flash of inspiration the other 14 lack.

Prospects: A lot depends on the Calcutta Cup. Three home games helps and if they get a good start could bounce back quickly.

Fixtures: Feb 3 Scotland (h) 4pm, Feb 10 Italy (h) 1.30pm, Feb 24 Ireland (a) 5.30pm, Mar 11 France (h) 3pm, Mar 17 Wales (a) 5.30pm.

SCOTLAND Backs: Simon Danielli (Border Reivers), Rob Dewey, Marcus Di Rollo and Phil Godman (all Edinburgh Rugby), Andrew Henderson (Glasgow Warriors), Robbie Kydd (Northampton Saints), Rory Lamont (Glasgow Warriors), Sean Lamont (Northampton), Rory Lawson (Gloucester), Calum MacRae (Border Reivers), Dan Parks (Glasgow Warriors), Chris Paterson (Edinburgh Rugby), Sam Pinder (Glasgow Warriors), Hugo Southwell (Edinburgh Rugby), Nikki Walker (Neath Swansea Ospreys).

Forwards: John Barclay (Glasgow Warriors), Johnnie Beattie (Glasgow Warriors), Kelly Brown (Border Reivers), David Callam (Edinburgh Rugby), Alasdair Dickinson (Edinburgh Rugby), Bruce Douglas (Border Reivers), Ross Ford (Border Reivers), Dougie Hall (Edinburgh Rugby), James Hamilton (Leicester), Allan Jacobsen (Edinburgh Rugby), Alastair Kellock (Glasgow Warriors), Gavin Kerr (Border Reivers), Scott MacLeod (Llanelli Scarlets), Donnie Macfadyen (Glasgow Warriors), Scott Murray (Edinburgh Rugby), Euan Murray (Glasgow Warriors), Alasdair Strokosch (Edinburgh Rugby), Simon Taylor (Edinburgh Rugby).

Coach: Frank Hadden.

Captain: Chris Paterson.

Strengths: One of the most mobile packs. Even without Jason White they will have one of the best back rows, while there is plenty of strike power in the back three.

Weaknesses: Winning the ball; keeping the ball. Scrum is underweight and there is not enough attacking threat in the midfield. The best sides know they can fan out and mark the dangermen. Move the ball a lot to little purpose.

Player to watch: Euan Murray. Opponents and some referees see the scrum as a weakness; at 19 stone of pure brawn, Murray is the anchor it needs. If he stays fit, the back row and scrum halves will have a platform. Does his chores in the loose too, while his tackle count is high.

Prospects: Overachieved last season, beating France and England. Vital they lay down a marker against Italy, the threat to their World Cup quarter-final spot.

Fixtures: Feb 3 England (a) 4pm, Feb 10 Wales (h) 3.30pm, Feb 24 Italy (h) 3pm, Mar 10 Ireland (h) 1.30pm, Mar 17 France (a) 3.30pm.

WALES Backs: Kevin Morgan (Dragons), Gavin Henson (Ospreys), Chris Czekaj (Blues), Shane Williams (Ospreys), Gareth Thomas (Toulouse), Jamie Robinson (Blues), Tom Shanklin (Blues), Gavin Evans (Scarlets), James Hook (Ospreys) Haldane Luscombe (Harlequins), Stephen Jones (Scarlets, capt), Ceri Sweeney (Dragons), Dwayne Peel (Scarlets), Gareth Cooper (Dragons), Michael Phillips (Blues).

Forwards: Gethin Jenkins (Blues), Duncan Jones (Ospreys), Adam Jones (Ospreys), Chris Horsman (Worcester), Rhys Thomas (Blues), Mefin Davies (Gloucester), Matthew Rees (Scarlets), Ian Gough (Dragons), Brent Cockbain (Ospreys), Robert Sidoli (Blues), Scott Morgan (Blues), Alun Wyn Jones (Ospreys), Ryan Jones (Ospreys), Alix Popham (Scarlets), Martyn Williams (Blues), Gavin Thomas (Scarlets), Colin Charvis (Dragons), Gareth Delve (Bath).

Coach: Gareth Jenkins.

Captain: Stephen Jones.

Strengths: The best ball-handling pack in the championship, with a style closer to the All Blacks than any European team. Pace, guile and a high-tempo strategy.

Weaknesses: Not the best forwards when it comes to the set piece, so they may struggle to win enough ball against England and France. Midfield is an unknown quantity, especially if injury prone Tom Shanklin goes down again.

Player to watch: James Hook:. Gavin Henson will be livid that all eyes are elsewhere, but Hook is the real deal. Will probably end up at fly-half, his best position, but just now will be a threat at inside centre and back-up to his captain.

Prospects: It all depends on the front five. If they can muscle up to the big sides and produce some worthwhile possession, they will shock somebody. Allow them to play the fancy stuff and they can rattle up the points; close them down and they are prone to panic.

Fixtures: Feb 4 Ireland (h) 3pm, Feb 10 Scotland (a) 3.30pm, Feb 24 France (a) 8pm, Mar 10 Italy (a) 3.30pm, Mar 17 England (h) 5.30pm.

IRELAND Backs: Isaac Boss (Ulster), Tommy Bowe (Munster), Girvan Dempsey (Leinster), Gordon D’Arcy (Leinster), Luke Fitzgerald (Leinster), Shane Horgan (Leinster), Denis Hickie (Leinster), Robert Kearney (Leinster), John Kelly (Munster), Barry Murphy (Munster), Geordan Murphy (Leicester), Brian O’Driscoll (Leinster), Ronan O’Gara (Munster), Eoin Reddan (Wasps), Peter Stringer (Munster), Andrew Trimble (Ulster), Paddy Wallace (Ulster).

Forwards: Neil Best (Ulster), Rory Best (Ulster), Simon Best (Ulster), Simon Easterby (Llanelli), Jerry Flannery (Munster), Keith Gleeson (Leinster), John Hayes (Munster), Jamie Heaslip (Leinster), Trevor Hogan (Munster), Marcus Horan (Munster), Denis Leamy (Munster), Donncha O’Callaghan (Munster), Paul O’Connell (Munster), Mick O’Driscoll (Munster), Malcolm O’Kelly (Leinster), Frankie Sheahan (Munster), David Wallace (Munster), Bryan Young (Ulster).

Coach: Eddie O’Sullivan.

Captain: Brian O’Driscoll.

Strengths: Big rampaging pack with the best lineout combination certainly in Europe and arguably the world. Mobile, ball-carrying forwards, established half-backs, and some of the best backs on the planet. Go into the competition as favourites in most people’s eyes.

Weaknesses: Scrum survives, rather than dominates and they have yet to settle on their best back row. Gordon D’Arcy and Shane Horgan are carrying injuries and would be big losses to the side. Have a history of undershooting expectations.

Player to watch: Paul O’Connell. big ball carrier and the main man in the lineout. The pack revolves around his aura and if the force is with him it will perform wonders.

Prospects: Croke Park adds an unknown element but with England and France both in Dublin it is set up to be a Grand Slam season. Let’s see what they make of being favourites.

Fixtures: Feb 4 Wales (a) 3pm, Feb 11 France (h) 3pm, Feb 24 England (h) 5.30pm, Mar 10 Scotland (a) 1.30pm, Mar 17 Italy (a) 1.30pm.

ITALY Backs: Mirco Bergamasco (Stade Francais), Gonzalo Canale (Clermont-Auvergne), Pablo Canavosio (Ghial Calvisano), Paul Griffen (Ghial Calvisano), Ludovico Nitoglia (Ghial Calvisano), Ramiro Pez (Perpignan), Simon Picone (Treviso), Matteo Pratichetti (Ghial Calvisano), Josh Sole (Viadana), Cristian Stoica (Montpellier), Rima Wakarua (Parma).

Forwards: Mauro Bergamasco (Stade Francais), Marco Bortolami (Padova), Martin Castrogiovanni (Ghial Calvisano), Carlo Antonio Del Fava (Bourgoin), Santiago Dellape (Agen), Carlo Festuccia (SKG Gran Parma), Andrea Lo Cicero (L’Aquila), Carlos Nieto (Viadana), Fabio Ongaro (Treviso), Sergio Parisse (Stade Francais), Salvatore Perugini (Ghial Calvisano), Aaron Persico (Agen), Alessandro Zanni (Ghial Calvisano).

Coach: Pierre Berbizier.

Captain: Marco Bortolami.

Strengths: One of the best packs in the championship. Strong scrum, first-rate lineout and a back row hardened in the fires of French domestic rugby. Expect them to win the possession statistics in most games.

Weaknesses: Not much idea what to do with the ball once they have it. Recalling Alessando Troncon is a sign of desperation and, apart from the Bergamasco brothers, there is precious little flair.

Player to watch: Micro Bergamasco. Has a habit of scoring against Scotland and is the go-to man whenever Italy are looking for inspiration. Problem is opponents know that, so he will be heavily marked.

Prospects: They are improving but not quickly enough to challenge elite teams. The days of 80-point hammerings are over, but unless they can shock Wales at the Stadio Flamino they are unlikely to win a game.

Fixtures: Feb 3 France (h) 1.30pm, Feb 10 England (a) 1.30pm, Feb 24 Scotland (a) 3pm, Mar 10 Wales (h) 3.30pm, Mar 17 Ireland (h) 1.30pm.

FRANCE Backs: Jean-Baptiste Elissalde (Toulouse), Pierre Mignoni (Clermont), Dimitri Yachvili (Biarritz), Benjamin Boyet (Bourgoin), David Skrela (Stade Francais), Damien Traille (Biarritz), Romain Cabannes (Biarritz), Florian Fritz (Toulouse), Yannick Jauzion (Toulouse), David Marty (Perpignan), Vincent Clerc (Toulouse), Christophe Dominici (Stade Francais), Cedric Heymans (Toulouse), Aurelien Rougerie (Clermont), Thomas Castaignede (Saracens/ENG), Anthony Floch (Clermont), Clement Poitrenaud (Toulouse).

Forwards: Pieter de Villiers (Stade Francais), Laurent Emmanuelli (Clermont), Sylvain Marconnet (Stade Francais), Nicolas Mas (Perpignan), Olivier Milloud (Bourgoin), Jean-Baptiste Poux (Toulouse), Benoit August (Biarritz), Sebastien Bruno (Sale/ENG), Raphael Ibanez (Wasps/ENG), Dimitri Szarzewski (Stade Francais), Gregory Lamboley (Toulouse), Lionel Nallet (Castres), Pascal Pape (Castres), Fabien Pelous (Toulouse), Jerome Thion (Biarritz), Serge Betsen (Biarritz), Julien Bonnaire (Bourgoin), Sebastien Chabal (Sale/ENG), Thierry Dusautoir (Toulouse), Imanol Harinordoquy (Biarritz), Remy Martin (Stade Francais), Yannick Nyanga (Toulouse), Elvis Vermeulen (Clermont).

Coach: Bernard Laporte.

Captain: Fabien Pelous (if fit) or Raphael Ibanez.

Strengths: Plenty of old-fashioned grunt in the forwards and exciting runners out in the back division who can tear any defence apart.

Weaknesses: Still to find a back row unit and are struggling so hard to find a top-class fly-half that they may resort to Damien Traille. A lot of big-name players are injured and Laporte has said he will use all his huge squad, so don’t expect consistency.

Player to watch: Dmitri Yachvili. Won’t even play in every game but when he does, the little scrum-half makes the side tick both with his combination of tactical intelligence and individual brilliance.

Prospects: Laporte is gambling everything on the side coming good in the World Cup and is using this tournament as preparation. Still hunting his best combinations and with so many injured may have to endure short-term pain.

Fixtures: Feb 3 Italy (a) 1.30pm, Feb 11 Ireland (a) 3pm, Feb 24 Wales (h) 8pm, Mar 11 England (a) 3pm, Mar 17 Scotland (h) 3.30pm.

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Christina Aguilera, Mary J. Blige,Ludacris, Justin Timberlake, andCarrie Underwood will perform on the 49th Annual GRAMMY® Awards telecast, it was announced today by The Recording Academy®.

The Black Eyed Peas, Ciara, and Nelly Furtado will appear as presenters.

Previously announced performers include Beyoncé, the Dixie Chicks, Gnarls Barkley and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Previously announced presenters include Terrence Howard, Samuel L. Jackson, P!nk, and Rihanna.

The music industry’s premier event will take place live on Sunday, Feb. 11, at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles and will be broadcast in HDTV and 5.1 Surround Sound on the CBS Television Network at 8 p.m. (ET/PT).

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Socceroo star Lucas Neill is now officially a West Ham player, the club striking a transfer deal with his former club Blackburn Rovers yesterday.

West Ham signed Neill for an undisclosed sum after Blackburn captured a replacement full back in ex-Liverpool left-back Stephen Warnock.

Neill agreed personal terms on a West Ham move last week, for a reported A$125,000 ($143,530) per week with an escape clause should the Hammers be relegated this season.

However he had to sit out on the weekend while West Ham waited for Rovers to complete a deal with Liverpool for Warnock.

Blackburn manager Mark Hughes paid tribute to Neill, who played more than 200 games for the Lancashire club and won the captaincy following his 2001 move from Millwall.

“We thank Lucas for his efforts because he was fantastic for me in my time here and my prior to my tenure here,” Hughes said.

“He was a guy who came in and gave everything that he had.

“He took the option to move away which he was well within his rights to do.

“We thank him for everything he has done for Blackburn Rovers and we move on.”

Neill passed the standard medical examination at West Ham.

The Australian defender had been close to joining his boyhood heroes Liverpool prior to the start of the season and again during the current transfer window, but elected instead to join strugglers West Ham.

He was likely to be a constant first-team player in the West Ham defence, while Liverpool considered him more of a squad player, sharing playing time with other defenders.

West Ham has been active in the transfer market this season, firstly making the shock signings of Argentine internationals Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano at the start of the campaign.

Mascherano has since moved on to Liverpool and Tevez is expected to also depart, with the team struggling in the relegation zone.

However a takeover by Icelandic investors has seen the club able to spend heavily in this window, with Neill joining Callum Davenport from Tottenham as defensive reinforcements, along with defensive midfielder Nigel Quashie, and others are expected to soon follow.

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Barbaro showed a promising first step after suffering a significant setback from laminitis when X-rays showed no additional complications in either hind leg.

Barbaro co-owner Gretchen Jackson said Barbaro was not in pain, feeling better and had a “decent night.” Barbaro suffered a significant setback because of laminitis — a painful, often fatal disease — in his left hind foot.

ichardson removed damaged tissue from the hoof, and afterward the bay colt was placed in a protective sling in his ICU stall at the University of Pennsylvania’s New Bolton Center. Barbaro has been rehabilitating here since shattering three bones in his right hind leg just a few strides into the Preakness on May 20.

The news came as a jolt, especially since his owners Gretchen and Roy Jackson and Richardson recently said they were hopeful the colt would be released from the hospital, perhaps by the end of the month.

Barbaro had become uncomfortable on his left hind foot in recent days and the cast was removed after some new separation on the inside portion of his hoof was found.

Dr. Scott Morrison, who applied the cast on Jan. 3, called the latest development “a bump in the road” and said Barbaro “can possibly overcome it.

Though Morrison wasn’t present at New Bolton when Richardson removed the loose tissue, he believes Barbaro’s condition has not regressed or gone “back to square one.”

Gretchen Jackson brought Barbaro fresh grass and said the colt’s appearance was “not as bright” when she saw him Wednesday morning. But, she said, the colt had visibly improved later in the day when her husband, Roy, visited.

The cast change could have caused some inflammation, said Dr. Kathleen Anderson, Barbaro’s attending vet when the horse was racing and stabled in trainer Michael Matz’s barn at the Fair Hill Training Center in Elkton, Md.

Anderson said Barbaro has proved he was strong enough to overcome his latest medical obstacle.

After his injury in the Preakness, Barbaro developed severe laminitis, a potentially fatal disease caused by uneven weight distribution in the limbs. The result was that 80 percent of his left hind hoof was removed in mid July.

Just over a week ago, Richardson said Barbaro’s right hind was getting stronger and should eventually be healthy enough to allow the colt to live a comfortable, happy life.

But he also warned: “Barbaro’s left hind foot, which had laminitis, remains a more formidable long-term challenge. The foot must grow much more for him to have a truly successful outcome.”

Still, the Jacksons and Richardson remained optimistic Barbaro could be on a Kentucky farm by the end of January.

The disease, called laminitis or founder, involves inflammation and structural damage to tissue that bonds the horse’s bone to the inner wall of the hoof.

Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press

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