2025 Six Nations squads: All you need to know

01/16/2025 02:01 AM

All the squads, and talking points, for the 2025 Six Nations, which kicks off on 31 January.

ENGLAND
Forwards: Fin Baxter, Ollie Chessum, Alex Coles, Luke Cowan-Dickie, Chandler Cunningham-South, Ben Curry, Tom Curry, Theo Dan, Alex Dombrandt, Ben Earl, Ellis Genge, Jamie George, Joe Heyes, Ted Hill, Maro Itoje (c), George Martin, Asher Opoku-Fordjour, Bevan Rodd, Will Stuart, Tom Willis.
Backs: Oscar Beard, Elliot Daly, Fraser Dingwall, George Ford, Tommy Freeman, Ollie Lawrence, Alex Mitchell, Cadan Murley, Harry Randall, Tom Roebuck, Henry Slade, Ollie Sleightholme, Fin Smith, Marcus Smith, Freddie Steward, Jack van Poortvliet.

Talking points:

• Maro Itoje is appointed England captain by coach Steve Borthwick, with Jamie George demoted to vice-captain.
• No 8 Tom Willis is recalled after being axed ahead of the 2024 Autumn Nations Series.
• Centres Fraser Dingwall and Oscar Beard, and props Joe Heyes and Bevan Rodd return after not being selected in November.
• Veteran prop Dan Cole misses out.
• Locks Ollie Chessum and Alex Coles return from injury.

FRANCE
Forwards: Esteban Abadie, Dorian Aldegheri, Gregory Alldritt, Uini Atonio, Hugo Auradou, Cyrill Baille, Giorgi Beria, Paul Boudehent, Joshua Brennan, Georges-Henri Colombe, Francois Cros, Marko Gazzotti, Jean-Baptiste Gros, Matthias Halagahu, Oscar Jegou, Anthony Jelonch, Maxime Lamothe, Julien Marchand, Peato Mauvaka, Emmanuel Meafou, Danny Priso, Rabah Slimani, Romain Taofifenua.
Backs: Theo Attissogbe, Pierre-Louis Barassi, Leo Barre, Louis Bielle-Biarrey, Nicolas Depoortere, Gael Drean, Antoine Dupont (c), Antoine Frisch, Emilien Gailleton, Matthieu Jalibert, Nolann le Garrec, Maxime Lucu, Yoram Moefana, Noah Nene, Romain Ntamack, Damien Penaud, Thomas Ramos, Gabin Villiere.

Talking points:

• Antoine Dupont to captain France having missed last year's Six Nations in order to focus on sevens and the Olympic Games.
• Twenty-year-old Dax centre Noah Nene selected after impressing in the Pro D2.
• Leinster tighthead prop Rabah Slimani returns to the national squad after a five-year absence.

La percée sublime de Noah Nene lors du du derby des Landes #PROD2pic.twitter.com/yKhkZDQz1j

— Rugby PRO D2 (@rugbyprod2) November 19, 2024

ITALY
Forwards: Lorenzo Cannone, Niccolo Cannone, Riccardo Favretto, Simone Ferrari, Danilo Fischetti, Alessandro Izekor, Dino Lamb, Michele Lamaro, Gianmarco Lucchesi, Sebastian Negri, Giacomo Nicotera, Marco Ricconi, Luca Rizzoli, Federico Ruzza, Ross Vintcent, Giosue Zilocchi, Manuel Zuliani.
Backs: Tommaso Allan, Juan Ignacio Brex, Ange Capuozzo, Matt Gallagher, Alessandro Garbisi, Paolo Garbisi, Simone Gesi, Monty Ioane, Leonardo Marin, Tommaso Menoncello, Martin Page-Relo, Jacopo Trulla, Stephen Varney.

Talking points:

• Prop Giosuè Zilocchi returns having missed the 2024 Autumn Nations Series due to injury.
• Uncapped prop Luca Rizzoli is recalled to cover the suspension of Mirco Spagnolo, who will miss the first two matches.
• Flyhalf Tommaso Allan (the nephew of former Bok hooker John Allan) is back having been unavailable for the November Tests against Georgia and New Zealand.

IRELAND
Forwards: Ryan Baird, Finlay Bealham, Tadhg Beirne, Jack Boyle, Thomas Clarkson, Jack Conan, Caelan Doris (c), Tadhg Furlong, Cian Healy, Iain Henderson, Rob Herring, Cormac Izuchukwu, Rónan Kelleher, Gus McCarthy, Joe McCarthy, Peter O'Mahony, Andrew Porter, Cian Prendergast, James Ryan, Dan Sheehan, Josh van der Flier.
Backs: Bundee Aki, Caolin Blade, Jack Crowley, Ciaran Frawley, Jamison Gibson-Park, Mack Hansen, Robbie Henshaw, Hugo Keenan, James Lowe, Conor Murray, Calvin Nash, Jimmy O'Brien, Jamie Osborne, Sam Prendergast, Garry Ringrose.

Talking points:

• Interim head coach Simon Easterby names just one uncapped player in the squad, Leinster loosehead Jack Boyle.
• Hooker Dan Sheehan returns having recovered from an ACL injury in last year's Test series against the Springboks.
• Tighthead prop Tadhg Furlong is back, having missed 2024 Autumn Nations Series due to a hamstring injury.

SCOTLAND
Forwards: Ewan Ashman, Josh Bayliss, Jamie Bhatti, Gregor Brown, Dave Cherry, Luke Crosbie, Scott Cummings, Rory Darge, Jack Dempsey, Matt Fagerson, Zander Fagerson, Grant Gilchrist, Jonny Gray, Patrick Harrison, Will Hurd, Jack Mann, D'Arcy Rae, Dylan Richardson, Jamie Ritchie, Pierre Schoeman, Rory Sutherland, Marshall Sykes.
Backs: Fergus Burke, Matt Currie, Jamie Dobie, Darcy Graham, George Horne, Rory Hutchinson, Huw Jones, Tom Jordan, Blair Kinghorn, Stafford McDowall, Finn Russell, Kyle Rowe, Sione Tuipulotu (c), Duhan van der Merwe, Ben White.

Talking points:

• Glasgow flyhalf Adam Hastings is ruled out through injury.
• Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend calls up Saracens’ New Zealand-born flyhalf Fergus Burke, who qualifies to play for New Zealand, England and Scotland. Burke represented the Crusaders from 2020 to 2024 and was regarded as Richie Mo'unga's long-term replacement before heading to England.
• Glasgow loose forward Jack Mann is the other uncapped player in the squad.

WALES
Forwards: Keiron Assiratti, James Botham, Elliot Dee, Taulupe Faletau, Dafydd Jenkins, WillGriff John, Evan Lloyd, Kemsley Mathias, Jac Morgan, Sam Parry, Tommy Reffell, Will Rowlands, Nicky Smith, Gareth Thomas, Freddie Thomas, Henry Thomas, Christ Tshiunza, Aaron Wainwright, Teddy Williams.
Backs: Josh Adams, Ellis Bevan, Dan Edwards, Josh Hathaway, Eddie James, Ellis Mee, Blair Murray, Joe Roberts, Tom Rogers, Ben Thomas, Nick Tompkins, Owen Watkin, Liam Williams, Rhodri Williams, Tomos Williams.

Talking points:

• Under-pressure Warren Gatland, who has lost his last 12 Tests as Wales head coach, recalls experienced trio Taulupe Faletau (No 8), Josh Adams (wing) and Liam Williams (fullback), who missed out on 2024 Autumn Nations Series.
• Loose forward Jac Morgan will captain Wales in the absence of injured hooker Dewi Lake.
• Ospreys hooker Sam Parry, who walked out ahead of Wales' July 2024 tour to Australia, is back after settling his differences with Gatland.
• Flyhalves Gareth Anscombe (omitted) and Sam Costelow (injured) miss out.

Photo: Dan Mullan/Getty Images

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