Paterson Welcomes 2008 Dates

Scotland’s dates for the 2008 RBS 6 Nations Championship have been announced today. Scotland begin at home against France on Sunday 3 February with a 3pm kick-off. Thereafter they are away to Wales on Saturday 9 February (2pm kick-off); away to Ireland on Saturday 23 February (5pm kick-off); at home to England on Saturday 8 March (3.15pm kick-off); and conclude away to Italy on Saturday 15 March (2pm kick-off Italian time, 1pm GMT).Scotland’s dates for the 2008 RBS 6 Nations Championship have been announced today. Scotland begin at home against France on Sunday 3 February with a 3pm kick-off. Thereafter they are away to Wales on Saturday 9 February (2pm kick-off); away to Ireland on Saturday 23 February (5pm kick-off); at home to England on Saturday 8 March (3.15pm kick-off); and conclude away to Italy on Saturday 15 March (2pm kick-off Italian time, 1pm GMT). Scotland captain Chris Paterson said: My first impression is that the fixtures are really similar to what we faced in the 2006 championship. France first up at home is always a bonus and hopefully we can start the championship in a similar way to 2006.Scotland head coach Frank Hadden said he was pleased for Scotland supporters who travel in numbers to away matches that all of our away fixtures are scheduled for Saturdays. He added: We face the same tight turnaround that Wales did this year – six days between our first game and our second and that will be a challenge.RBS 6 Nations’ Chairman, Jacques Laurans, said: The dust has barely settled on one of the most exciting tournaments in recent history, yet we can now look forward in detail to the challenges of next year. Events have shown once again that this championship is incapable of prediction, and is a thoroughly competitive event from start to finish. Moreover, the fact that so many teams began their final games with a chance of winning outright augurs well for our nations’ prospects in the Rugby World Cup, which takes place later this year. 2008 RBS 6 Nations dates Week 1 Saturday 2 February Ireland v Italy – 14:00 England v Wales – 16:30 Sunday 3 February Scotland v France – 15:00 Week 2 Saturday 9 February Wales v Scotland – 14:00 France v Ireland – 16:00 (17:00 local) Sunday 10 February Italy v England – 14:30 (15:30 local) Week 3 16 / 17 February Rest Weekend Week 4 Saturday 23 February Wales v Italy – 15:00 Ireland v Scotland – 17:00 France v England – 20:00 (21:00 local) Week 5 1 / 2 March Rest Weekend Week 6 Saturday 8 March Ireland v Wales – 13:15 Scotland v England – 15:15 Sunday 9 March France v Italy – 15:00 (16:00 local) Week 7 Saturday 15 March Italy v Scotland – 13:00 (14:00 local) England v Ireland – 15:00 Wales v France – 17:00