Croft getting back to his best

England flanker Tom Croft believes he is returning to form at just the right time for club and country.

Croft was one of key players in Leicester’s surge to both the Guinness Premiership and Heineken Cup finals last season – form that earned him a call up to the British & Irish Lions as a replacement for Irish flanker Alan Quinlan.

This season though has not gone according to plan with a knee injury ruling out the blindside specialist for the RBS 6 Nations.

But with Croft having started the Tigers’ last three games – all victories – the 24-year-old says he is rediscovering his stride as the season enters its business end.

He said: “Prior to the injury I did not quite hit the standard I was at last season.

“I was not happy with myself after the autumn internationals – I was not where I needed to be. I can’t put it down to any one thing whether it was the Lions tour of something else.

“The injury came at a bad time but now I have got five possible games if we get to the final to get to 100per cent before the England summer tour.

“My main goal is to play as much as possible and get my lungs back. I was happy with how I played against Bath last week and I hope that can continue.”

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Previous Venues for Six Nations Championship

Team	Stadium	Capacity
Ireland	Croke Park	82,300
England	Twickenham	82,000
France	Stade de France	81,338
Wales	Millennium Stadium	74,500
Scotland	Murrayfield	67,130
Italy	Stadio Flaminio	32,000, Expanding to 41,000

Croke Park is not the normal home of Irish rugby; it is the flagship stadium of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). Ireland's traditional home, Lansdowne Road, has been unavailable since the start of 2007 due to the construction of a completely new stadium on the site of what had become an increasingly run-down structure. The all-Ireland governing body for rugby union, the Irish Rugby Football Union, reached an agreement with the GAA to allow Ireland to play their 6 Nations fixtures at Croke Park in 2007. The agreement has continued throughout the construction of the new stadium at the Lansdowne Road site, which will be known as Aviva Stadium when it opens in April 2010. Ireland will play their first Six Nations matches at their new ground in 2011.

Similarly, the Stadio Flaminio may no longer be big enough, since "palla ovale" is becoming more popular in Italy. Rugby games may in future be held at football stadiums such as the Stadio Olimpico in Rome or in the North where rugby is most popular. Stadio Luigi Ferraris in Genoa (42,000 seats) or Stadio Ennio Tardini, Parma (almost 28,000 seats) have been suggested as alternative grounds. But recently, improvements for Flaminio have been announced increasing the likelihood that rugby will stay at Stadio Flamino, although still making it the smallest of the six nations grounds.

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Championship Trophy

The winners of the 6 Nations are presented with the Championship Trophy. This was originally conceived by the Earl of Westmorland, and was first presented to the winners of the 1993 championship, France. It is a sterling silver trophy, designed by James Brent-Ward and made by a team of eight silversmiths from the London firm William Comyns; it is valued at £55,000. Although originally silver on the inside, the trophy became so corroded through celebratory champagne fillings[citation needed] that it is now plated with 22 carat gold for protection.

It has 15 side panels representing the 15 members of the team and with three handles to represent the three officials (referee and two touch judges). The cup has a capacity of 3.75 litres – sufficient for five bottles of champagne. Within the mahogany base is a concealed drawer which contains six alternate finials, each a silver replica of one of the team emblems, which can be screwed on the detachable lid.

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Six Nations Photo Gallery

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Six Nations Championship

The Six Nations Championship (referred to as RBS 6 Nations for sponsorship reasons), known before 2000 as the Five Nations Championship, is an annual international rugby union competition involving six European sides: England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales.

The Six Nations Championship is the successor to the Five Nations and the Home Nations Championship, which was the first international rugby union tournament in the Northern Hemisphere. The winners of the Six Nations are seen as being the European Champions. The event is currently sponsored by the Royal Bank of Scotland.

Ireland are the current Grand Slam title holders, for the first time since 1948, having won the competition in 2009 by beating all other teams, and winning the Triple Crown by beating England, Scotland and Wales.

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