Six Nations

For many people it is the start of exciting sporting events that brighten up this fairly gloomy time of the year and right on cue, this month sees the return of the Rugby Six Nations. The excitement begins on Saturday 4th February when Wales face Ireland in Cardiff and England face Scotland at Twickenham.

The tournament will run until its conclusion on March 18th on what is being dubbed as ‘Super Saturday ‘when all three fixtures take place one after another on the same day.

The 2023 Six Nations Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the Guinness Six Nations) will be the 24th in the current series, although the 129th edition of the competition featuring all its previous incarnations including the ‘Five Nations’ and ‘Home Championship’.

Both England and Wales are set to compete in their first major tournament since the sacking of their respective head coaches Eddie Jones and Wayne Pivac, following a dismal set of results in the autumn. Every game will be broadcast by either BBC or ITV. The BBC is covering the home matches of Scotland and Wales, while ITV will cover the France, Ireland and Italy home matches. England’s home matches will be shared between the two broadcasters. The scheduled dates are shown on the page. 

The competition provides a convenient and significant dress rehearsal for the Rugby World Cup later this year in France.

History

The Six Nations is the successor to the Home Nations Championship which was contested between 1883-1909 and 1932-39, played between teams from England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales, and which was effectively the first international Rugby Union tournament. With the addition of France, this became the Five Nations Championship (1910-31 and 1947-99) and then which, ultimately, following the addition of Italy in 2000, became the Six Nations Championship.

Sine the original format in 1883, England and Wales has won the Championship the most times – both with 39 titles. However, England has won the most outright titles, with 29. Since the Six Nations era started in 2000, only Italy and Scotland have failed to win the title.

The Trophies

If you are not familiar with the Six Nations it is quite a unique tournament as there are several trophies to play for:

• The Championship Trophy – presented to the overall winners of the league format.
• The Grand Slam – for a team winning all five of their games.
• The Triple Crown – for any of the Home Nations (i.e. England Scotland, Wales, Ireland) if they should win all their matches against each other.

Calcutta Cup – competed for between England and Scotland since 1879 and made from melted-down Indian rupees donated by the Calcutta Club.

Millennium Trophy – competed for between England and Ireland to celebrate Dublin’s millennium in 1988.

Centenary Quaich – Ireland v Scotland; a ‘Quaich’ is a Gaelic drinking vessel and has been presented to the winners since 1989.

Giuseppe Garibaldi Trophy – France v Italy to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the birth of Giuseppe Garibaldi.

Auld Alliance Trophy – Scotland v France in memory of the war dead from the rugby communities.

Doddie Weir Cup – Wales v Scotland in support of the My Name’5 Doddie Foundation which supports Motor Neurone disease. Doddie Weir won 61 caps for Scotland and died in 2022 after fighting a long battle against the disease.

Cuttitta Cup – Scotland v Italy. Massimo Cuttitta was a former Italian captain and Scotland scrum coach who died from COVID in 2021 at the age of 54.

England

England move into a fresh era under new coach Steve Borthwick who took charge in December 2022. The former England captain, only in the role for 6 weeks, is unlikely to make any radical changes and coached alongside Eddie Jones with Japan and England for 8 years; Jones has also just been announced as the New Australia coach.

Positive team news is that Owen Farrell is now available for selection again after serving a 3 week ban that he picked up for a high tackle whilst playing for Saracens. Farrell has also been confirmed as captain. Having finished third in the table last year, England will obviously be hoping to improve.

Curent Odds: Championship Trophy 9/2, Grand Slam 8/1, Triple Crown 9/2.

Wales

The return of Warren Gatland as head coach makes for an exciting time for the Welsh Dragons. New Zealander Gatland returns after being sacked in 2019 following 12 years in charge. Whilst formerly in charge he won his first Six Nations (Grand Slam) in his debut season with Cymru in 2008, before repeating the feat in 2012 and 2019.

Current Odds: Championship Trophy 14/1, Grand Slam 40/1, Triple Crown 12/1.

Scotland

Scotland will be looking for a repeat of last year’s success (20-17) over the ‘old enemy’ in their opening match against England at Twickenham. Sadly, the bright start they made in 2022 soon died off with defeats in all their other matches bar Italy.

Current Odds: Championship Trophy 20/1, Grand Slam 66/1, Triple Crown 18/1.

Ireland

Ireland arrives in good shape and among the home nations are the most likely for success. Once again they face Wales in their opening match – a team that they swept aside last year 29-7, although it will no doubt be a tougher task in Cardiff this time around.

The 2022 Triple Crown winners’ key match will surely be against the French, who narrowly manged to get the better of them last time around.

Current Odds: Championship Trophy 11/8, Grand Slam 3/1, Triple Crown 5/4.

France

France will enter the tournament as defending champions, having won the Grand Slam in 2022; however with away matches this time round at Twickenham and the AVIVA stadium in Dublin, they may just find 2023 a tougher task.

Current Odds: Championship Trophy 6/4, Grand Slam 10/3.

Italy

Having only picked up a solitary Six Nations match victory in the last 7 years, the Italians will once again start as rank outsiders, however they can take confidence that this sole victory was last year when they dramatically overcame the Welsh in the final minute of the final game 22-21!

Current Odds: Championship Trophy 500/1, Grand Slam 2,000/1.

Round one

Saturday 4th February Wales v Ireland 2.15pm BBC England v Scotland 4.45pm ITV

Sunday 5th February

Italy v France 3pm ITV

Round two

Saturday 11th February 

Ireland v France 2.15pm ITV

Scotland v Wales 4.45pm BBC

Sunday 12th February 

England v Italy 3pm ITV

Round three 

Saturday 25th February 

Italy v Ireland 2.15pm ITV Wales v England 4.45pm BBC

Sunday 26th February

France v Scotland 3pm ITV

Round four

Saturday 11th March 

Italy v Wales 2.15pm ITV England v France 4.45pm ITV and BBC

Sunday 12th March

Scotland v Ireland 3pm BBC

Round five 

Saturday 18th March

Scotland v Italy 12.30pm BBC France v Wales 2.45pm ITV Ireland v England 5pm ITV