Six Nations Championship

Lore & Background

The tournament is organised by the unions of the six participating nations under the banner of Six Nations Rugby, which is responsible for the promotion and operation of the men's, women's and under-20s tournaments, and the Autumn International Series, as well as the negotiation and management of their centralised commercial rights. The Six Nations is the successor to the Home Nations Championship (1883–1909 and 1932–39), played by teams from England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales, which was the first international rugby union tournament. With the addition of France, this became the Five Nations Championship (1910–31 and 1947–99), and the Six Nations Championship with Italy joining in 2000. England and Wales have won the championship the most times, both with 39 titles, but England have won the most outright titles with 29 (28 for Wales). Since the Six Nations era started in 2000, only Italy and Scotland have failed to win the Six Nations title. The women's tournament started as the Women's Home Nations in the 1996 season. The men's Six Nations Under 20s Championship is the successor to the Under 21s tournament which began in 2004.

In Their Own Story

The rain slicks the Twickenham pitch as the final minutes tick away, the air thick with the roar of eighty thousand fans. A forward pack from the visiting nation drives hard against the defensive line, mud flying with every collision. There are no helmets here, only grit and the oval ball clutched tight in muddy hands. As the whistle blows, the silence is heavy before erupting into a cacophony of cheers or groans, another chapter written in the long, storied history of European rugby.

Reader's Guide

The tournament begins on the first weekend in February and culminates on the second Saturday in March. Each team plays every other team once (a total of 15 matches), with home ground advantage alternating from one year to the next. Before the 2017 tournament, two points were awarded for a win, one for a draw and none for a loss. A bonus point system was first used in the 2017 Championship. The system is similar to the one used in most rugby championships (0 points for a loss, 2 for a draw, 4 for a win, 1 for scoring four or more tries in a match, and 1 for losing by 7 points or fewer). The only difference is that a team that wins all their games (a Grand Slam) are automatically awarded 3 extra points - to ensure they cannot be overtaken by a defeated team on bonus points. Before 1994, teams equal on match points shared the championship. Since then, ties have been broken by considering the points difference (total points scored minus total points conceded) of the teams. The rules of the championship further provide that if teams tie on both match points and points difference, the team that scored the most tries wins the championship. Were this decider to be a tie, the tying teams would share the championship. To date, however, match points and points difference have been sufficient to decide the championship. The Wooden Spoon is a metaphorical award given to the team that finishes in last place; a team which loses all their matches is said to have been 'whitewashed'. Since the inaugural Six Nations tournament in 2000, only England and Ireland have avoided finishing last. Italy have finished last 18 times in the Six Nations era, and have lost all their matches in 12 tournaments.

Did You Know?

• A team that wins all its games wins the 'Grand Slam'.
• The Triple Crown may only be won by one of the Home Nations of England, Ireland, Scotland or Wales, when one nation wins all three of their matches against the others.
• The Triple Crown Trophy has been awarded only since 2006, when the Royal Bank of Scotland commissioned Hamilton & Inches to design and create a dedicated Triple Crown Trophy.
• Only Scotland play for a 'rivalry' or challenge trophy in every Six Nations match, as well as for the oldest such trophy, the Calcutta Cup.
• Wales became the last nation to contest such a trophy, the Doddie Weir Cup in 2018, while the newest such trophy is the Solidarity Trophy introduced between Ireland and France in 2026.

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