Six Nations: All you need to know

The Six Nations is back in action next weekend as rugby’s best northern hemisphere teams battle it out for the trophy, with pivotal matchups starting from the opening weekend.

Ahead of the tournament’s start, we look ahead to all things Six Nations, giving you the lowdown on all you need to know about the upcoming competition.

What is the Six Nations?

The Six Nations is a historic rugby union competition dating originally back to 1883 as the Home Nations, although it wasn’t until 2000 that the competition first featured six nations rather than the previous format of four (1883-1909) and five teams (1910-2000).

The Six Nations competition sees England, Wales, Ireland, Scotland, France and Italy compete for the trophy, from the first weekend in February, to the Super Saturday final round of games in early March.

The tournament sees each team play each other once, making for a total of 15 games. The teams accumulate points throughout the series to determine the winner; 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.

As well as winning the Six Nations title, each team also seeks to claim the Grand Slam title (secured by winning all of their games), and to avoid the metaphorical award of the Wooden Spoon (losing all of their matches). Wales and England hold the most title wins, each with 39. France are the reigning champions after last year’s Grand Slam victory.

Where and when is the 2023 Six Nations being played?

The 2023 tournament will see games held in each of the participating nations’ stadiums. England is currently due to host three home games, Italy, Scotland and England will have three, while Wales, France, and Ireland will only have two home fixtures each.

England’s home games will be played at Twickenham in London, Wales’ at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff, and Scotland’s at Murrayfield in Edinburgh. Ireland will play their home games at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin, with France’s in Paris at the Stade de France and Italy’s home games in Rome’s Stadio Olimpico.

Ahead of the first round of fixtures, we’ve detailed the full 2023 Six Nations schedule below.

Full Schedule

Round 1

Saturday, 4 February

Wales v Ireland – 14:15, Cardiff

England v Scotland – 16:45, Twickenham

Sunday, 5 February

Italy v France – 15:00, Rome

Round 2

Saturday, 11 February

Ireland v France – 14:15, Dublin

Scotland v Wales – 16:45, Edinburgh

Sunday, 12 February

England v Italy – 15:00, Twickenham

Round 3

Saturday, 25 February

Italy v Ireland – 14:15, Rome

Wales v England – 16:45, Cardiff

Sunday, 26 February

France v Scotland – 15:00, Paris

Round 4

Saturday, 11 March

Italy v Wales – 14:15, Rome

England v France – 16:45, Twickenham

Sunday, 12 March

Scotland v Ireland – 15:00, Edinburgh

Round 5

Saturday, 18 March

Scotland v Italy – 12:30, Edinburgh

France v Wales – 14:45, Paris

Ireland v England – 17:00, Dublin

Who are the previous winners of the Six Nations?

2022 saw France take the Six Nations trophy, having won all of their five games, earning them the Grand Slam. Ireland came a close second finishing just four points shy of the winners having only suffered defeat to the French.

Since 1883, Wales have won 39 of the titles, equalling England’s record, though the latter have won one more outright title with a haul of 29. Wales have also won the least Wooden Spoon titles, with their last in 2003. Last year, the Triple Crown trophy was awarded to Ireland, due to their victories over all three of the original Home Nations: England, Scotland, and Wales.

England have won the most Grand Slam titles (13) out of all of the six nations, with Wales close behind on 12.

Since the Six Nations first featured six countries in 2000, England have won seven titles, Wales six, France six and Ireland four.

What are the odds for the 2023 Six Nations?

Ahead of the series, Ireland lead the betting with odds of 11/8 to win the tournament and 13/10 to win the Triple Crown. Although they have not clinched a Six Nations title since 2018, they came a close second to France last year and their squad looks in top form.

Ireland’s biggest competition looks to be defending champions France who are close behind in the betting at 13/8. The French side also look in peak form and they will be hosting the World Cup later on this year, so keep a close eye on Fabien Galthie’s side.

England are always impossible to forecast, but see themselves at 4/1 to win the Six Nations with odds of 9/1 to achieve a Grand Slam. Under fresh guidance from newly appointed Steve Borthwick, the side will be eager to impress their new head coach as they aim to secure their 40th title with three home games.

Wales are another team you don’t want to count out too early, but their chances speak for themselves at 11/1 after a shock defeat at the end of last year’s Six Nations to Italy led to the country’s embarrassment. They have a lot of work to do here at 28/1 to win the Grand Slam.

Fifth in the betting comes Scotland under captain Jamie Ritchie. The squad are 25/1 for Six Nations glory but haven’t managed to win the tournament since there were still only five nations in 1999.

Italy are yet to win a Six Nations title, but after beating Wales in last year’s tournament and Australia in the Autumn Nations series, the Italians can come here full of confidence. However, this hasn’t stopped them from being the outright underdogs at 500/1 to win their first Six Nations trophy.