SIX NATIONS CHAMPIONSHIP

February into March · Six Countries · Five Weekends · Since 1883 · Sport

Arranged by the Court

The France squad in blue lifting the Six Nations Championship trophy under gold and blue streamers on the presentation stage — I · The Trophy

Dates: 5 February to 13 March 2027
WhereVarious venues
DressCountry attire
AdmissionOpen to the public
The weatherIn February Dublin reaches about 9°C by day and 2°C at night, and rain or snow falls on about one day in three.
The tableThe Court dines afterwards at Restaurant Patrick Guilbaud, 21 Upper Merrion Street, Dublin (restaurantpatrickguilbaud.ie).
Of noteEach union sells the tickets for its own home matches, by its own procedure.
In companyA member who means to go says so to the Secretary, and the Court seats its members together where the engagement allows.RSVP tells the Secretary that a member means to attend. Send passes the engagement’s name, its date and the address of its page to whomever the reader chooses, or, on a computer, copies the address; the Court itself sends and keeps nothing.RSVP

The Six Nations is five weekends of rugby across February and March, and the oldest international tournament in any sport still running.

Fifteen matches between six countries. Each plays every other, and the fixture order rotates so that no nation has the same season twice.

The Hundred and Ten Years

It began in December 1882 as the Home Nations Championship, contested by England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales. England won it and took the first Triple Crown, although nobody called it that at the time.

England were then thrown out for two years, in 1888 and 1889, for refusing to join the international board.

France came in properly in 1910 and it became the Five Nations. France were expelled in 1931 over payments to players and readmitted in 1947, and did not win it outright until 1959. Italy joined in 2000 and have not won it yet.

And for a hundred and ten years there was no trophy. The first was presented in 1993. The tournament had been played since the reign of Victoria, through two world wars, and nobody until then had thought to make an object for the winners to hold up. The present cup has six sides, one for each country.

The Triple Crown went the same way. It was an informal honour with no physical form at all until 2006.

The Cups Within the Cup

Seven of the fifteen fixtures carry trophies of their own, which means a country out of contention by the third weekend still has something to play for on the fifth.

The Calcutta Cup, England against Scotland, is the oldest. When the Calcutta Football Club dissolved in 1878 it withdrew what remained in its account, in silver rupees, melted them down and had a cup made from the metal. It has been played for since 1879, which makes it older than the tournament it now sits inside.

The others: the Millennium Trophy between England and Ireland, begun for Dublin’s thousandth year. The Centenary Quaich between Ireland and Scotland. The Giuseppe Garibaldi Trophy between France and Italy. The Auld Alliance Trophy between France and Scotland. The Doddie Weir Cup between Scotland and Wales. The Cuttitta Cup between Italy and Scotland, the newest, first played for in 2022 in memory of the Italian captain who became Scotland’s scrum coach. Scotland now plays for a trophy in every match.

Last place takes the wooden spoon, which does not exist.

The silver Six Nations Championship trophy with its ribbons on a plinth at the side of the pitch before kick-off — II · Before Kick-Off

What to Know

The away weekend is the reason this is on the calendar. London, Dublin, Paris, Rome, Edinburgh and Cardiff each take a Saturday, and the match is the smaller part of it.

Rome is the easiest ticket and a fine weekend. Italy rarely win and the city does not mind.

Dublin and Edinburgh are the hardest atmospheres to get into and the ones worth being inside.

Tickets go mainly through the unions and their member clubs rather than through general sale, which is why the resale market is what it is.

The car park at Twickenham before an England match is an institution in itself, and the tailgating is done from the backs of estate cars with proper glasses.

The mistake is going to one match. The tournament is a season and it is followed as one.

Questions

When is the 2027 Six Nations?

The 2027 Guinness Men’s Six Nations opens on Friday 5 February with Ireland against England at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin, and ends on Saturday 13 March. There is a single fallow week, immediately after the third round on 20 and 21 February.

When is the Six Nations final?

There is no final. The title is settled on the last day, known as Super Saturday, with three matches back to back. In 2027 that is 13 March: Italy against Wales in Rome at 14:10 GMT, England against Scotland for the Calcutta Cup in London at 16:40, and Ireland against France in Dublin at 20:10.

How do you get tickets for the Six Nations?

Each union sells tickets for its own home matches and has its own procedure. Six Nations Rugby advises buying only from a union or from a partner a union has officially designated, and signing up to the unions’ mailing lists to hear when tickets become available. Packages for away matches come through each union’s official travel partner.

How do you get Six Nations tickets in Ireland?

Tickets for Ireland men’s matches are distributed mainly through rugby clubs across the island of Ireland, whose members have priority. Any tickets left after the club allocations may then be sold through the official Ireland Supporters Club and through Ticketmaster.

What is the Six Nations?

The Six Nations is the annual men’s rugby union championship between England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. Each nation plays the other five once, fifteen matches in five rounds from February into March. The 2027 Championship is described by the organiser as the 144th edition.

A match-day crowd under festoon lights at Allianz Stadium Twickenham, with two musicians playing on a small stage. — III · The Crowd at Twickenham

The Court

The Six Nations is not the Court’s own. Tickets, hospitality and rooms in six cities are sought on a member’s behalf, and the Court arranges the whole of the weekend: getting there, where to stay, and the table afterwards. The fixture list is published a year ahead and the good weekends are taken early.

How one becomes a member is set out under Admission.