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Six Nations Championship

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This article is about the rugby union event. For the ice hockey competition, see Six Nations Tournament (ice hockey). For the latest event, see 2016 Six Nations Championship.

Six Nations Championship
Current season or competition:
2017 Six Nations Championship
File:Six Nations Championship.svg
The official RBS 6 Nations logo
SportRugby union
Instituted1883 (as Home Nations Championship)
1910 (as Five Nations Championship)
2000 (as Six Nations Championship)
Number of teams6
Country England
 France
 Ireland
 Italy
 Scotland
 Wales
Holders England
Most titles England (27 outright titles & 10 shared titles)
Websitehttp://www.rbs6nations.com/

The Six Nations Championship[a] is an annual international rugby union competition involving six European sides: England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. It is sponsored by the Royal Bank of Scotland. The current champions are England, having won the 2016 tournament.

The Six Nations is the successor to the Home Nations Championship (1883–1909 and 1932–39), played between teams from England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales, which was the first international rugby union tournament.[1] With the addition of France, this became the Five Nations Championship (1910–31 and 1947–99), which in turn became the Six Nations Championship with the addition of Italy. The winners of the Six Nations Championship are sometimes unofficially referred to in the media as the European Champions or Northern Hemisphere Champions.

England hold the record for outright wins of the Home Nations, Five Nations and Six Nations tournaments, with 27 titles, although Wales follow closely with 26 outright wins with the addition of 12 shared victories to England's 10. Since the Six Nations era started in 2000, only Italy and Scotland have failed to win the Six Nations title, although Scotland were the last outright winners of the Five Nations.

Format

The locations of the Six Nations participants

Played annually, the format of the Championship is simple: each team plays every other team once (making a total of 15 matches), with home ground advantage alternating from one year to the next. Prior to the 2017 tournament, two points were awarded for a win, one for a draw and none for a loss. Unlike many other rugby union competitions the bonus point system has not previously been used.

On 30 November 2016, the 6 Nations Committee announced that the bonus point system will be trialled for the 2017 Championship. The system will be 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 match, and 1 for losing by 7 points or fewer), with the only difference being that a Grand Slam winner will be given 3 extra points to ensure they finish top of the table. A review on how well the system worked will take place following the tournament.

If a team wins all its games, they are said to have won a 'Grand Slam'. Victory by any Home Nation over the other three Home Nations is a 'Triple Crown'. Although this achievement has long been a feature of the tournament, it was not until 2006 that a physical Triple Crown trophy was awarded.

Also, the team that finishes at the bottom of the league table is said to have "won" the Wooden Spoon, although no actual trophy is given to the team. A team which has lost all five matches is said to have been whitewashed. Since the inaugural Six Nations tournament in 2000, only England and Ireland have avoided the Wooden Spoon award. Italy are the holders of the most Wooden Spoon awards in the Six Nations era with ten, and have been whitewashed six times. However, each of the other five nations has accumulated more than that through competing in previous eras.

Several individual competitions take place under the umbrella of the tournament. The oldest such regular competition is for the Calcutta Cup, contested annually between England and Scotland since 1879. It is named the Calcutta Cup as it is made from melted-down Indian Rupees donated by the Calcutta Club. Since 1988, the Millennium Trophy has been awarded to the winner of the game between England and Ireland, and since 1989 the Centenary Quaich has been awarded to the winner of the game between Ireland and Scotland. Since 2007, France and Italy have contested the Giuseppe Garibaldi Trophy; it was created for the 200th anniversary of the birth of Giuseppe Garibaldi, the Italian hero who helped unify Italy and volunteered in the French Republican Army against Prussia.

Prior to 1994, teams equal on match points shared the championship. Since then, ties have been broken by considering the points difference of the teams. The rules of the championship further provide that if teams tie on both match points and points difference, the team which scored the most tries wins the championship. Were this decider to be a tie, the tieing teams would share the championship.[2] To date, however, match points and points difference have been sufficient to decide the championship.

Trophies

Championship Trophy

The Original Six Nations Championship Trophy (1993–2014) and The Triple Crown Trophy

The winners of the Six Nations are presented with the Championship Trophy.[3] 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 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.

A new trophy was introduced for the 2015 Championship.[4] The new trophy was designed and crafted by Thomas Lyte silversmiths and replaces the 1993 edition, which is being retired as it represented the nations that took part in the Five Nations Championship.[5]

Triple Crown Trophy

Main article: Triple Crown (rugby union)

The Triple Crown may only be won by England, Ireland, Scotland or Wales, when one nation wins all three of their matches against the others, during the Six Nations Championship. The Triple Crown honour has long been a feature of the tournament, dating back to the original Home Nations Championship, but the physical Triple Crown Trophy has been awarded only since 2006. The current holder of the Triple Crown is England, who defeated Ireland, Scotland, and Wales in the 2016 championship. For the 2006 Six Nations, the Royal Bank of Scotland (the primary sponsor of the competition) commissioned Hamilton & Inches to design and create a dedicated Triple Crown Trophy. It has since been won three times by Ireland and twice by England and Wales.

Other trophies

Several other trophies are contested within the main competition, mostly as long-standing fixtures between pairs of teams.

Current venues

The Aviva Stadium, Dublin

As of the current 2016 competition, Six Nations matches will be held in the following stadia:

Team Stadium Capacity
England Twickenham Stadium 82,000
France Stade de France 81,338
Wales Principality Stadium 74,500
Italy Stadio Olimpico 72,698
Scotland Murrayfield Stadium 67,144
Ireland Aviva Stadium 51,700

The opening of the Aviva Stadium in May 2010 ended the arrangement with the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) that allowed the all-Ireland governing body for rugby union, the Irish Rugby Football Union, to use the GAA's flagship stadium, Croke Park, for its international matches. This arrangement was made necessary by the 2007 closure and subsequent demolition of Ireland's traditional home of Lansdowne Road, with the Aviva being built on the former Lansdowne Road site. During the construction of the Aviva, Croke Park was the largest of the Six Nations grounds, with a capacity of 82,300.

In the late 2000s, the increasing popularity of rugby in Italy meant that the Stadio Flaminio was becoming less viable as a home ground for the country's team. As the 2010s approached, it had been speculated that Italy's Six Nations home matches would in the 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 in Parma (almost 28,000 seats) were suggested as alternative grounds. Improvements for the Flaminio, intended to increase the capacity from 32,000 to 42,000, were announced, apparently increasing the likelihood that rugby would stay at Stadio Flamino, although still making it the smallest of the Six Nations grounds.[11] However, the city of Rome, owner of the Flaminio, delayed the promised renovations, causing the Italian Rugby Federation (FIR) to lose patience with the city. In April 2011, it was reported that the FIR would move its home matches to Stadio Artemio Franchi in Florence.[12] The city of Rome then began renovations of the Flaminio, which presumably prompted the FIR to announce in July of that year that it would instead keep its home matches in the city at Stadio Olimpico.[13] The FIR also announced it planned to return to the Flaminio once the project was complete.[14]

In November 2010, the French Rugby Federation (FFR) announced that it is planning to build a new stadium of its own within the Paris region.[15] The FFR has grown increasingly frustrated with several aspects of their using the Stade de France: not only the high rental expense, but also the irritation that it does not receive priority when scheduling matches – with the possible exception of the Six Nations itself.[16]

In June 2012, FFR announced the site for its new ground – tentatively known as Grand Stade FFR – in the southern suburbs of Paris. It is located 25.0 km (15.5 mi) from the centre of Paris.[17] The 82,000-seat stadium, featuring a retractable roof and slide-out pitch, will be built on a former horse racing track in Évry. The new stadium, estimated to cost €600 million, is currently scheduled to open in 2017.[16]

Anthems

Before the start of each game the national anthem of both teams is sung by their players and supporters. "God Save the Queen", the national anthem of the United Kingdom,[18] is used only by England. Wales and Scotland each sing their own national anthem. Ireland, whose rugby team represents two jurisdictions, the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, has both the Republic's anthem and a specially commissioned one for rugby internationals.

Results

Overall

 
England
France
Ireland
Italy
Scotland
Wales
Tournaments 128 95 130 25 130 130
Outright wins (shared wins)
Home Nations 5 (4) — 4 (3) — 9 (2) 7 (3)
Five Nations 17 (6) 12 (8) 6 (5) — 5 (6) 15 (8)
Six Nations 7 6 6 0 0 6
Overall 29 (10) 18 (8) 16 (8) 0 (0) 14 (8) 28 (11)
Grand Slams
Home Nations — — — — — 2[19]
Five Nations 11 6 1 — 3 6
Six Nations 2 4 3 0 0 4
Overall 13 10 4 0 3 12
Triple Crowns
Home Nations 5 — 2 — 7 6
Five Nations 16 — 4 — 3 11
Six Nations 5 — 7 — 0 5
Overall 26 — 13 — 10 22
Wooden Spoons
Home Nations 7 — 10 — 5 6
Five Nations 10 12 15 — 15 10
Six Nations 0 1 0 18 4 2
Overall 17 13 25 18 24 18

Home Nations (1883–1909)

Home Nations (1883–1909)
Year Champions Grand Slam Triple Crown Calcutta Cup
1883  England Not Contested  England  England
1884  England  England  England
1885 Not Completed Not Completed
1886  England and  Scotland – –
1887  Scotland – –
1888  Ireland,  Scotland and  Wales England didn't participate
1889  Scotland England didn't participate
1890  England and  Scotland –  England
1891  Scotland  Scotland  Scotland
1892  England  England  England
1893  Wales  Wales  Scotland
1894  Ireland  Ireland  Scotland
1895  Scotland  Scotland  Scotland
1896  Ireland –  Scotland
1897 Not Completed Not Completed  England
1898 Not Completed Not Completed –
1899  Ireland  Ireland  Scotland
1900  Wales  Wales –
1901  Scotland  Scotland  Scotland
1902  Wales  Wales  England
1903  Scotland  Scotland  Scotland
1904  Scotland –  Scotland
1905  Wales  Wales  Scotland
1906  Ireland and  Wales –  England
1907  Scotland  Scotland  Scotland
1908  Wales  Wales  Wales  Scotland
1909  Wales  Wales  Wales  Scotland

Five Nations (1910–1931)

Five Nations (1910–1931)
Year Champions Grand Slam Triple Crown Calcutta Cup
1910  England – –  England
1911  Wales  Wales  Wales  England
1912  Ireland and  England – –  Scotland
1913  England  England  England  England
1914  England  England  England  England
1915–19 Not held due to World War I
1920  Scotland,  Wales and  England – –  England
1921  England  England  England  England
1922  Wales – –  England
1923  England  England  England  England
1924  England  England  England  England
1925  Scotland  Scotland  Scotland  Scotland
1926  Ireland and  Scotland – –  Scotland
1927  Ireland and  Scotland – –  Scotland
1928  England  England  England  England
1929  Scotland – –  Scotland
1930  England – – –
1931  Wales – –  Scotland


Home Nations (1932–1939)

Home Nations (1932–1939)
Year Champions Grand Slam Triple Crown Calcutta Cup
1932  England,  Ireland and  Wales – –  England
1933  Scotland –  Scotland  Scotland
1934  England –  England  England
1935  Ireland – –  Scotland
1936  Wales – –  England
1937  England –  England  England
1938  Scotland –  Scotland  Scotland
1939  England,  Ireland,  Wales – –  England


Five Nations (1940–1999)

Five Nations (1940–1999)
Year Champions Grand Slam Triple Crown Calcutta Cup Millennium Trophy Centenary Quaich
1940–46 Not held due to World War II
1947  England and  Wales – –  England Not Contested
1948  Ireland  Ireland  Ireland  Scotland
1949  Ireland –  Ireland  England
1950  Wales  Wales  Wales  Scotland
1951  Ireland – –  England
1952  Wales  Wales  Wales  England
1953  England – –  England
1954  England,  France and  Wales  England  England
1955  France and  Wales – –  England
1956  Wales – –  England
1957  England  England  England  England
1958  England – – –
1959  France – – –
1960  England and  France –  England  England
1961  France – –  England
1962  France – – –
1963  England – –  England
1964  Scotland and  Wales – –  Scotland
1965  Wales –  Wales –
1966  Wales – –  Scotland
1967  France – –  England
1968  France  France –  England
1969  Wales –  Wales  England
1970  France and  Wales – –  Scotland
1971  Wales  Wales  Wales  Scotland
1972 Not Completed  Scotland
1973  England,  France,  Ireland,
 Scotland,  Wales 		– –  England
1974  Ireland – –  Scotland
1975  Wales – –  England
1976  Wales  Wales  Wales  Scotland
1977  France  France  Wales  England
1978  Wales  Wales  Wales  England
1979  Wales –  Wales –
1980  England  England  England  England
1981  France  France –  England
1982  Ireland –  Ireland –
1983  France and  Ireland – –  Scotland
1984  Scotland  Scotland  Scotland  Scotland
1985  Ireland –  Ireland  England
1986  France and  Scotland – –  Scotland
1987  France  France –  England
1988  France and  Wales –  Wales  England
1989  France – – –  England  Scotland
1990  Scotland  Scotland  Scotland  Scotland  England  Scotland
1991  England  England  England  England  England  Scotland
1992  England  England  England  England  England  Scotland
1993  France – –  England  Ireland  Scotland
1994  Wales – –  England  Ireland –
1995  England  England  England  England  England  Scotland
1996  England –  England  England  England  Scotland
1997  France  France  England  England  England  Scotland
1998  France  France  England  England  England  Scotland
1999  Scotland – –  England  England  Scotland

Six Nations (2000–present)

Six Nations (2000–present)
Year Champions Grand Slam Triple Crown Calcutta Cup Millennium Trophy Centenary Quaich Giuseppe Garibaldi Trophy Wooden Spoon
2000  England – –  Scotland  England  Ireland Not Contested  Italy
2001  England – –  England  Ireland  Scotland
2002  France  France  England  England  England  Ireland
2003  England  England  England  England  England  Ireland  Wales
2004  France  France  Ireland  England  Ireland  Ireland  Scotland
2005  Wales  Wales  Wales  England  Ireland  Ireland  Italy
2006  France –  Ireland  Scotland  Ireland  Ireland
2007  France –  Ireland  England  Ireland  Ireland  France  Scotland
2008  Wales  Wales  Wales  Scotland  England  Ireland  France  Italy
2009  Ireland  Ireland  Ireland  England  Ireland  Ireland  France
2010  France  France – –  Ireland  Scotland  France
2011  England – –  England  Ireland  Ireland  Italy
2012  Wales  Wales  Wales  England  England  Ireland  France  Scotland
2013  Wales – –  England  England  Scotland  Italy  France
2014  Ireland –  England  England  England  Ireland  France  Italy
2015  Ireland – –  England  Ireland  Ireland  France  Scotland
2016  England  England  England  England  England  Ireland  France  Italy

Six Nations all-time table (2000–2016)

Source:[20]

Pld W D L PF PA PD T Pts Champs GS TC WS
 England 85 60 1 24 2350 1327 + 1023 245 121 5 2 4 0
 Ireland 85 55 3 27 2080 1536 + 544 211 113 3 1 4 0
 France 85 54 2 29 2084 1534 + 550 200 110 5 3 N/A 1
 Wales 85 47 3 35 1984 1811 + 173 183 97 4 3 3 1
 Scotland 85 21 2 62 1378 2115 −737 102 44 0 0 0 4
 Italy 85 12 1 72 1239 2792 − 1553 105 25 0 0 N/A 11

Titles and awards

Grand Slam wins
Nation Grand Slams Last Grand Slam
 England 13 2016
 Wales 11 2012
 France 9 2010
 Scotland 3 1990
 Ireland 2 2009
 Italy 0 Never achieved
Triple Crown wins
Nation Triple Crowns Last Triple Crown
 England 25 2016
 Wales 20 2012
 Ireland 10 2009
 Scotland 10 1990
Longest wait without a championship win
Team Tournaments Years Seasons
 France 24 43 1910–53
 Ireland 24 24 1985–2009
 Scotland 19 26 1938–64
 Italy 17 17 2000–ongoing
 England 16 18 1892–1910
 Wales 11 11 1994–2005
Wooden Spoon winners (last place)
Team Wooden
Spoons		 Years Awarded
 Italy 11 2000, 2001, 2002, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2014, 2016
 Scotland 4 2004, 2007, 2012, 2015
 Wales 1 2003
 France 1 2013
 England 0
 Ireland 0

Bold indicates that the team did not win any matches.

Player of the tournament winners
Year Winner
2004 Ireland Gordon D'Arcy
2005 Wales Martyn Williams
2006 Ireland Brian O'Driscoll
2007 Ireland Brian O'Driscoll
2008 Wales Shane Williams
2009 Ireland Brian O'Driscoll
2010 Ireland Tommy Bowe
2011 Italy Andrea Masi
2012 Wales Dan Lydiate
2013 Wales Leigh Halfpenny
2014 England Mike Brown
2015 Ireland Paul O'Connell
2016 Scotland Stuart Hogg

Five Nations XV

Five Nations[a]
UnionsInternational Rugby Board
First match
Overseas Unions 32 – 13 Five Nations XV
Largest win
None
Largest defeat
Overseas Unions 32 – 13 Five Nations XV

In 1986 a team was put together made up of representatives of the Five Nations to play a one-off match against an Overseas Unions rugby union team to commemorate the centenary of the International Rugby Football Board (IRFB), which would shortly afterwards become the IRB or International Rugby Board. The match was played on Saturday, 19 April 1986,[21] and the Five Nations lost 32–13.[22]

Coaching team

The Overseas Union team was co-coached by New Zealand's Brian Lochore and Australia's Robert Ian Templeton.

The match

Unlike the first celebratory match three days earlier in a wet Cardiff Arms Park, this game was played in ideal conditions at Twickenham.[23] At the time, there were only eight Unions affiliated to the Board, thus only players from those unions were chosen.

Note that at the time, tries were worth four points. The five-point try was not instituted until 1992.

19 April 1986
Five Nations XV13–32Overseas Unions
Try: Ringland (2)




Con: Blanco
Penalty Goal: Kiernan		Try: Gerber (2)
Kirwan
du Plessis
Rodriguez
Shaw
Con: Botha
Penalty Goal: Botha (2)
Twickenham Stadium, London
Referee: D I H Burnett (Ireland)

Five Nations: Blanco ( France); Ringland ( Ireland), Sella ( France), M. Kiernan ( Ireland), R. Underwood ( England); M. Dacey ( Wales), R. J. Hill ( England); Whitefoot ( Wales), S. Brain ( England), I. Milne ( Scotland), Condom ( France), Lenihan ( Ireland) (captain), J. Jeffrey ( Scotland), Paxton ( Scotland), L. Rodriguez ( France)

Overseas Unions: R. Gould ( Australia); Kirwan ( New Zealand), D. Gerber ( South Africa), W. Taylor ( New Zealand), C. du Plessis ( South Africa); N. Botha ( South Africa), Loveridge ( New Zealand); E. Rodríguez ( Australia), A. Dalton ( New Zealand) (captain), G. Knight ( New Zealand) (F. van der Merwe ( South Africa) had been named in starting line-up in programme), S. Cutler ( Australia), Haden ( New Zealand), Poidevin ( Australia), Tuynman ( Australia), M. Shaw ( New Zealand)

Records

[citation needed]

Main article: List of Six Nations Championship records

England's Jonny Wilkinson currently holds the records for individual points in one match (35 points against Italy in 2001) and one season with 89 (scored in 2001). Ronan O'Gara of Ireland holds the career scoring record with 557 points to Wilkinson's 546, having surpassed Wilkinson in Round 3 of the 2011 championship.

The record for tries in a match is held by Scotsman George Lindsay who scored five tries against Wales in 1887.[24] England's Cyril Lowe and Scotland's Ian Smith jointly hold the record for tries in one season with 8 (Lowe in 1914, Smith in 1925). Ireland's Brian O'Driscoll has the Championship record for tries with 26.

The record for appearances is held by O'Gara, with 63 Six Nations appearances from the start of the Six Nations era in 2000 to his retirement in 2013. He surpassed countryman Mike Gibson in the first round of the 2012 tournament against Wales. Gibson played in 56 Five Nations matches (Italy had not become part of the Championship yet) between 1964 and 1979.[24]

The most points scored by a team in one match was England when they scored 80 points against Italy in 2001. England also scored the most ever points in a season in 2001 with 229, and most tries in a season with 29.[24] Wales hold the record for fewest tries conceded during a season in the Six Nations era, conceding only 2 in 5 games in 2008, but the 1977 Grand Slam-winning France team did not concede a try in their four matches. Wales hold the record for the longest time without conceding a try at 358 minutes in the 2013 tournament.

Six Nations points scoring statistics (2000–2016)

The following table summarises the total number of points, and the number of tries, scored by each team in the Six Nations

Year  England  Wales  Scotland  Ireland  France  Italy Total
points tries points tries points tries points tries points tries points tries points tries
2000 183 20 111 8 95 9 168 17 140 12 106 9 803 75
2001 229 29 125 10 92 8 129 11 115 9 106 8 796 75
2002 184 23 119 11 91 6 145 16 156 15 70 4 765 75
2003 173 18 82 10 81 7 119 10 153 17 100 12 708 74
2004 150 17 125 14 53 4 128 17 144 14 42 2 642 68
2005 121 16 151 17 84 8 126 12 134 13 55 5 671 71
2006 120 12 80 9 78 5 131 12 148 18 72 5 629 61
2007 119 10 86 7 95 7 149 17 155 15 94 9 698 65
2008 108 8 148 13 69 3 93 9 103 11 74 6 595 50
2009 124 16 100 8 79 4 121 12 124 14 49 2 597 56
2010 88 6 113 10 83 3 106 11 135 13 69 5 594 48
2011 132 13 95 6 82 6 93 10 117 10 70 6 589 51
2012 98 7 109 10 56 4 121 13 101 8 53 4 538 46
2013 94 5 122 9 98 7 72 5 73 6 75 5 534 37
2014 138 14 122 11 47 4 132 16 101 9 63 7 603 61
2015 157 18 146 13 73 6 119 8 103 9 62 8 660 62
2016 132 13 150 17 122 11 128 15 82 7 79 8 693 71
TOTAL 2350 245 1984 183 1378 102 2080 211 2084 200 1239 105 11115 1046

Expansion

In late 2015 there were calls by Octavian Morariu, the president of Rugby Union's governing body for promotion and development, to let Georgia and Romania join the Six Nations due to their consistent success in the European Nations Cup and ability to compete in the Rugby World Cup.[25][26]

Administration, television contracts and sponsorship

The Championship is run from headquarters in Dublin which also takes responsibility for the British and Irish Lions tours. CEO of the Championship is John Feehan, a former Leinster player. Television contracts, sponsorship, match venues and other logistical problems are addressed.

The BBC covered the tournament since the start covering all matches apart from England home matches which were live on Sky Sports with highlights on BBC. Between 2003–2015 the BBC covered every match live on BBC Sport either on BBC One or BBC Two with highlights also on the BBC Sport website and either on the BBC Red Button or late at night on BBC Two. In 2011 it was announced that the BBC's coverage of the tournament on TV, radio and online, would be extended to 2017.[27] However, on 9 July 2015, in reaction to satellite pay-TV bids from Sky Sports and BT Sport for coverage from 2017, BBC agreed to lose exclusive rights to the tournament two years early. But from 2016, BBC and ITV would jointly broadcast the tournament in the UK, with BBC showing all France, Scotland and Wales home matches live, and ITV showing all England, Ireland and Italy home matches live.[28] This means that the Six Nations will remain on free-to-air television in the UK until 2021.

In Ireland, RTÉ have broadcast the championship since RTÉ's inception and will continue to do so until 2017 while TG4 televises highlights however in late 2015 it was announced that free to air rival TV3 would take over the rights for every game from the 6 Nations on Irish Television from 2018–2021 meaning after the 2017 championship RTÉ have lost the rights.[29] It is not the first time RTÉ have lost rugby to a free to air rival in Ireland having lost the rights to the 2007 and 2015 Rugby World Cups in France and England to TV3 and Pro12 Rugby and highlights from the European Rugby Champions Cup and Challenge Cup to TG4.

France Télévisions cover the competition in France which will last until 2017. In Italy, from 2014 to 2017 DMAX of Discovery Communications will broadcast all matches. In the United States, beIN Sports broadcasts matches in English and TV5 Monde airs matches in French.[30] In Wales, S4C broadcasts matches featuring the Welsh team in the Welsh language.

The competition is sponsored by the Royal Bank of Scotland.

See also

Notes

a. ^ Name of the Six Nations Championship in the languages of participating countries:

Sources

  • Godwin, Terry (1984). The International Rugby Championship 1883–1983. London: Willows Books. ISBN 0-00-218060-X. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  • Starmer-Smith, Nigel (ed) Rugby – A Way of Life, An Illustrated History of Rugby (Lennard Books, 1986 ISBN 0-7126-2662-X)

References

  1. ^ Godwin (1984), pg 1. The first ever Home Nations International Championship was played in 1883. No other Northern Hemisphere team played a recognised international match until France faced New Zealand in 1906
  2. ^ "Rules of the RBS 6 Nations Championship". RBS 6 Nations. Archived from the original on 9 May 2008. Retrieved 24 February 2008. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  3. ^ "Six Nations Championship Trophy Trust". RBS 6 Nations. Archived from the original on 2 February 2007. Retrieved 5 February 2007. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  4. ^ "New Six Nations trophy unveiled". ESPN. 28 January 2015. Retrieved 28 January 2015.
  5. ^ "Will Ireland be getting their hands on this? New trophy for the RBS Six Nations unveiled". Irish Independent. 28 January 2015. Retrieved 28 January 2015.
  6. ^ "The Calcutta Cup: the legacy of a club that died". Scottish Rugby. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 February 2007. Retrieved 29 September 2007. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  7. ^ Massie, Alan (19 February 2000). "Lamenting the sad decline of the fighting Irish". The Scotsman. p. 31.
  8. ^ Ferrie, Kevin (22 March 1999). "Scotland now have quality in quantity". The Herald. p. 1.
  9. ^ Walsh, David (13 February 2005). "Scots torn apart by Irish mean machine". The Sunday Times. p. Sport 2.
  10. ^ "About Us". RFU. Archived from the original on 6 September 2007. Retrieved 29 September 2007. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  11. ^ Mediaclan 2008. "Flaminio Stadio Rugby Tickets & Stadio Flaminio Stadium guide, Rome Italy". Ticketbooth.org.uk. Retrieved 4 February 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  12. ^ "Italy to move Six Nations games from Rome to Florence". BBC Sport. 1 April 2011. Retrieved 10 August 2011.
  13. ^ "RBS 6 Nazioni, allo Stadio Olimpico l'Edizione 2012" (Press release) (in Italian). Italian Rugby Federation. 13 July 2011. Retrieved 8 August 2011.
  14. ^ Sportsbeat (14 July 2011). "Italy switch stadium to Stadio Olimpico". RBS 6 Nations. Archived from the original on 13 September 2011. Retrieved 6 September 2011. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  15. ^ "French national rugby team plan to quit Stade de France". BBC Sport. 25 November 2010. Retrieved 6 July 2012.
  16. ^ a b Moriarty, Ian (5 July 2012). "Money talks". ESPN Scrum. Retrieved 6 July 2012. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  17. ^ "Projet Stade" (in French). French Rugby Federation. Archived from the original on 15 June 2012. Retrieved 6 July 2012. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  18. ^ God Save the King Wikipedia
  19. ^ By convention, Wales is credited with two Grand Slams for the years 1908 and 1909 because, if France was admitted only in 1910, Wales already met France on the sidelines of the Tournament and doubled the Triple Crown of a victory against France.
  20. ^ "Statsguru: Test matches, Team records, Five/Six Nations". ESPN Scrum. SFMS Limited. Retrieved 15 March 2013.
  21. ^ Starmer-Smith, p184, image of programme
  22. ^ Starmer-Smith, p186
  23. ^ "IRB Centenary matches, Irish try-scorers against New Zealand and snow-blighted seasons". espnscrum.com. Retrieved 4 February 2012.
  24. ^ a b c "Six Nations records". Rugby Heaven. 1 February 2005. Archived from the original on 13 January 2006. Retrieved 8 August 2007. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  25. ^ "Open up the Six Nations and let Georgia in". Telegraph.co.uk. 25 March 2015. Retrieved 23 September 2015.
  26. ^ "let in Georgia and Romania, says governing body". Guardian.com. Retrieved 25 February 2016.
  27. ^ "BBC extends Six Nations contract until 2017". BBC. 23 November 2011. Retrieved 27 April 2013.
  28. ^ "BBC and ITV bid wins Six Nations TV rights until 2021". Retrieved 9 July 2015.
  29. ^ "RTÉ loses rights to 6 Nations". rte.ie. RTÉ Sport. Retrieved 28 January 2016.
  30. ^ "Worldwide Broadcast Schedule, RBS Six Nations". Retrieved 23 January 2014.
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