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Telegraph
19-05-2025
- Sport
- Telegraph
Six Nations to begin on a Thursday because of Winter Olympics
The 2026 Six Nations will kick off on a Thursday night for the first time as champions France host Ireland while there will only be one fallow week in the Championship. Moving such a high profile fixture outside of a weekend slot will present challenges for travelling supporters and will upset traditionalists. However, the competition organisers and broadcasters wanted to avoid a clash with the Winter Olympics opening ceremony on the Friday night. The Thursday night match also gives the defending champions the opportunity to embrace another evening kick-off after the success of their spectacular light shows against Wales this year and Ireland in 2024. Ireland will also be presented with an opportunity to immediately avenge their 42-27 defeat in Dublin to Les Bleus which denied them a third successive Six Nations title. That fixture on February 5 is followed by Italy hosting Scotland in Rome and England facing Wales at Twickenham in the more conventional Saturday afternoon slot on February 7. There follow two successive rounds of competition with the Six Nations losing one of its two fallow weeks, which is likely to raise player welfare concerns. In 2017, former England prop Joe Marler, who now represents England players as the performance director of Team England, described the loss of a rest week as 'ridiculous'. 'If we lost a rest week – I think it's ridiculous,' Marler said. 'They can slap me on the wrist for that all they want but it's such a physical tournament, the game itself is getting more and more physical every week.' It is also likely to adversely affect countries with smaller playing pools such as Wales and Italy. However, the loss of a Six Nations fallow week will be counterbalanced by expanding the autumn international window to four weeks to accommodate the start of the Nations Championship. Competition organisers insist further rest periods will be built into players' schedules as part of a collaboration between leagues, unions and clubs over the new global calendar. How that plays out in practice remains to be seen. In the second round of matches starting on Valentine's Day, Ireland host Italy and England travel to Edinburgh to face Scotland, who lost the Calcutta Cup for the first time in six years after their 16-15 loss at Twickenham. On Sunday, France will head to Cardiff to play Wales. The following week England host Andy Farrell's Ireland and Wales face Scotland on Feb 21 while France will play Italy the after, which is expected to be in Paris, although the French union are still seeking an agreement to continue to play at the Stade de France. After the rest week, Ireland get a Friday night host slot against Wales on March 6 followed by Scotland v France and Italy v England on March 7. Then comes the self-styled 'Super Saturday' on March 14 as Ireland host Scotland, Italy travel to Wales and Steve Borthwick's England head to Paris to face France in the final match. England's last win over France came in 2016 when they sealed the Grand Slam.
Daily Mail
19-05-2025
- Sport
- Daily Mail
Six Nations 2026 will launch on a THURSDAY in historic move with France hosting Ireland - as new kick-off times are revealed
The 2026 Six Nations will kick-off on a Thursday night with a huge clash between defending champions France and Ireland on February 5 next year. European rugby's greatest international tournament has decided to shake things up by moving one game away from its usual weekend slot, with kick-off times also altered. Friday night Six Nations matches have been a regular occurrence since 2009, but 2026 will be the first time a game will not be played on either a Friday, Saturday or Sunday. Doing so has been agreed by the respective governing bodies of all the competing teams and the Championship's broadcasters. It is designed to avoid a clash with the opening ceremony of the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy which will take place on February 6 with the aim of targeting the biggest possible audience by hitting the popular evening slot in France who will be at home. The venues for France's 2026 home games are yet to be confirmed, but it is expected they will be played at their usual venue of the Stade de France in Paris. France and Ireland have proved to be the best teams in the Six Nations in recent times, both sharing the last four Championship titles between them with two apiece. The remaining two round-one matches will take place on Saturday, February 7 with Steve Borthwick's England hosting Wales - who have finished bottom of the last two Championships without a win - at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham. Italy at home to Scotland completes the opening set of fixtures. Kick-off times have been altered too. Saturday matches which usually began at 2.15pm and 4.45pm will now start at 2.10pm and 4.40pm respectively. Late matches, which usually began at 8pm, will now also start at 8.10pm. Additionally Sunday 3pm kick-offs are now 3.10pm instead. In round four, there will also be a Friday night match with Ireland hosting Wales in Dublin. England, who finished second in 2025 behind winners France, are also away in round two to Scotland before hosting Ireland, travelling to Italy and then facing Les Bleus away on 'Super Saturday.' For the first time, the 2026 Six Nations will also be played over a six-week block rather than the usual seven with one of the traditional rest weekends removed. The decision to do so has been criticised in some quarters from a player welfare perspective given that the Six Nations places an incredible physical and mental challenge on the players involved. MEN'S SIX NATIONS 2026 FIXTURES (ALL KICK-OFFS GMT) ROUND ONE France vs Ireland (February 5, 8.10pm) Italy vs Scotland (February 7, 2.10pm) England vs Wales (February 7, 4.40pm) ROUND TWO Ireland vs Italy (February 14, 2.10pm) Scotland vs England (February 14, 4.40pm) Wales vs France (February 15, 3.10pm) ROUND THREE England vs Ireland (February 21, 2.10pm) Wales vs Scotland (February 21, 4.40pm) France vs Italy (February 22, 3.10pm) ROUND FOUR Ireland vs Wales (March 6, 8.10pm) Scotland vs France (March 7, 2.10pm) Italy vs England (March 7, 4.40pm) ROUND FIVE Ireland vs Scotland (March 14, 2.10pm) Wales vs Italy (March 14, 4.40pm) France vs England (March 14, 8.10pm) From 2026, the Six Nations will play its first three rounds over three straight weekends, then pause for a week's break, before playing the final two sets of matches. The Six Nations have said removing one rest week from its competition does not mean more hardship on the players because as part of a new global calendar agreement between international unions and clubs, further recovery periods will be built in elsewhere. Confirming their 2026 fixtures, the Six Nations said: '2026 sees the introduction of the first ever dedicated men's and women's rugby calendars, aligning the international and domestic game. 'The new calendars have been shaped by the players, unions, regional associations, international and domestic competitions and leagues.
The Guardian
19-05-2025
- Sport
- The Guardian
Men's Six Nations starts midweek and is cut shorter for 2026
Next year's Six Nations will kick-off on a Thursday night for the first time in the competition's history, with the defending champions France hosting Ireland, and take place across just six weeks after organisers removed one of fallow weeks for the championship. It is understood that the unprecedented move to begin the championship on Thursday 5 February next year has been made following input from broadcasters with the 2026 Winter Olympics ceremony taking place in Milan the following day. It has also been made with the agreement of all six unions. The Championship has also been truncated to six weeks with one of the traditional fallow weeks removed due to the inaugural Nations Cup, which is due to take place later in the year. That competition will feature four rounds of fixtures next autumn – the traditional Test window only accounts for three – so in exchange, the Six Nations will take place over six weeks. With just one fallow week, there will be three consecutive weeks of fixtures, followed by a week off, then two more to conclude the championship. Round 1 [all times GMT] Thurs 5 Feb: France v Ireland, 8.10pm; Sat 7 Feb: Italy v Scotland, 2.10pm; England v Wales, 4.40pm. Round 2 Sat 14 Feb: Ireland v Italy, 2.10pm; Scotland v England, 4.40pm; Sun 15 Feb: Wales v France, 3.10pm. Round 3 Sat 21 Feb: England v Ireland, 2.10pm; Wales v Scotland 4.40pm; Sun 22 Feb: France v Italy, 3.10pm. Round 4 Fri 6 Mar: Ireland v Wales, 8.10pm; Sat 7 Mar: Scotland v France, 2.10pm; Italy v England, 4.40pm. Round 5 Sat 14 Mar: Ireland v Scotland, 2.10pm; Wales v Italy, 4.40pm; France v England, 8.10pm. The move to six weeks is unlikely to go down well with player welfare groups given a host of players have spoken of the need for two rest weeks in the past. Early this season, England players said they had voiced 'extensive concerns' about their workload with the Rugby Football Union when their contracts were announced for the coming year. England will begin their campaign by hosting Wales on Saturday 7 February before travelling to Murrayfield to face Scotland and then welcoming Ireland to Twickenham. After the fallow week Steve Borthwick's side face consecutive away matches against Italy in Rome before taking on France in the final match on Super Saturday. Ireland, who will have the British & Irish Lions coach Andy Farrell back at the helm, host the only Friday night match of the championship, against Wales in round four of the competition.
