Six Nations 2026: Schedule, Teams, and European Rugby Stars

The 2026 Six Nations Tournament: A New Edition Full of Excitement

The Six Nations returns on February 5th with classic rivalries, new stories, and the promise of another epic tournament. France arrives as the defending champion after claiming the title in 2025, but England and Ireland will seek to challenge their reign. Scotland, Italy, and Wales also promise to put up a fight. From the inaugural match on Thursday in Paris to a possible dramatic final on Saturday, the 2026 schedule is packed with stellar matchups in iconic stadiums.

2026 Six Nations Schedule and Results

All times are in GMT

First Day

Thursday, February 5

France vs. Ireland: Paris, 20:00

Saturday, February 7

Italy vs. Scotland: Rome, 14:10 England vs. Wales: Twickenham, 16:40

Second Day

Saturday, February 14th

Ireland vs. Italy: Dublin, 14:10 Scotland vs. England: Edinburgh, 16:40

Sunday, February 15

Wales vs. France: Cardiff, 15:10

Third Day

Saturday, February 21st

England vs. Ireland: Twickenham, 14:10 Wales vs. Scotland: Cardiff, 16:40

Sunday, February 22

France vs. Italy: Paris, 15:10

Fourth Day

Friday, March 6

Ireland vs. Wales: Dublin, 20:10

Saturday, March 7

Scotland vs. France: Edinburgh, 14:10 Italy vs. England: Rome, 16:40

Fifth Day

Saturday, March 14

Ireland vs. Scotland: Dublin, 14:10 Wales vs. Italy: Cardiff, 16:40 France vs. England: Paris, 20:40

Six Nations Table

France will seek to defend its crown this year.

How to Watch and Follow the Matches

The tournament will be broadcast for free on BBC and ITV. ITV will broadcast 10 matches, including all of England’s, while the BBC will transmit five matches in 2026. You can also watch the matches on TV or online via BBC iPlayer or ITVX. For those wishing to follow the Six Nations from Australia and New Zealand, the tournament will be broadcast on Stan Sport and Sky Sport, respectively. You can also follow all the action on Alofoke Deportes.

Meet the Six Nations Teams

The Six Nations’ starting lineups for the first round of matches will be confirmed this week.

England

Forwards: Ollie Chessum, Arthur Clark, Alex Coles, Luke Cowan-Dickie, Chandler Cunningham-South, Tom Curry, Theo Dan, Trevor Davison, Ben Earl, Greg Fisilau, Ellis Genge, Jamie George, Joe Heyes, Maro Itoje (captain), Emmanuel Iyogun, Guy Pepper, Henry Pollock, Bevan Rodd, Vilikesa Sela, Sam UnderhillBacks: Henry Arundell, Seb Atkinson, Elliot Daly, Fraser Dingwall, Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, George Ford, Tommy Freeman, George Furbank, Alex Mitchell, Cadan Murley, Max Ojomoh, Henry Slade, Marcus Smith, Ben Spencer, Freddie Steward, Jack van Poortvliet

France

Forwards: Dorian Aldegheri, Hugo Auradou, Cyril Baille, Georges-Henri Colombe, François Cros, Alexandre Fischer, Thibaud Flament, Jean-Baptiste Gros, Mickaël Guillard, Oscar Jegou, Anthony Jelonch, Maxime Lamothe, Julien Marchand, Temo Matiu, Peato Mauvaka, Emmanuel Meafou, Régis Montagne, Rodrigue Neti, Lenni Nouchi, Charles Ollivon, Dany Priso, Alexandre Roumat, Thomas Staniforth, Tevita Tatafu, Cameron WokiBacks: Grégoire Arfeuil, Théo Attissogbe, Louis Bielle-Biarrey, Fabien Brau-Boirie, Romain Buros, Thibault Daubagna, Nicolas Depoortere, Gaël Dréan, Antoine Dupont, Kalvin Gourgues, Aaron Grandidier-Nkanang, Matthieu Jalibert, Yoram Moefana, Noah Nene, Thomas Ramos, Baptiste Serin, Ugo Seunes

Ireland

Forwards: Tom Ahern (Munster), Finlay Bealham (Connacht), Tadhg Beirne (Munster), Jack Boyle (Leinster), Thomas Clarkson (Leinster), Jack Conan (Leinster), Caelan Doris (Leinster, captain), Edwin Edogbo (Munster), Tadhg Furlong (Leinster), Ronan Kelleher (Leinster), Jeremy Loughman (Munster), Joe McCarthy (Leinster), Michael Milne (Munster), Tom O’Toole (Ulster), Cian Prendergast (Connacht), James Ryan (Leinster), Dan Sheehan (Leinster), Tom Stewart (Ulster), Nick Timoney (Ulster), Josh van der Flier (Leinster)

Backs: Bundee Aki (Connacht), Robert Baloucoune (Ulster), Harry Byrne (Leinster), Craig Casey (Munster), Jack Crowley (Munster), Nathan Doak (Ulster), Tom Farrell (Munster), Ciaran Frawley (Leinster), Jamison Gibson-Park (Leinster), Hugo Keenan (Leinster), James Lowe (Leinster), Stuart McCloskey (Ulster), Tommy O’Brien (Leinster), Jamie Osborne (Leinster), Sam Prendergast (Leinster), Garry Ringrose (Leinster), Jacob Stockdale (Ulster)

Italy

Forwards: Lorenzo Cannone, Niccolo Cannone, Tommaso di Bartolomeo, Pablo Dimicheff, Riccardo Favretto, Simone Ferrari, Danilo Fischetti, Muhamed Hasa, Alessandro Izekor, Michele Lamaro (captain), Samuele Locatelli, Giacomo Nicotera, David Odiase, Marco Riccioni, Federico Ruzza, Mirco Spagnolo, Andrea Zambonin, Manuel ZulianiBacks: Juan Ignacio Brex, Giacomo da Re, Alessandro Fusco, Matt Gallagher, Paolo Garbisi, Monty Ioane, Louis Lynagh, Leonardo Marin, Damiano Mazza, Tommaso Menoncello, Paolo Odogwu, Martin Page-Relo, Lorenzo Pani, Edoardo Todaro, Stephen Varney

Scotland

Forwards: E Ashman (Edinburgh), J Bayliss (Bath), M Bradbury (Edinburgh), G Brown (Glasgow), D Cherry (Vannes), S Cummings (Glasgow), A Craig (Glasgow), R Darge (Glasgow), J Dempsey (Glasgow), F Douglas (Edinburgh), M Fagerson (Glasgow), Z Fagerson (Glasgow), G Gilchrist (Edinburgh), J Gray (Bordeaux Bègles), N McBeth (Glasgow), L McConnell (Edinburgh), E Millar Mills (Northampton), D Rae (Edinburgh), J Ritchie (Perpignan), P Schoeman (Edinburgh), R Sutherland (Glasgow), G Turner (Harlequins), M Williamson (Glasgow)Backs: F Burke (Saracens), J Dobie (Glasgow), D Graham (Edinburgh), A Hastings (Glasgow), G Horne ( Glasgow), R Hutchinson (Northampton), H Jones (Glasgow), T Jordan (Bristol), B Kinghorn (Toulouse), S McDowall (Glasgow), F Russell (Bath), K Rowe (Glasgow), O Smith (Glasgow), K Steyn (Glasgow), S Tuipulotu (Glasgow, capt.), D Van der Merwe (Edinburgh), B White (Toulon)

Wales

Forwards: K Assiratti (Cardiff), A Beard (Montpellier), L Belcher (Cardiff), J Botham (Cardiff), R Carre (Saracens), B Carter (Dragons), O Cracknell (Leicester), H Deaves (Ospreys), R Elias (Scarlets), T Francis (Provence), A Griffin (Bath), D Jenkins (Exeter), D Lake (Ospreys, capt.), A Mann (Cardiff), J Macleod (Scarlets), T Plumtree (Scarlets), N Smith (Leicester), G Thomas (Ospreys), F Thomas (Gloucester), A Wainwright (Dragons)Backs: J Adams (Cardiff), S Costelow (Scarlets), D Edwards (Ospreys), J Evans (Harlequins), M Grady (Cardiff), K Hardy (Ospreys), G Hamer-Webb (Leicester), J Hawkins (Scarlets), L Hennessey (Bath), E James (Scarlets) E Mee (Scarlets), R Morgan-Williams (Ospreys), B Murray (Scarlets), L Rees-Zammit (Bristol), T Rogers (Scarlets), B Thomas (Cardiff), O Watkin (Ospreys), T Williams (Gloucester)

France comes to this year as the defending champion.

What Happened in 2025?

France conquered its first title since 2022 last year, despite a defeat against England in the second matchday. A 42-27 thrashing of Ireland helped secure the crown, with Louis Bielle-Biarrey making history in the Six Nations by scoring eight tries during the tournament. Before France’s defeat, Ireland seemed to be a contender after winning the Triple Crown with victories over England, Scotland, and Wales, but had to settle for third place after being surpassed by England. The recovery signs we now see with Steve Borthwick’s England were clear, as they won all their matches, including a 68-14 victory over Wales, after the defeat in the first matchday. Scotland’s only two victories were against Italy and Wales, while Italy finished fifth after beating Wales in Rome. Wales, for the second year in a row, had to settle for the wooden spoon. Five matches, five defeats.

Star Players to Watch

France: Antoine Dupont

After rupturing his anterior cruciate ligament in the penultimate match of last year’s campaign against Ireland, Dupont returned earlier than expected for his club Toulouse in November. The world’s best scrum-half (and arguably player) hasn’t looked back since and should be eager to play for Les Bleus as they seek to win back-to-back titles.

England: Immanuel Feyi-Waboso

England’s star winger returned to the team in the November international matches and looked sharp after recovering from a shoulder injury. The 23-year-old hopes to step up and cement his place as one of the most dangerous wingers in the game this year.

Ireland: Dan Sheehan

Whether starting or coming off the bench, Sheehan is a player to watch. A big and powerful hooker, Sheehan is an enforcer and plays the game beautifully, albeit in a brutal way. With Ireland going through a period of transition, Sheehan is now also a senior figure to whom others will turn when under pressure.

Scotland: Jamie Dobie

Dobie’s form in the URC for Glasgow is making him hard to ignore and he will be pushing hard for both wing and scrum-half positions for Scotland. A versatile player, the 24-year-old already has 17 international caps before this year’s tournament and will want to make his mark on this team in 2026.

Louis Rees-Zammit is back for Wales and could be a force to be reckoned with.

Wales: Louis Rees-Zammit

Now that he is adapting back to life in rugby after his time in the NFL, there will be many eyes on Rees-Zammit this year when he makes his return to the Six Nations. Don’t expect him to change Welsh fortunes on his own, but his return will inject some much-needed life into the game across the country.

Italy: Paolo Garbisi

If Italy wants to succeed this year, it needs Garbisi to be at his best and orchestrating the matches. Now 25 years old, Garbisi is reaching the stage of his career where he has some experience (49 international matches) and should aim to dominate the matches. There is no doubt about his ability, and although he is a target for rival teams, he can definitely be a bright light for Italy this year.

The Different Versions of the Six Nations

• Six Nations (2000-present)
• Five Nations (1947-1999)
• Home Nations (1932-1939)
• Five Nations (1910-1931)
• Home Nations (1883-1909)

Which nation has won the most championships?

• England: 29 outright championships (10 shared championships)
• Wales: 28 outright championships (11 shared championships)
• France: 19 outright championships (eight shared championships)
• Ireland: 16 outright championships (nine shared championships)
• Scotland: 15 outright championships (nine shared championships)
• Italy: no championships (joined in 2000)

Six Nations Winners (since 2000)

England and France are tied with seven Six Nations titles, although France and Wales have the Grand Slams (winning all matches), with four each.

• 2025: France
• 2024: Ireland
• 2023: Ireland (grand slam)
• 2022: France (grand slam)
• 2021: Wales
• 2020: England
• 2019: Wales (grand slam)
• 2018: Ireland (grand slam)
• 2017: England
• 2016: England (grand slam)
• 2015: Ireland
• 2014: Ireland
• 2013: Wales
• 2012: Wales (grand slam)
• 2011: England
• 2010: France (grand slam)
• 2009: Ireland (grand slam)
• 2008: Wales (grand slam)
• 2007: France
• 2006: France
• 2005: Wales (grand slam)
• 2004: France (grand slam)
• 2003: England (grand slam)
• 2002: France (grand slam)
• 2001: England
• 2000: England