The men’s national teams of England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland, and Wales will compete in the 2024 Six Nations Championship, also known as the Guinness Men’s Six Nations due to sponsorship reasons. The competition is set to take place in February and March of that year. This year marks the competition’s 130th season overall (counting its previous iterations as the Home Nations Championship and the Five Nations Championship), but only the 25th since its 2000 expansion to become the Six Nations Championship. It will begin on Friday, February 2, 2024, with a match between France and Ireland, and it will conclude on March 16, with France playing England. Since the Stade de France in Saint-Denis is expected to be undergoing preparations for its use in the 2024 Summer Olympics later in the year, France will play their home games elsewhere. In May 2023, the locations of France’s three home games were revealed.
After winning the Grand Slam for the fourth time in 2023, Ireland is the defending champions heading into this competition for the fifteenth time.
The biggest rugby competition is back, and following a 2023 Rugby World Cup that saw the Southern Hemisphere win a second title despite greater anticipation and expectation in the north, the top rugby nations in Europe have healed from their losses and are prepared to face off in the 2024 Six Nations competition.
Together with hosts France, Andy Farrell’s Ireland team easily defeated every opponent in the 2023 Six Nations, winning the championship, grand slam, and triple crown titles to solidify their place as heavy favorites heading into the World Cup. Nevertheless, the tournament’s draw placed the two against South Africa and New Zealand in the quarterfinals, where they were defeated by the slimmest of margins by the eventual winners.
Both Wales and England overcame dismal Six Nations performances to surprise everyone at the World Cup. Still, neither team was able to make much of an impact due to Scotland and Italy’s early-year momentum. However, prepare for another incredible edition of the original jewel in rugby union’s international crown, as all six teams enter 2024 with new-look squads and points to prove.
Both France and Ireland have selected strong 23s for their crucial match in Marseille tonight.
While Johnny Sexton has retired and France scrum-half Antoine Dupont will miss the entire Six Nations to concentrate on the Olympics, the two teams will have to make do without their lucky charms, but it will allow new players to make an impression.
Important players are also absent for England, albeit primarily due to injuries. Instead of Owen Farrell and Marcus Smith, George Ford starts at fly-half against Italy on Saturday. Alex Mitchell earns the No. 9 jersey after passing a late fitness test.
Tonight, February 2, 2024, at 8 p.m. (UK time), the 2024 Six Nations begins with France taking on the reigning champions, Ireland.
Both teams’ most recent appearance on the field at the Stade de France occurred during the World Cup quarterfinals in October when they were eliminated from the competition on two separate nights.
On February 3, England’s tournament matchup with Italy begins at 2:15 p.m. (UK time). Steve Borthwick’s team, which placed fourth in the standings with 10 points, 17 points behind the winners, Ireland, will be looking to improve on their previous performance at the Six Nations.
Although Italy joined the competition as the sixth team in 2000, the competition’s history dates back more than a century earlier. Since then, it has been referred to as Six Nations.
The United Kingdom’s four Home Nations, England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales, were included when it first started as the Home Nations in 1883. When France entered the competition in 1910, it changed its name to Five Nations, and it remained that way for the rest of the 20th century, with two exceptions: from 1940 to 1946, the competition was suspended due to World War II, and from 1932 to 1939, the Home Nations were used instead.
The tournament’s current name and structure, the Six Nations, came about when Italy joined the fray in 2000.
| Date | Match | Time (GMT) | Time (ET) | Time (PT) | Time (AEDT) |
| Fri, Feb 2 | France vs Ireland | 8 p.m. | 3 p.m. | 12 p.m. | Sat, Feb 3 – 7 a.m. |
| Sat, Feb 3 | Italy vs England | 2:15 p.m. | 9:15 a.m. | 6:15 a.m. | Sun, Feb 4 – 1:15 a.m. |
| Sat, Feb 3 | Wales vs Scotland | 4:45 p.m. | 11:45 a.m. | 8:45 a.m. | Sun, Feb 4 – 03:45 a.m. |
| Date | Match | Time (GMT) | Time (ET) | Time (PT) | Time (AEDT) |
| Sat, Feb 10 | Scotland vs France | 2:15 p.m. | 9:15 a.m. | 6:15 a.m. | Sun, Feb 11 – 1:15 a.m. |
| Sat, Feb 10 | England vs Wales | 4:45 p.m. | 11:45 a.m. | 8:45 a.m. | Sun, Feb 11 – 3:45 a.m. |
| Sun, Feb 11 | Ireland vs Italy | 3 p.m. | 10 a.m. | 7 a.m. | Mon, Feb 12 – 2 a.m. |
| Date | Match | Time (GMT) | Time (ET) | Time (PT) | Time (AEDT) |
| Sat, Feb 24 | Ireland vs Wales | 2:15 p.m. | 9:15 a.m. | 6:15 a.m. | Sun, Feb 25 – 1:15 a.m. |
| Sat, Feb 24 | Scotland vs England | 4:45 p.m. | 11:45 a.m. | 8:45 a.m. | Sun, Feb 25 – 3:45 a.m. |
| Sun, Feb 25 | France vs Italy | 3 p.m. | 10 a.m. | 7 a.m. | Mon, Feb 26 – 2 a.m. |
| Date | Match | Time (GMT) | Time (ET) | Time (PT) | Time (AEDT) |
| Sat, Mar 9 | Italy vs Scotland | 2:15 p.m. | 9:15 a.m. | 6:15 a.m. | Sun, Mar 10 – 1:15 a.m. |
| Sat, Mar 9 | Ireland vs England | 4:45 p.m. | 11:45 a.m. | 8:45 a.m. | Sun, Mar 10 – 3:45 a.m. |
| Sun, Mar 10 | Wales vs France | 3 p.m. | 10 a.m. | 7 a.m. | Mon, Mar 11 – 2 a.m. |
| Date | Match | Time (GMT) | Time (ET) | Time (PT) | Time (AEDT) |
| Sat, Mar 16 | Wales vs Italy | 2:15 p.m. | 9:15 a.m. | 6:15 a.m. | Sun, Mar 17 – 1:15 a.m. |
| Sat, Mar 16 | Ireland vs Scotland | 4:45 p.m. | 11:45 a.m. | 8:45 a.m. | Sun, Mar 17 – 3:45 a.m. |
| Sat, Mar 16 | France vs England | 8 p.m. | 3 p.m. | 12 p.m. | Sun, Mar 17 – 7:00 a.m. |
In the UK, the fixtures for this year will still air on ITV and the BBC. On mobile and tablet devices, live streams will be downloadable and accessible for free on the BBC iPlayer and ITVX apps.
The government’s rejection of calls to include the Six Nations tournament in the list of sporting events that must be televised for free has cast doubt on the tournament’s long-term future on free-to-air television.
| TV channel | Streaming | |
|---|---|---|
| USA | CNBC | Fubo, Peacock |
| Canada | — | DAZN |
| UK | BBC, ITV, S4C | BBC iPlayer, ITVX |
| Australia | — | Stan Sport |
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