Six Nations Championship 2020 FEBRUARY 1 - MARCH 14 The northern hemisphere’s premier rugby union tournament kicks off, with England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, France and Italy set for six weeks of fierce rivalries, tough tackles and thrilling sporting theatre Proud heritage 1871: England and Scotland contest first-ever rugby union international 1883: Inaugural Home International Championship includes Ireland and Wales 1910: Tournament expands to include France 2000: Addition of Italy establishes current format England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales France Italy Home Nations Championship Five Nations Six Nations GLORY DAYS: England and Wales top record tables, sharing 55 titles between them. In 2019 Wales secured their fourth Grand Slam in Six Nations era Outright titles Grand Slams: Winning all matches in tournament England Matches: 478 Tournament wins: 261 28 13 Last title: 2017 Wales 476 255 27 12 2019 Ireland 478 208 14 3 2018 Scotland 479 197 15 3 1999 France 379 194 17 9 2010 Italy 100 12 0 0 – Owen Farrell England captain was top scorer in 2019 Six Nations with 59 points Alun Wyn Jones, WAL Captained Wales to Grand Slam glory in 2019 Venues Murrayfield, Edinburgh 67,000 Aviva Stadium, Dublin 51,700 Twickenham Stadium, London 82,000 Principality Stadium, Cardiff Capacity: 74,000 Stade de France, Paris 81,000 Stadio Olimpico, Rome 73,000 Six Nations points system: 4pts Match win 3pts Grand Slam (5 wins) 2pts Draw 1pt Score four or more tries 1pt Lose by fewer than 7pts Competition schedule 3 4 5 7 9 12 0 World Rugby rank (Jan 2020) Six teams contest total of 15 matches, over five matchdays All kick-off times GMT Week 1 Feb 1 14:15 Wales Italy Principality Stadium Head-to-head*: Won 24 Drawn 1 Won 2 Feb 1 16:45 Ireland Scotland Aviva Stadium Won 64 Drawn 5 Won 67 Feb 2 15:00 France England Stade de France Won 40 Drawn 7 Won 58 Week 2 Feb 8 14:15 Ireland Wales Aviva Stadium Head-to-head: Won 53 Drawn 7 Won 69 Feb 8 16:45 Scotland England Murrayfield Won 43 Drawn 19 Won 75 Feb 9 15:00 France Italy Stade de France Won 39 Drawn 0 Won 3 Week 3 Feb 22 14:15 Italy Scotland Stadio Olimpico Head-to-head: Won 8 Drawn 0 Won 22 Feb 22 16:45 Wales France Principality Stadium Won 51 Drawn 3 Won 44 Feb 23 15:00 England Ireland Twickenham Stadium Won 78 Drawn 8 Won 49 Week 4 Mar 7 14:15 Ireland Italy Aviva Stadium Head-to-head: Won 27 Drawn 0 Won 4 Mar 7 16:45 England Wales Twickenham Stadium Won 63 Drawn 12 Won 59 Mar 8 15:00 Scotland France Murrayfield Won 37 Drawn 3 Won 55 Week 5 Mar 14 14:15 Wales Scotland Principality Stadium Head-to-head: Won 73 Drawn 3 Won 49 Mar 14 16:45 Italy England Stadio Olimpico Won 0 Drawn 0 Won 26 Mar 14 20:00 France Ireland Stade de France Won 57 Drawn 7 Won 35 FINAL STANDINGS P D L F A Pts 1 2 3 4 5 6 French scrum half Antoine Dupont (right) touted as rising star – partnership with Romain Ntamack could prove crucial for tilt at first title since 2010 LAST FAREWELL: Former captain Sergio Parisse (right) could make record-extending 70th appearance for Italy in his last Six Nations before retirement from international rugby Players with most appearances in Six Nations Sergio Parisse ITA 69 Brian O’Driscoll IRE 65 Rory Best IRE 64 Ronan O’Gara IRE 63 M. Castrogiovanni ITA 60 Mike Gibson IRE 56 *In all competitions TROPHY HAUL: Apart from Six Nations Championship trophy (left), other prizes include Triple Crown – awarded to home nation that beats all other three – and rivalry trophies such as Calcutta Cup between England and Scotland, or Garibaldi Trophy between France and Italy Beginners’ guide to rugby union Objective: Two teams of 15 players attempt to score tries or win penalties, moving ball from player to player by hand – always passing it backwards Scoring 1 Try (5pts): Player runs ball over goal line Cross- bar 2 Drop-goal (3pts), Penalty (3pts), Conversion (2pts): Ball kicked over crossbar 70m In-goal 100m Ball passed backwards Direction of play Detail Halfway 10m line 22m line Touch line Goal line Goal posts In-goal 1 2 Playing time Two halves of 40 minutes Pictures: Getty Images Source: Six Nations © GRAPHIC NEWS