Six Nations Championship 2021 FEBRUARY 6 - MARCH 20 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 56 titles between them. In 2020 England secured their seventh title of Six Nations era, on points difference Outright titles Grand Slams: Winning all matches in tournament England Matches: 483 Match wins: 265 29 13 Last title: 2020 Wales 481 256 27 12 2019 Ireland 483 211 14 3 2018 Scotland 484 200 15 3 1999 France 384 198 17 9 2010 Italy 105 12 0 0 – Charles Ollivon France captain was top try scorer in 2020 Six Nations, with four tries Owen Farrell England captain is only sixth man to score 1,000 points in Test rugby, reaching milestone in 2020 Venues Murrayfield, Edinburgh 67,000 Aviva Stadium, Dublin 51,700 Twickenham, 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 2 4 5 7 9 14 0 World Rugby rank (Jan 2021) Six teams contest total of 15 matches, over five matchdays All kick-off times GMT Week 1 Feb 6 14:15 Italy France Stadio Olimpico Head-to-head*: Won 3 Drawn 0 Won 41 Feb 6 16:45 England Scotland Twickenham Stadium Won 76 Drawn 19 Won 43 Feb 7 15:00 Wales Ireland Principality Stadium Won 69 Drawn 7 Won 55 Week 2 Feb 13 14:15 England Italy Twickenham Stadium Head-to-head: Won 27 Drawn 0 Won 0 Feb 13 16:45 Scotland Wales Murrayfield Won 50 Drawn 3 Won 73 Feb 14 15:00 Ireland France Aviva Stadium Won 35 Drawn 7 Won 58 Week 3 Feb 27 14:15 Italy Ireland Stadio Olimpico Head-to-head: Won 4 Drawn 0 Won 28 Feb 27 16:45 Wales England Principality Stadium Won 59 Drawn 12 Won 65 Feb 28 15:00 France Scotland Stade de France Won 56 Drawn 3 Won 38 Week 4 Mar 13 14:15 Italy Wales Stadio Olimpico Head-to-head: Won 2 Drawn 1 Won 26 Mar 13 16:45 England France Twickenham Stadium Won 59 Drawn 7 Won 41 Mar 14 15:00 Scotland Ireland Murrayfield Won 67 Drawn 5 Won 66 Week 5 Mar 20 14:15 Scotland Italy Murrayfield Head-to-head: Won 24 Drawn 0 Won 8 Mar 20 16:45 Ireland England Aviva Stadium Won 49 Drawn 8 Won 80 Mar 20 20:00 France Wales Stade de France Won 45 Drawn 3 Won 51 Powerful England centre Paolo Odogwu (right) set to make debut during 2021 Championship after superb start to season with Wasps FINAL STANDINGS P W D L F A Pts 1 2 3 4 5 6 BACK ON FORM: Thriving at club level, George North (right) could reignite international career after recall to Wales – winger has three Six Nations titles including two Grand Slams Players with most tries in Six Nations Brian O’Driscoll IRE 26 Ian Smith SCO 24 Shane Williams WAL 22 George North WAL 20 Gareth Edwards WAL 18 Rory Underwood ENG 18 Cyril Lowe ENG 18 TROPHY HAUL: Champions claim Six Nations trophy (left). Triple Crown awarded to “Home nation” (ENG, SCO, WAL, IRE) that beats all three others. Rivalry trophies include 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 1 2 70m 100m Ball passed backwards Direction of play In-goal Goal posts Goal line Touch line 22m line 10m line Halfway Detail In-goal Playing time Two halves of 40 minutes *In all competitions Source: Six Nations Pictures: Getty Images © GRAPHIC NEWS