The big kick-off for the men’s Six Nations 2026 is less than a week away, as – in a first for the championship – the action is set to get underway on a Thursday night when Ireland travel to the Stade de France.

The opening weekend of fixtures also features Scotland heading to Rome to take on Italy, and Wales looking to avenge their humbling March defeat to England as they renew one of rugby’s greatest rivalries at Twickenham.

There are a few teams who are likely to be in contention for the trophy. England are coming off the back of a stellar year, including 11 consecutive victories – among them a win over New Zealand. However, reigning champions France will not give up their Six Nations trophy willingly and they should be boosted by the return of their talismanic captain, scrum-half Antoine Dupont. Andy Farrell’s Ireland also have recent experience of winning the title, including the tournament’s most recent Grand Slam in 2023.

Read more: How to watch Six Nations 2026: broadcasters, TV and streaming guide

While Wales did manage to end their losing run in 2025, they are still a team who are in the process of a rebuild. The Six Nations will be even more difficult for the side as their star Jac Morgan has been ruled out of the start of the competition. Morgan, who recently signed for Gloucester, dislocated his shoulder against Argentina in the Autumn Nations Series.

Other notable injuries heading into the tournament include Ireland’s Jamie Osborne, Hugo Keenan, Ryan Baird and Mack Hansen, France’s Maxime Lucu and England’s Will Stuart.

Read more: Why Wales during the Six Nations is a bucket list item

This article will tell you everything you need to know about the men’s Six Nations 2026, including a recap of the 2025 tournament, squads and details of the championship’s previous winners.

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Six Nations 2026: key information

Dates: Thursday 5 February – Saturday 14 March 2026

Participating teams: England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland, Wales

UK TV coverage: The BBC and ITV shared coverage in 2025, and will continue to do so thanks to a new TV deal that kicks off in 2026. Every England game will be available on ITV.

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Six Nations 2026 fixtures

(UK Broadcaster in brackets)

Round 5

Saturday 14 March

• Ireland v Scotland (ITV)
  Aviva Stadium, Dublin
• Wales v Italy (BBC)
  Principality Stadium, Cardiff
• France v England (ITV)
  Stade de France

READ MORE: Six Nations 2026 fixtures: A comprehensive guide including kick-off times and UK broadcaster information

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Six Nations squads: All six squads for 2026 tournament

England Six Nations 2026 squad

Forwards (20): Ollie Chessum (Leicester Tigers), Arthur Clark (Gloucester Rugby), Alex Coles (Northampton Saints), Luke Cowan-Dickie (Sale Sharks), Chandler Cunningham-South (Harlequins), Tom Curry (Sale Sharks), Theo Dan (Saracens), Trevor Davison (Northampton Saints), Ben Earl (Saracens), Greg Fisilau (Exeter Chiefs), Ellis Genge (Bristol Bears), Jamie George (Saracens), Joe Heyes (Leicester Tigers), Maro Itoje (Saracens, captain), Emmanuel Iyogun (Northampton Saints), Guy Pepper (Bath Rugby), Henry Pollock (Northampton Saints), Bevan Rodd (Sale Sharks), Vilikesa Sela (Bath Rugby), Sam Underhill (Bath Rugby)

Backs (16): Henry Arundell (Bath Rugby), Seb Atkinson (Gloucester Rugby), Elliot Daly (Saracens), Fraser Dingwall (Northampton Saints), Immanuel Feyi-Waboso (Exeter Chiefs), George Ford (Sale Sharks), Tommy Freeman (Northampton Saints), George Furbank (Northampton Saints), Alex Mitchell (Northampton Saints), Cadan Murley (Harlequins), Max Ojomoh (Bath Rugby), Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs), Marcus Smith (Harlequins), Ben Spencer (Bath Rugby), Freddie Steward (Leicester Tigers), Jack van Poortvliet (Leicester Tigers)

France Six Nations 2026 squad

Forwards (25): Dorian Aldegheri (Toulouse), Uini Atonio (La Rochelle), Hugo Auradou (Pau), Cyril Baille (Toulouse), Paul Boudehent (La Rochelle), François Cros (Toulouse), Alexandre Fischer (Bayonne), Thibaud Flament (Toulouse), Jean-Baptiste Gros (Toulon), Mickaël Guillard (Lyon), Oscar Jegou (La Rochelle), Anthony Jelonch (Toulouse), Maxime Lamothe (Bordeaux Bègles), Julien Marchand (Toulouse), Temo Matiu (Bordeaux Bègles), Peato Mauvaka (Toulouse), Emmanuel Meafou (Toulouse), Régis Montagne (Clermont-Auvergne), Rodrigue Neti (Toulouse), Lenni Nouchi (Montpellier), Charles Ollivon (Toulon), Dany Priso (Toulon), Thomas Staniforth (Castres), Tevita Tatafu (Bayonne), Cameron Woki (Bordeaux Bègles)

Backs (17): Grégoire Arfeuil (Pau), Théo Attissogbe (Pau), Louis Bielle-Biarrey (Bordeaux Bègles), Fabien Brau-Boirie (Pau), Romain Buros (Bordeaux Bègles), Thibault Daubagna (Pau), Nicolas Depoortere (Bordeaux Bègles), Gaël Dréan (Toulon), Antoine Dupont (Toulouse, captain), Kalvin Gourgues (Toulouse), Aaron Grandidier Nkanang (Pau), Matthieu Jalibert (Bordeaux Bègles), Yoram Moefana (Bordeaux Bègles), Noah Nene (Stade Français), Thomas Ramos (Stade Toulousain), Baptiste Serin (RC Toulon), Ugo Seunes (Racing 92)

Ireland Six Nations 2026 squad

Forwards (20): 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), Rónan 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 (17): 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 Six Nations 2026 squad

Forwards (18): Tommaso Di Bartolomeo (Zebre Parma), Lorenzo Cannone (Benetton Rugby), Niccolò Cannone (Benetton Rugby), Pablo Dimcheff (Colomiers Rugby), Riccardo Favretto (Benetton Rugby), Simone Ferrari (Benetton Rugby), Danilo Fischetti (Northampton Saints), Muhamed Hasa (Zebre Parma), Alessandro Izekor (Benetton Rugby), Michele Lamaro (Benetton Rugby), Samuele Locatelli (Zebre Parma), Giacomo Nicotera (Stade Français), David Odiase (Zebre Parma), Marco Riccioni (Saracens), Federico Ruzza (Benetton Rugby), Mirco Spagnolo (Benetton Rugby), Andrea Zambonin (Exeter Chiefs), Manuel Zuliani (Benetton Rugby)

Backs (15): Juan Ignacio Brex (Benetton Rugby), Giacomo Da Re (Zebre Parma), Alessandro Fusco (Zebre Parma), Matt Gallagher (Benetton Rugby), Paolo Garbisi (Toulon), Monty Ioane (Lyon), Louis Lynagh (Benetton Rugby), Leonardo Marin (Benetton Rugby), Damiano Mazza (Zebre Parma), Tommaso Menoncello (Benetton Rugby), Paolo Odogwu (Benetton Rugby), Martin Page-Relo (Lyon), Lorenzo Pani (Zebre Parma), Edoardo Todaro (Northampton Saints), Stephen Varney (Exeter Chiefs)

Scotland Six Nations 2026 squad

Forwards: Ewan Ashman (Edinburgh Rugby), Josh Bayliss (Bath Rugby), Magnus Bradbury (Edinburgh Rugby), Gregor Brown (Glasgow Warriors), Dave Cherry (Vannes), Scott Cummings (Glasgow Warriors), Alex Craig (Glasgow Warriors), Rory Darge (Glasgow Warriors), Jack Dempsey (Glasgow Warriors), Freddy Douglas (Edinburgh Rugby), Matt Fagerson (Glasgow Warriors), Zander Fagerson (Glasgow Warriors), Grant Gilchrist (Edinburgh Rugby), Jonny Gray (Union Bordeaux Bègles), Nathan McBeth (Glasgow Warriors), Liam McConnell (Edinburgh Rugby), Elliot Millar Mills (Northampton Saints), D’arcy Rae (Edinburgh Rugby), Jamie Ritchie (Perpignan), Pierre Schoeman (Edinburgh Rugby), Rory Sutherland (Glasgow Warriors), George Turner (Harlequins), Max Williamson (Glasgow Warriors)

Backs: Fergus Burke (Saracens), Jamie Dobie (Glasgow Warriors), Darcy Graham (Edinburgh Rugby), Adam Hastings (Glasgow Warriors), George Horne (Glasgow Warriors), Rory Hutchinson (Northampton Saints), Huw Jones (Glasgow Warriors), Tom Jordan (Bristol Bears), Blair Kinghorn (Toulouse), Stafford McDowall (Glasgow Warriors), Finn Russell (Bath Rugby), Kyle Rowe (Glasgow Warriors), Ollie Smith (Glasgow Warriors), Kyle Steyn (Glasgow Warriors), Sione Tuipulotu (Glasgow Warriors), Duhan van der Merwe (Edinburgh Rugby), Ben White (Toulon)

Wales Six Nations 2026 squad

Forwards (20): Keiron Assiratti (Cardiff), Adam Beard (Montpellier), Liam Belcher (Cardiff), James Botham (Cardiff), Rhys Carre (Saracens), Ben Carter (Dragons), Olly Cracknell (Leicester), Harri Deaves (Ospreys), Ryan Elias (Scarlets), Tomas Francis (Provence), Archie Griffin (Bath), Dafydd Jenkins (Exeter), Dewi Lake (Ospreys, capt), Alex Mann (Cardiff), Josh Macleod (Scarlets), Taine Plumtree (Scarlets), Nicky Smith (Leicester), Gareth Thomas (Ospreys), Freddie Thomas (Gloucester), Aaron Wainwright (Dragons)

Backs (18): Josh Adams (Cardiff), Sam Costelow (Scarlets), Dan Edwards (Ospreys), Jarrod Evans (Harlequins), Mason Grady (Cardiff), Kieran Hardy (Ospreys), Gabriel Hamer-Webb (Leicester), Joe Hawkins (Scarlets), Louie Hennessey (Bath), Eddie James (Scarlets), Ellis Mee (Scarlets), Reuben Morgan-Williams (Ospreys), Blair Murray (Scarlets), Louis Rees-Zammit (Bristol Bears), Tom Rogers (Scarlets), Ben Thomas (Cardiff), Owen Watkin (Ospreys), Tomos Williams (Gloucester)

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Six Nations overview

Teams: England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland, Wales

The backstory: The tournament began as the Home Nations Championship in 1883, contested between England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. France joined in 1910 to make it the Five Nations, were suspended in 1932, and subsequently readmitted in 1947 when the Five Nations resumed after the Second World War. The current Six Nations iteration kicked off in 2000 with the arrival of Italy.

• Read more: The history of the Six Nations Championship

First title: England (England also won the first-ever Five Nations and Six Nations titles)

Most titles: England and Wales have both won 39 titles. (England have 29 outright wins with 10 shared; Wales have 28 outright wins with 11 shared). We have a full list of previous winners of the championship in all its different forms dating back to 1883.

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Six Nations 2025 recap and results

Winners: France

Final standings:

1. France (21 points)
2. England (20 points)
3. Ireland (19 points)
4. Scotland (11 points)
5. Italy (5 points)
6. Wales (3 points)

England had their best tournament since they won the title in 2020, finishing a single point behind France after a thumping win over Wales. Reigning champions Ireland won the Triple Crown but had to make to do with third place having lost to France in Dublin.

In the bottom half of the table, Scotland managed two wins (over Italy and Wales), but were left rueing their narrow Calcutta Cup defeat to England in round 3. Italy failed to match last year’s best-ever return of two wins and a draw, but that was still enough to finish ahead of Wales, who had another dismal campaign and “retained” the Wooden Spoon.

Round 1

Friday 31 January 2025

• France 43 – 0 Wales
  Stade de France, Paris

Saturday 1 February 2025

• Scotland 31 – 19 Italy
  Murrayfield, Edinburgh
• Ireland 27 – 22 England
  Aviva Stadium, Dublin

Round 2

Saturday 8 February 2025

• Italy 22 – 15 Wales
  Stadio Olimpico, Rome
• England 26 – 25 France
  Twickenham Stadium, London

Sunday 9 February 2025

• Scotland 18 – 32 Ireland
  Murrayfield, Edinburgh

Round 3

Saturday 22 February 2025

• Wales 18-27 Ireland
  Principality Stadium, Cardiff
• England 16-15 Scotland
  Twickenham Stadium, London

Sunday 23 February

• Italy 24-73 France
  Stadio Olimpico, Rome

Round 4

Saturday 8 March 2025

• Ireland 27-42 France
  Aviva Stadium, Dublin
• Scotland 35-29 Wales
  Murrayfield, Edinburgh 

Sunday 9 March 2025

• England 47-24 Italy
  Allianz Stadium, Twickenham
  

Round 5

Saturday 15 March 2025

• Italy 17-22 Ireland
  Stadio Olimpico, Rome
• Wales 14-68 England
  Principality Stadium, Cardiff
• France 35-16 Scotland
  Stade de France, Paris

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Previous Six Nations winners

Here’s every winner of the Six Nations title since Italy joined the tournament in 2000.

2000 – England

2001 – England

2002 – France (Grand Slam)

2003 – England (Grand Slam)

2004 – France (Grand Slam)

2005 – Wales (Grand Slam)

2006 – France

2007 – France

2008 – Wales (Grand Slam)

2009 – Ireland (Grand Slam)

2010 – France (Grand Slam)

2011 – England

2012 – Wales (Grand Slam)

2013 – Wales

2014 – Ireland

2015 – Ireland

2016 – England (Grand Slam)

2017 – England

2018 – Ireland (Grand Slam)

2019 – Wales (Grand Slam)

2020 – England

2021 – Wales

2022 – France (Grand Slam)

2023 – Ireland (Grand Slam)

2024 – Ireland

2025 – France

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