The 2026 tournament is kicking off on Thursday 5 February, but is it a first for the championship?
The new 2026 Six Nations fixtures have been announced and, thanks to the surprising addition of a Thursday, the schedule looks a bit different to what we’ve seen in previous years’ championships.
The tournament is one week shorter than in recent years, with the first fallow week – which traditionally took place after the second round of matches – removed. Eagle-eyed fans will also have noticed that the match times have changed, with early Saturday kick-offs at 2.10pm, late afternoon kick-offs at 4.40pm, evening kick-offs at 8.10pm, and Sunday kick-offs at 3.10pm (all times GMT).
By far the biggest talking point about the newly published fixture list, however, is that the Six Nations 2026 will get underway on a Thursday night, when reigning champions France host Ireland on 5 February. It’s a radical break with tradition, but has a Six Nations game ever taken place on a Thursday?
Why is the 2026 Six Nations kicking off on a Thursday night?
It’s not that the competition organisers have decided to follow in the footsteps of football’s Europa League, whose games kick off on Thursdays to make way for the more glamorous Champions League. The motivation is, however, sport-related.
France v Ireland – which, going on recent tournaments, could have an early say in the destination of the Six Nations trophy – has been moved to avoid a clash with the opening ceremony of the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan. It is hoped that this Thursday night experiment will maximise the TV audience in France.
Has a Six Nations championship match ever been played on a Thursday before?
The 2026 France v Ireland encounter marks the first time a Six Nations match has ever kicked off on a Thursday, but it’s not a first for the tournament as a whole.
Nearly eight decades ago this very same fixture kicked off the 1948 Five Nations on New Year’s Day, 1948, which just happened to fall on a Thursday that year. Ireland beat France 13-6 in Paris.
Although Five Nations games took place on Saturdays, the very first Six Nations in 2000 immediately shook things up with a couple of Sunday kick-offs – including the final game, in which Scotland ended England’s Grand Slam hopes at Murrayfield. Sunday games have been a regular occurrence ever since.
The first Friday night Six Nations match took place in 2009 when France beat Wales 21-16 in a third round clash at the Stade de France. Two years later, the tournament kicked off on a Friday night for the first time when Wales hosted England at the Millennium Stadium. England won the match 26-19. The tournament has again kicked off on a Friday in 2015, 2019, 2024 and 2025.
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