The Six Nations
January, if we can turn a blind eye to the weather, is actually quite an exciting month. There are so many different events, Chinese New Year and Burns Night to name just two but as we approach the end of the month we have something even more exciting to look forward to… The Six Nations Championship.
For those of you who don’t know, The Six Nations Championship is an annual international rugby union competition between the teams of England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland, and Wales. The current champions are Wales, who won the 2019 tournament. They also hold the overall record with 39 victories (27 outright and 12 shared) to England's 38 (10 shared victories). England hold the record for the most outright wins with 28. Since the Six Nations era started in 2000, only Italy and Scotland have failed to win the Six Nations title.
So who will be crowned the winners in 2020?
As it stands at the moment the bookies predict the following table
1. England
2. Ireland
3. Wales
4. France
5. Scotland
6. Italy
… however as we know anything can change in a blink of an eye!
Here is a round-up of who is playing and when
ROUND ONE
Wales v Italy, Saturday Feb 1, 2.15pm
Ireland v Scotland, Saturday Feb 1, 4.45pm
France v England, Sunday Feb 2, 3pm
ROUND TWO
Ireland v Wales, Saturday Feb 8, 2.15pm
Scotland v England, Saturday Feb 8, 4.45pm
France v Italy, Sunday Feb 9, 3.00pm
ROUND THREE
Italy v Scotland, Saturday Feb 22, 2.15pm
Wales v France, Saturday Feb 22, 4.45pm
England v Ireland, Sunday Feb 23, 3.00pm
ROUND FOUR
Ireland v Italy, Saturday Mar 7, 2.15pm
England v Wales, Saturday Mar 7, 4.45pm
Scotland v France, Sunday Mar 8, 3.00pm
ROUND FIVE
Wales v Scotland, Saturday Mar 14, 2.15pm
Italy v England, Saturday Mar 14, 4.45pm
France v Ireland, Saturday Mar 14, 8.00pm
Five fun facts
The Six Nations is one of the oldest cup competitions in the world. The first tournament was held in 1883
The six nations trophy is crafted from sterling silver and has an estimated value of £55,000. The inside of the trophy was recently plated with gold to protect it from the corrosive properties of champagne!
Irelands Ronan O’Gara is the tournaments highest points scorer with 551 points, while his teammate Brian O’Driscall is the highest try scorer with 25
Prior to 1994, teams equal on match points shared the championship. 1973 was the only year where there was a five way tie with each side winning two matches and losing two
The record for tried in a match is held by Scotland’s George Lindsey who scored five tried against Wales in 1887
Happy watching!... and when your all-rugbied out be sure to check out our website for your next teambuilding event that can be run in any of the Six Nations!
