2026 Six Nations Championship

The 2026 Men's Six Nations Championship (known as the Guinness Men's Six Nations for sponsorship reasons and branded as M6N) was a rugby union competition that took place from early February to mid-March 2026, featuring the men's national teams of England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. It was the 132nd season of the competition (including its prior incarnations as the Home Nations Championship and the Five Nations Championship), and the 27th since it expanded to become the Six Nations Championship in 2000. It began on 5 February 2026 with a Thursday night match between France and Ireland, and ended with France against England on 14 March.

France entered the tournament as reigning champions, and secured a second successive title with the final kick of the final match, a penalty by the competition's top scorer, Thomas Ramos, squeezing France past England 48–46, and edging out repeat Triple Crown winners Ireland by two table points. Other notable results included Italy's first ever win over England, a record-breaking 50–40 victory for Scotland over France and the end of a 15-match losing streak in the championship by Wales, who beat Italy on the last day.

Table ranking rules

• Four points are awarded for a win.
• Two points are awarded for a draw.
• A bonus point is awarded to a team that scores four or more tries, or loses by seven points or fewer. If a team scores four or more tries, and loses by seven points or fewer, they are awarded both bonus points.
• Three bonus points are awarded to a team that wins all five of their matches (a Grand Slam). This ensures that a Grand Slam-winning team would top the table with at least 23 points, as there would otherwise be a scenario where a team could win all five matches with no bonus points for a total of 20 points and another team could win four matches with bonus points and lose their fifth match while claiming one or more bonus points giving a total of 21 or 22 points.
• Tiebreakers
  • If two or more teams are tied on table points, the team with the better points difference (points scored less points conceded) is ranked higher.
  • If the above tiebreaker fails to separate tied teams, the team that scores the higher number of total tries (including penalty tries) in their matches is ranked higher.
  • If two or more teams remain tied after applying the above tiebreakers then those teams will be placed at equal rank; if the tournament has concluded and more than one team is placed first then the title will be shared between them.

The fixtures for the 2026 Six Nations were announced on 19 May 2025, beginning with the Six Nations' first ever Thursday night game between France and Ireland. It also featured the first ever Friday night game in Dublin as Ireland hosted Wales in the fourth round of matches. The competition is also set to take place over a reduced timeframe; instead of having rest weeks after rounds 2 and 3, it only had a rest week after round 3.

Notes:

• France claimed the inaugural Solidarity Trophy, a new trophy contested by France and Ireland.
• The game took place on a Thursday night in order to avoid a clash with the 2026 Winter Olympics opening ceremony.

Notes:

• Italy reclaimed the Cuttitta Cup, having lost it in the previous year's tournament.
• Ignacio Brex, Paolo Garbisi and Michele Lamaro (all Italy) earned their 50th test caps.
• This was Italy's first opening win of a Six Nations campaign since defeating France 23–18 in 2013.

Notes:

• Immanuel Feyi-Waboso was initially selected on the right wing for England, but had to withdraw through injury, with Tom Roebuck taking his place in the starting XV.

Notes:

• Edwin Edogbo (Ireland) made his international debut.
• Hollie Davidson became the first woman to referee a men's Six Nations match.

Notes:

• Scotland reclaimed the Calcutta Cup.

Notes:

• Fabien Brau-Boirie and Noah Nene (both France) made their international debuts.
• Julien Marchand and Charles Ollivon (both France) earned their 50th test caps.
• This was the most points scored by France over Wales, surpassing the 51 points scored in 1998.
• The 57,744 attendance was the lowest ever for a Six Nations match in Cardiff.

Notes:

• Jack Conan (Ireland) was originally named among the replacements but was ruled out due to illness; he was replaced on the bench by Cian Prendergast.
• Maro Itoje became the ninth player to earn 100 test caps for England.
• Ireland's 42 points was the most they had scored in an away match against England; the 21-point winning margin was also Ireland's biggest in an away match against England.
• Ireland retained the Millennium Trophy.

Notes:

• Gabriel Hamer-Webb (Wales) made his international debut.
• Scotland retained the Doddie Weir Cup.

Notes:

• Matthieu Jalibert (France) was originally named to start at fly-half but was ruled out the day before the match; he was replaced by Thomas Ramos at fly-half, who was replaced by Théo Attissogbe at fullback, who was replaced by debutant Gaël Dréan on the right wing.
• Gaël Dréan (France) made his international debut.
• Thomas Ramos (France) earned his 50th test cap.
• France retained the Giuseppe Garibaldi Trophy.

Notes:

• Jamison Gibson-Park (Ireland) earned his 50th test cap.
• Nathan Doak (Ireland) and Louie Hennessey (Wales) both made their international debut.

Notes:

• Scotland reclaimed the Auld Alliance Trophy, having lost the previous four editions.
• Scotland's total of 50 points was their highest recorded against France.
• The combined score of 90 was the highest combined between the two teams.
• Baptiste Serin (France) earned his 50th test cap.
• France scored the most points in a loss in the Six Nations, breaking their own record from 2015, scoring 35 points in a 55–35 loss to England.

Notes:

• Tom Curry (England) was injured in the warm-up and replaced in the starting line-up by Sam Underhill, whose place on the bench was taken by Chandler Cunningham-South.
• Ben Earl (England) earned his 50th test cap.
• This was Italy's first-ever win over England after 32 consecutive defeats.

Notes:

• Ireland retained both the Triple Crown and Centenary Quaich.
• This was Ireland's equal-biggest home win over Scotland, equalling their win in 2014.

Notes:

• Wales recorded their first Six Nations win in 16 matches, last winning against Italy in 2023, and their first home win in the Championship since winning against Scotland in 2022.

• This game was both the highest away score for England against France, and the highest home score for France against England. It was also the highest aggregate score (94 points) in 113 games between the teams.
• England scored the most points in a loss in the Six Nations, surpassing France's 40 points in the previous round.
• Marcus Smith and Sam Underhill (both England) earned their 50th test caps.
• Louis Bielle-Biarrey became the second player in the Six Nations era to score four tries in one match, equalling Chris Ashton for England against Italy in 2011.
• Louis Bielle-Biarrey broke the record for most tries in a single Championship (9 tries).
• With this result, England finished in fifth place, their worst position since the Championship became the Six Nations in 2000. It was also the first time since 1987 that England had only secured one win in any of the Championship incarnations.

As of 13 March 2026

2 yellow cards

• Louis Lynagh (vs. Ireland, vs. France)
• Maro Itoje (vs. Wales, vs. Italy)

1 yellow card

Note: The cited player's team is listed in bold italics.

The official shortlist for player of the championship was announced on 20 March 2026. Louis Bielle-Biarrey was announced as Player of the Championship, his second successive award, on 2 April 2026.

The official team of the championship was announced on 19 March 2026. The selection included four Irishmen, four Frenchman, three Italians, three Scots and a Welshman. The England team were unrepresented.

• 2026 Six Nations Under 20s Championship
• 2026 Women's Six Nations Championship
• 2026 Six Nations Women's U21 Series
• 2026 Nations Championship