France to play 2024 home Six Nations games in Marseille, Lille and Lyon

France will venture into new territory as they will be playing their 2024 Guinness Six Nations home games in Marseille, Lille, and Lyon.

In 2024, the reigning Grand Slam champions will not play their home games at Paris' Stade de France. Instead, they will kick off Rugby's Greatest Championship with a thrilling match against 2023 winners Ireland at Orange Velodrome in Marseille which has a capacity of 67,394.

Following the encounter the Les Bleus will face Italy at the Decathlon Arena in Lille during Round 3. The Decathlon Arena, opened in 2012, is the home ground of Lille OSC and can accommodate 50,186 spectators.

Groupama Stadium will host their final home encounter of the competition in the last round against Steve Borthwick's England side. The Groupama Stadium, opened in January 2016, is the newest among the three venues. It serves as the home of Olympique Lyonnais.

Since the expansion of the Five Nations to Six Nations in 2000, Les Bleus have played all their home games at the Stade de France, except for a match against Italy in 2018, which took place in Marseille. During this time, they have secured six Championships, including a Grand Slam triumph in 2022.

This news adds to the excitement of the upcoming year for French rugby, with the Rugby World Cup scheduled to commence in September.