The Six Nations is a competition steeped in tradition and therefore rarely tinkered with. But the 2026 Championship is set to feature a couple of firsts, one of which could be significant in how the tournament pans out.
In addition to the opening game being played on a Thursday night - a first in the Six Nations era - a slight adjustment has also been made to the schedule.
This year, the tournament will be played over six weeks, instead of the usual seven. This means fewer rest weekends (just one in fact) with the first three sets of fixtures played over three consecutive (and inevitably bruising) weekends.
05/02 - France v Ireland
07/02 - Italy v Scotland
07/02 - England v Wales
14/02 - Ireland v Italy
14/02 - Scotland v England
15/02 - Wales v France
21/02 - England v Ireland
21/02 - Wales vs Scotland
22/02 - France vs Italy
Rest weekend
06/03 - Ireland v Wales
07/03 - Scotland v France
07/03 - Italy v England
14/02 - Ireland v Scotland
14/02 - Wales v Italy
14/02 - France v England
While fewer breaks will allow the tournament’s narrative to flow better and also maintain the interest of fans, punters and rugby betting sites, there’s no doubt the new schedule will be demanding on the players selected.
Previously, the two rest weekends allowed all involved to have a breather. It was a chance to recover, reenergise and shake off any injuries, ready for the final set of matches.
However, with less recovery time this time around, injuries and managing player workloads are almost certainly going to become an issue, and the sides lacking squad depth will ultimately pay the price.
Arguably, in its current state, the competition is two leagues within one anyway; three teams that can realistically win it (France, England and Ireland) and three nations, Scotland, Wales and Italy, that have no chance.
And the change will do little to improve the chances of seeing the less fancied teams prevail.
In fact, it’s even possible that the gap between the two groups of teams widens further still.
England currently hold the record for the most points scored by one team. The 80-23 win against Italy in 2001 is still the highest scoring Six Nations game to date (103 points).
However, France came close to surpassing England’s long-standing record just last year when the Italians, beaten 73-24, wrote themselves into the history books once more. Last year’s tournament also featured another hugely one-sided affair when England ran in 10 tries to hammer a sorry Wales side 68-14 in Cardiff.
Given that two of the highest-scoring and most one-sided matches in Six Nations history took place just twelve months ago - and with Wales and Italy showing little sign of improving - it’s a real possibility that the 25-year-long points record is broken this year.
It seems a strange decision to alter the schedule in such a way that puts nations with fewer resources at more of a disadvantage than they already are.
Removing one of the fallow weeks from the schedule does keep the competition in the forefront of people’s minds, especially fans, punters and broadcasters. From that perspective, it’s a good move; the narrative has indeed been lost in previous editions because of the inactive weekends.
But if the change is to the detriment of the tournament’s competitiveness, perhaps it’s best left as it was.
