by In the history of the women’s Six Nations six teams have only once won the title other than England or France, and that was back in 2013 when Ireland broke the duopoly.
England have won five championships but this year it will be the Six Nations under new coach John Mitchell. The Red Roses, who are favorites to lift the trophy, will be hoping for a record crowd when they take on Ireland at Twickenham in the quarter-final.
John Mitchell will have to change his back against Wales today in round two as Sarah Beckett has been banned for three weeks following her red card against Italy.
Scroll down to read five things you should know about this year’s competition. You can also read Sarah Bern’s verdict on each member of the England women’s squad, as well as our team guide to the tournament, including predictions.
How to watch the 2024 Women’s Six Nations on TV
This year’s games will continue to be shown on the BBC. All matches of the competition will be streamed live on BBC iPlayer and BBC Sport online, with most also on BBC TV. Six of the games are being shown on BBC One or BBC Two – see below for details.
Gabby Logan, Sonja McLaughlan, and Lee McKenzie lead the BBC’s presenting team.
2024 Women’s Six Nations Games
Round one
Saturday, March 23: France 38 Ireland 17 (Stade Marie-Marvingt)
Saturday, March 23: Wales 18 Scotland 20 (Army Park, Cardiff)
Sun, March 24: Italy 0 England 48 (Sergio Lanfranchi Stadium)
Round two
Saturday, March 30: Scotland v France (2.15pm, Hive Stadium) – BBC Scotland
Saturday, March 30: England v Wales (4.45pm, Ashton Gate) – BBC Two
Sun, March 31: Ireland v Italy (3pm, RDS Arena) – BBC iPlayer
Round three
Saturday, April 13: Scotland v England (2.15pm, Hive Stadium) – BBC One
Saturday, April 13: Ireland v Wales (4.45pm, Virgin Media Park) – BBC iPlayer
Sun, April 14: France v Italy (12.30pm, Stade Jean Bouin) – BBC iPlayer
Round four
Saturday, April 20: England v Ireland (2.15pm, Twickenham) – BBC One
Saturday, April 20: Italy v Scotland (4.45pm, Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi) – BBC Scotland
Sun, April 21: Wales v France (3.15pm, Cardiff Arms Park) – BBC Wales
Round five
Saturday, April 27: Wales v Italy (12.15pm, Principality Stadium) – BBC Wales
Saturday, April 27: Ireland v Scotland (2.30pm, Kingspan Stadium) – BBC NI
Saturday, April 27: France v England (4.45pm, Stade Chaban-Delmas) – BBC Two
Women’s Six Nations 2024 table
How do I get tickets for games?
Tickets are still widely available. See each team’s website for details. England tickets, for example, are available to buy through EnglandRugby.com.
Five things you need to know about the Six Nations of Women
Why is the table important
The Women’s Six Nations represents the lack of danger in recent years due to the dominance of England and France, but the final positions still matter.
The best team outside of England and France will qualify for next year’s Women’s Rugby World Cup. Those two teams have already secured their place in the competition, which will be held in England, after reaching the semi-finals of the 2022 World Cup and will be favorites to finish in both championships this year . That adds extra importance to finishing third – or perhaps even ending the duopoly at the top of the standings.
As well as that World Cup match, the final standings in the table will decide which series of WXV – the global competition launched by World Rugby last year to supplement the Test matches in the women’s game – the teams will compete at the end of the game. year. That competition will act as the next stage of World Cup qualification, so the higher up the table you finish, the simpler the route to England 2025.
Names on shirts
Like the men’s league, the women’s players will have their names on the back of their match shirts. This is the first for Ireland, Scotland, France and Italy. Wales and England players put their names on shirts in last year’s games, becoming the first home nations in the women’s game to do so.
Six Nations chief executive Tom Harrison said it was “much easier to achieve that in the women’s game than the men’s game”. He added: “We find that there is a real willingness [in the women’s game] take some of the questions we are asking. Does this work? Can we try this? We had the women’s game very excited about some of the things that are going on.”
New innovations
For the first time in women’s rugby competition, the official televised match bunker system is a feature, giving referees the option to refer incidents of foul play for off-field review when a red card is not clear and obvious. The player will be shown a yellow card and the “Foul Play Review Official” (the bunker) will review footage during that 10 minute period and the bin to determine if that should be upgraded to a red card.
The shot clock will also be introduced, giving players 60 seconds to take a penalty and 90 seconds for a conversion, and instrumented mouthguards, which measure head impact and can alert medical staff as to whether it is necessary a player’s head injury. assessment.
Independent fixtures at the main study
Following the success of the Grand Slam match at Twickenham last April, when England and France were watched by a super crowd of 58,498, the Red Roses will return to the home of English rugby on April 20 to face Ireland. The game is part of the RFU’s long-term plan to sell out Twickenham for the 2025 World Cup final and will be another landmark event.
It’s not just England playing in their national stadium. Wales will also play their first independent women’s match at the Principality Stadium, facing Italy on the final weekend, as the Welsh Rugby Union looks to increase the fan base for its women’s team.
Tickets are also reasonably priced: from £20 for adults and £5 for juniors at Twickenham; from £10 for adults and £5 for juniors at the Principality Stadium.
New faces at the helm
You may have already seen this photo of seven coaches (France has a joint coach with Gaelle Mignot and David Ortiz) at the official launch of the Women’s Six Nations in London, which included John Mitchell and Scott Bemand, England’s new head coaches. and Ireland respectively.
Former New Zealand head coach Mitchell, who was appointed by Rugby Football Union last May and took a more informal role at last year’s WXV competition, takes charge of the Red Roses for the first time in the championship. Bemand has been involved in various Six Nations campaigns in his previous role as coach of the Red Roses, but this will be the Englishman’s first time leading a nation.
