Five things you should know about the Women’s Six Nations

Plus, five things you need to know about the tournament, including why the league table matters

In the history of the six-team women’s Six Nations only once has a side other than England or France won the title, and that was back in 2013, when Ireland broke the duopoly. 
England have won the past five tournaments but this year is their first Six Nations under new coach John Mitchell. The Red Roses, who are heavy favourites to lift the trophy, are hoping for a record-breaking crowd when they play Ireland at Twickenham in the fourth round.
Scroll down to read five things you should know about this year’s tournament. You can also read Sarah Bern’s verdict on every member of the England women’s squad, plus our team-by-team guide to the competition, including predictions. 
The opening fixtures are tomorrow. The tournament opens on Saturday with Scotland vs France (2.15pm) followed by England vs Wales (4.45pm). Then on Sunday Ireland face Italy (3pm). 
Fixtures this year will continue to be shown on the BBC. Every match of the tournament will be streamed live on BBC iPlayer and BBC Sport online, with the vast majority also on BBC television. Six of the games are being shown on either BBC One or BBC Two – see below for details.
The BBC’s presenting team will be led by Gabby Logan, Sonja McLaughlan, and Lee McKenzie. 
Sat, March 23: France v Ireland (2.15pm, Stade Marie-Marvingt) – BBC iPlayerSat, March 23: Wales v Scotland (4.45pm, Cardiff Arms Park) – BBC TwoSun, March 24: Italy v England (3pm, Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi) – BBC Two
Sat, March 30: Scotland v France (2.15pm, Hive Stadium) – BBC ScotlandSat, March 30: England v Wales (4.45pm, Ashton Gate) – BBC TwoSun, March 31: Ireland v Italy (3pm, RDS Arena) – BBC iPlayer
Sat, April 13: Scotland v England (2.15pm, Hive Stadium) – BBC OneSat, April 13: Ireland v Wales (4.45pm, Virgin Media Park) – BBC iPlayerSun, April 14: France v Italy (12.30pm, Stade Jean Bouin) – BBC iPlayer
Sat, April 20: England v Ireland (2.15pm, Twickenham) – BBC OneSat, April 20: Italy v Scotland (4.45pm, Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi) – BBC ScotlandSun, April 21: Wales v France (3.15pm, Cardiff Arms Park) – BBC Wales
Sat, April 27: Wales v Italy (12.15pm, Principality Stadium) – BBC WalesSat, April 27: Ireland v Scotland (2.30pm, Kingspan Stadium) – BBC NISat, April 27: France v England (4.45pm, Stade Chaban-Delmas) – BBC Two
Tickets are still widely available. See the websites of each team for details. England tickets, for example, are available to purchase via EnglandRugby.com.
The Women’s Six Nations has become synonymous with a lack of jeopardy in recent years because of the domination of England and France, but the final standings still carry some significance.
The best-placed 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 at the tournament, which will take place in England, after reaching the semi-finals at the 2022 World Cup and they will be favourites to finish in the top two of the championship table this year. That puts extra significance on finishing third – or perhaps even ending the duopoly at the top of the standings.
As well as that World Cup spot, the final standings in the table will dictate which tier of WXV – the global competition launched last year by World Rugby with the aim of increasing Test fixtures in the women’s game – teams compete in at the end of the year. That tournament will act as the next stage of World Cup qualifying so the higher up the table you finish, the simpler the route to England 2025.
Like in the men’s championship, women’s players will have their names on the back of their match shirts. This is a first for Ireland, Scotland, France and Italy. Wales and England players had their names on shirts in matches last year, becoming the first home nations in the female game to do so.
The #RedRoses will have names on their shirts for the first time in tomorrow’s #ENGvSCO match 👇#TikTokW6N pic.twitter.com/1gblYwKpUo
Tom Harrison, the Six Nations chief executive, said it was “much easier to get that through in the women’s game actually then the men’s”. He added: “We find that there is a real willingness [in the women’s game] to take on some of the questions that we’re asking. Does this work? Can we trial this? We’ve found the women’s game really exciting about some of the stuff that’s going on.”
For the first time in a women’s rugby competition, the television match official bunker system will feature, providing referees with the option to refer incidents of foul play for review off the field when a potential red card is not clear and obvious. A yellow card will be shown to the player and the “Foul Play Review Official” (the bunker) will review footage during that 10-minute sin-bin period to determine whether that should be upgraded to a red card.
There will also be the introduction of the shot clock, which will give players 60 seconds to take a penalty and 90 seconds for a conversion, and instrumented mouthguards, which measure head impacts and can alert medical staff as to whether a player needs a head injury assessment.
After the success of the Grand Slam match at Twickenham last April, when England and France were watched by a record-breaking 58,498 crowd, the Red Roses will return to the home of English rugby on April 20 to face Ireland. The fixture forms part of the RFU’s longer-term plan to sell out Twickenham for the 2025 World Cup final and is set to be another landmark event.
🤩 All the Venues, Dates and Times you need for this year’s Guinness Women’s Six Nations 📍🗓️⌚️#GuinnessW6N pic.twitter.com/CEZqQ7cVP9
It is not just England who are playing in their national stadium. Wales will also play a first standalone women’s match at the Principality Stadium, facing Italy on the final weekend, as the Wales Rugby Union seeks to grow the fanbase for its women’s team.
Tickets are reasonably priced too: from £20 for adults and £5 for juniors at Twickenham; from £10 for adults and £5 for juniors at the Principality Stadium.
You might have already seen this somewhat awkward photo of the seven coaches (France have co-coaches in Gaelle Mignot and David Ortiz) taken at the official Women’s Six Nations launch in London last week, featuring John Mitchell and Scott Bemand, the new head coaches of England and Ireland respectively.
Players ready ✅Coaches ready 😎#GuinnessW6N pic.twitter.com/JwVFXNCm0Z
Former New Zealand head coach Mitchell, who was appointed by the Rugby Football Union last May and occupied more of an informal role at last year’s WXV competition, will take charge of the Red Roses for the first time in the championship. Bemand has been involved in various Six Nations campaigns in his former role as Red Roses backs coach, but this will be the Englishman’s first time leading a nation.