The fixtures for the 2021 Women’s Six Nations Championship have been released with fans able to enjoy four consecutive Saturdays of jam packed action involving all six teams starting on 3 April.
The Championship will consist of two pools of three teams before concluding with Finals Day on 24 April. Pool A consists of England, Italy and Scotland while Pool B features France, Ireland and Wales.
Each team will play one home and one away fixture before facing the opposing ranked team from the other pool in a Super Saturday finals day. The Pool A teams – England, Italy and Scotland – will have home games for the finals.
Champions England will open their title defence with a home clash against Scotland on 3 April in a 3:00PM* kick-off at Castle Park, Doncaster. France face Wales on the same day in an evening kick-off at Stade de la Rabine in Vannes (8:00PM).
Round Two takes place on Saturday 10 April and sees England play Italy at Stadio Plebiscito in Padova in a 2:00PM kick-off. Wales, meanwhile, take on Ireland in a 5:00PM fixture at Cardiff Arms Park.
The third round on Saturday 17 April sees France travel to Ireland for a 2:15PM clash at Energia Park, Donnybrook. The Pool stages will then conclude with the meeting of Scotland and Italy at Scotstoun Stadium later that afternoon (5:00PM).
On Super Saturday Finals Day, Italy get the action underway with a 12:00PM match against the side who finish in the equivalent position in Pool A. Current Champions England play their counterparts at 2:00PM, while Scotland and their opponents will be playing the last match of the day at 5:00PM.
France and England will also play a Women’s Six Nations exhibition game as part of the series, with the two set to meet at Villeneuve d’Ascq on Friday, 30 April.
As well as a new format, the 2021 Women’s Six Nations will also break new ground in broadcasting.
For the first time, all games will be available in one place in the UK, the Republic of Ireland and Italy, with the BBC, RTÉ and Eurosport carrying all nine matches on a mix of terrestrial and digital services.
In the UK, two matches will be shown on terrestrial television. BBC Wales will show Wales v Ireland and the final game involving England will be shown on BBC2 network, meaning a Women’s Six Nations game will be shown on the main BBC network for the first time. All other games will be on BBC iPlayer.
RTÉ will show Wales v Ireland, Ireland v France and Ireland’s match on Finals Weekend live on both RTÉ 2 and RTÉ Player. The other six games will be shown on RTÉ Player for fans to enjoy.
France TV will continue its fantastic support of the women’s game by showing France v Wales on France 4, Ireland v France on France 2 and the final game involving the French team on France 2.
In Italy, Eurosport will show all nine matches on the Eurosport Player.
Six Nations CEO Ben Morel commented: “We are extremely excited to get the Women’s Six Nations underway and with a new window and a new format for fans to engage with. Our Super Saturday on 24 April looks set to ensure this year’s Championship has a compelling finale.
“Developing the Women’s Championship is absolutely central to our overall strategy. Fans have been thrilled by the Guinness Six Nations over the last two months and now the baton passes to the women’s teams, and we expect an equally thrilling sporting spectacle.”
*All times are British Summer Time / Irish Summer Time, which is GMT + 1.
