The Six Nations Championship is contested once each season by the international sides of France, England, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales.

Each team plays the other five once per season with home advantage in alternate seasons, giving a total of 15 matches per Championship.

Ordinarily, the Championship takes place in February and concludes by the end of March, with rest weekends in weeks three and five.

The Table, Match Points and Bonus Points:

The following Match Points are awarded on the basis of the result of each result:

• The Union that wins the Match shall be awarded four Match Points or (if it scores four tries or more in the process) five Match Points.

• The Union that loses the Match shall be awarded no Match Points or (if it scores four tries or more in the process or loses by a margin of seven points or fewer) one Match Point or (if it scores four tries or more in the process and loses by a margin of seven points or fewer) two Match Points.

• Unions that draw a Match shall each be awarded two Match Points and any of them that scores four tries or more in the process shall be awarded a further one Match Point.

• A Union that wins all five of its Matches (a “Grand Slam”) shall be awarded a further three Match Points.

The Championship positions are decided as follows:

1. The Union with the highest number of Match Points will be placed first and the other Unions placed in descending order according to the Match Points awarded.

2. If two or more Unions finish the Championship with the same number of Match Points, they will be placed according to the difference between the total points scored and the total points conceded on the fields of play in all Matches.

3. If any such Unions also have the same points difference, they will be placed according to the number of tries (including penalty tries) scored by each Union in all Matches.

4. If any such Unions have also scored the same number of tries (including penalty tries), they will be placed equally.

Trophies and Awards:

The following trophies and awards will be presented:

• Guinness Six Nations Championship Trophy and Medals to the Winning Union

• If the winning Union has defeated all five other Unions, it is given the title ‘Grand Slam Winner’

• The Triple Crown is awarded if one of the four Home Unions (England, Ireland, Scotland or Wales) defeats the other three

• A Guinness Man of the Match is presented to the nominated Guinness of the Match after each fixture

• The Guinness Player of the Championship is presented to the selected player at the end of each Guinness Six Nations.