History has already been made at the 2026 Six Nations, with France and Ireland opening the championship on a Thursday night for the very first time.
The 2024 and 2025 champions will kick-off the tournament’s curtain-raiser at the Stade de France tonight, marking one of several changes to the this year’s competition.
Firstly, the tournament’s calendar has been condensed into just over five weeks, a tweak to the championship’s usual schedule.
Now, players will only be given one ‘fallow’ (rest) weekend during the Six Nations, rather than the two they were given at every championship between 2003 and 2025.
When Italy joined the tournament for its rebrand in 2000, there were fallow weeks between every round of games, forcing the Six Nations to run from early February, through March and into the start of April.
During the 2026 tournament, teams will play for three successive weekends before having the sole fallow week between rounds three and four.
The Six Nations will kick off its 2026 tournament on a Thursday night for the very first time
France and Ireland go head-to-head at the Stade de France (above) in Paris on Thursday night
The curtain-raiser has been changed to a Thursday to avoid a clash with the Winter Olympics opening ceremony which is scheduled to take place in Milan on Friday night
While the new five-to-six week format is great news for fans, it has unsurprisingly raised questions over player welfare.
The condensed schedule has nothing to do with the reason why this year’s Six Nations kicks off on a Thursday.
France and Ireland are facing off on Thursday at 8.10pm GMT (9.10pm local time) to avoid a clash with the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympic Games in Milan, which is staged to take place on Friday night.
Ireland head coach Andy Farrell described the opportunity to open the tournament for the first time ever on a Thursday as ‘special’.
He said: ‘[The Stade de France] is one of the most iconic places to play in world rugby.
‘To be privileged enough to start off a competition, on an unprecedented Thursday night is always going to be special, so it’s exciting for us.’
Strictly speaking, the competition has started on a Thursday night once before when the championship was called the Five Nations.
The game, held on January 1, 1948, again saw France and Ireland go head-to-head in Paris and ended in a 13-6 victory to the visitors.
Farrell will be hoping that history is able to repeat itself at the Stade de France tonight, given the 1948 Ireland team went on to win a Grand Slam that year after defeating Les Bleus on a Thursday.
