Women’s Six Nations 2024: next matches, TV details, fixtures and tickets

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.

John Mitchell will have to reshuffle his back row for Wales as Sarah Beckett has banned for three weeks following her red card against Italy. 

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. 

How to watch the 2024 Women’s Six Nations on TV

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 is led by Gabby Logan, Sonja McLaughlan, and Lee McKenzie. 

2024 Women’s Six Nations fixtures

Round one

Sat, March 23: France 38 Ireland 17 (Stade Marie-Marvingt)
Sat, March 23: Wales 18 Scotland 20 (Cardiff Arms Park)
Sun, March 24: Italy 0 England 48 (Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi)

Round two

Sat, March 30: Scotland v France (2.15pm, Hive Stadium) – BBC Scotland
Sat, March 30: England v Wales (4.45pm, Ashton Gate) – BBC Two
Sun, March 31: Ireland v Italy (3pm, RDS Arena) – BBC iPlayer

Round three

Sat, April 13: Scotland v England (2.15pm, Hive Stadium) – BBC One
Sat, 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

Sat, April 20: England v Ireland (2.15pm, Twickenham) – BBC One
Sat, 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

Sat, April 27: Wales v Italy (12.15pm, Principality Stadium) – BBC Wales
Sat, April 27: Ireland v Scotland (2.30pm, Kingspan Stadium) – BBC NI
Sat, April 27: France v England (4.45pm, Stade Chaban-Delmas) – BBC Two

2024 Women’s Six Nations table

How do I get tickets for matches?

Tickets are still widely available. See the websites of each team for details. England tickets, for example, are available to purchase via EnglandRugby.com.

What is the latest news?

England will be without Sarah Beckett for the next three matches of their Women’s Six Nations campaign.

The No 8 has received a three-week ban for the “crocodile roll” on Michela Sillari that saw her sent off against Italy last weekend. Beckett was shown a red card in the 11th minute of England’s 48-0 win for the dangerous ruck clearout and will now miss the matches against Wales, Scotland and Ireland.

While Beckett admitted she had committed an act of foul play – law 9.20(d) reads: A player may lever the jackler out of the contest at the ruck but must not drop their weight onto them or target the lower limbs – she did not believe it warranted a red card.

However, the disciplinary committee upheld the decision and determined a mid-range entry point for the offence. The starting point of a six-week suspension was halved because of the player’s remorse, good character and conduct at the hearing.

England head coach John Mitchell has several options to fill the No 8 shirt with Beckett now ineligible for selection until the final match of the championship against France. 

Alex Matthews played the majority of last season’s Tests in the position. Poppy Cleall, who is available for the Wales match this weekend after serving a ban of her own, is another option, while new cap Maddie Fe’aunati and Zoe Aldcroft can also play at No 8.

Sillari, meanwhile, has been ruled out for the remainder of the Six Nations after suffering a leg fracture against England.

Five things you need to know about the Women’s Six Nations

Why the table matters

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.

Names on shirts

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.

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.”

New innovations

For the first time in a women’s rugby competition, the television match official bunker system is a 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.

Standalone fixtures at main stadia

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.

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.

New faces at the helm

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, featuring John Mitchell and Scott Bemand, the new head coaches of England and Ireland respectively.

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, is in 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 is the Englishman’s first time leading a nation.