England will begin their Six Nations campaign on a Friday for the first time in 12 years in 2027 after they were handed an opening night trip to Dublin to face Ireland by tournament organisers.
Ireland will also host the final match of next year’s Super Saturday with organisers pitching Andy Farrell’s side against France in the 8.10pm kick-off. Ireland and France have won the last four editions of the Six Nations between them and both are in the hunt, along with Scotland, for the title this year with one round remaining.
In 2015, England overcame Wales in Cardiff in a fraught Friday-night encounter that is memorable for a tunnel stand-off before kick-off when the captain Chris Robshaw refused to lead his team out on to the field until Wales were ready to avoid being left standing around. Stuart Lancaster’s side went on to prevail 21-15 thanks to tries from Anthony Watson and Jonathan Joseph.
After locking horns with Ireland in Dublin on 5 February, England will then host France on Sunday 14 February with Italy – who beat Steve Borthwick’s side 23-18 in Rome last weekend – due at Twickenham the following weekend. After the competition’s only rest week, England travel to Wales on Saturday 6 March before finishing their campaign a week later at home to Scotland. The last time England were at home on the final weekend was in 2019, also against Scotland, in which the sides played out a thrilling 38-38 draw.
Gregor Townsend’s side, meanwhile, begin their campaign against Italy, as was the case this year, but will host the Azzurri at Murrayfield with Wales travelling to Paris to play France. On the final weekend, Italy host Wales in the first game of Super Saturday on 13 March before the Calcutta Cup, with Ireland v France bringing the curtain down on the competition.
