Current season or competition: 2025 Six Nations Championship | |
 The Guinness Six Nations logo | |
| Sport | Rugby union |
|---|---|
| Instituted | 1883 (as Home Nations Championship) 1910 (as Five Nations Championship) 2000 (as Six Nations Championship) |
| Number of teams | 6 |
| Country |  England France Ireland Italy Scotland Wales |
| Holders | Ireland (2024) |
| Most titles | England and Wales (39 titles) |
| Website | sixnationsrugby.com |
| Related competitions | Women's Six Nations Championship Six Nations Under 20s Championship |
|---|
The Six Nations Championship (6NC; known as the Guinness Six Nations)[a] is an annual internationalrugby union competition between the teams of England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. It is also the oldest sports tournament ever between Home Nations. The championship holders are Ireland, who won the 2024 tournament.
The tournament is organised by the unions of the six participating nations under the banner of Six Nations Rugby, which is responsible for the promotion and operation of the men's, women's and under-20s tournaments, and the Autumn International Series, as well as the negotiation and management of their centralised commercial rights.
The Six Nations is the successor to the Home Nations Championship (1883–1909 and 1932–39), played between teams from England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales, which was the first international rugby union tournament.[1] With the addition of France, this became the Five Nations Championship (1910–31 and 1947–99), which in turn became the Six Nations Championship with the addition of Italy in 2000.
England and Wales have won the championship the most times, both with 39 titles, but England have won the most outright titles with 29 (28 for Wales). Since the Six Nations era started in 2000, only Italy and Scotland have failed to win the Six Nations title.
The women's tournament started as the Women's Home Nations in the 1996 season. The men's Six Nations Under 20s Championship is the successor to the Under 21s tournament which began in 2004.
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- ^ Godwin (1984), pg 1. Though only matches involving Ireland could properly be considered international, and only after 1922, all other teams being from entirely within the nation state of the United Kingdom. The first ever Home Nations International Championship was played in 1883. No other Northern Hemisphere team played a recognised international match until France faced New Zealand in 1906