Amid plans to shift the start of Six Nations from February to April, the event's organisers are also considering splitting the men's and women's tournaments to give women more exposure.
The schedule of this year's Six Nations attracted widespread criticism for overlaps, with a number of games even pushed into lunchtime kick-offs. A case in point being the decision to stage France v England, which was the title decider, on the opening weekend of the event. Staging women's and men's games on the same days also created issues. The fact that the matches were often held in different cities meant that fans were unable to attend both games.
The schedule clashes between women's and men's matches is particularly problematic in the light of how little exposure women's rugby is receiving. Both this and last year, the Six Nations organisers were unable to attract a title sponsor for the women's championship. In addition, while the men's tournament has over €18 million in prize money, for the women's tournament this number stands at zero.
“We are studying a possible specific window different to the men's as part of an update to the global calendar for the women's international game,” a Six Nations spokesperson said. “This is a working option right now, no decision is made yet.”
The Six Nations Championship dates back to 1883 when it was called the Home Nations Championship and involved matches between England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. The tournament was turned into the Five Nations Championship in 1910 with the addition of France and the Six Nations Championship in 2000 with the addition of Italy. Since then, it has been a favorite with rugby-enthusiasts and punters looking to maximise their winnings through online casino bonuses.
This year marked the nineteenth series of the Women's Six Nations Championship, with matches held in February and March. Unfortunately, seven matches in the tournament had to be postponed due to the outbreak of COVID-19. These included Italy's games with Scotland, Ireland and England, scheduled for 23 February, 8 March and 15 March, as well as Scotland's match with France due to one of the players testing positive for the coronavirus.
