Scotland's Six Nations 2026 fixtures announced with significant change to tournament format added

Scotland now know what lies ahead for them in the 2026 Six Nations as the tournament organisers confirmed one major change.

Gregor Townsend’s side will kick off their competition with a trip to Rome as they face Italy on Saturday, February 7 before hosting England at Murrayfield seven days later. A visit to Wales and a home clash with France follow before the tournament wraps up with the return of ‘Super Saturday’ as Scotland’s trip to Ireland and France’s home clash with England sandwich Italy’s visit to Wales.

However, the major change in the 2026 Six Nations comes elsewhere as the first ever Thursday night fixture takes place when holders France face Ireland on Thursday, February 5. The official reason given for the earlier-than-expected start is to avoid clashing with the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics, which takes place in Milan just 24 hours later. That means the first Friday of next year’s Six Nations has been left free with Scotland’s trip to Italy and England’s home game with Wales taking place on the first Saturday of February.

Another change to next year’s competition sees one of the two ‘rest’ weekends cut from the schedule with the first three rounds taking place on consecutive weeks before a solitary free weekend is followed by the final two rounds.

What has been said about the 2026 Six Nations schedule change?

A statement released on the official Six Nations website read: “The full fixture list for the 2026 Guinness Men’s Six Nations has been confirmed, with the Championship set to kick off on Thursday 5th February as France host Ireland in a blockbuster opening clash.

“It will be the first time a Championship match has been played on a Thursday since 1948, when it was the Five Nations and Ireland claimed a rare win on French soil on New Year's Day. France will have three home fixtures in 2026, hosting Italy in Round Three and England in Round Five, with ‘Le Crunch’ serving as the final fixture of Super Saturday, on March 14th. Rugby fans in France can look forward to being part of the opening and closing acts of what is set to be another unmissable edition of rugby’s most loved annual occasion.”

What are the fixtures for the 2026 Six Nations?

Blair Kinghorn points the way to the tryline as Huw Jones scores for Scotland against Italy in this year's Six Nations. The centre bagged a hat-trick in the game. | SNS Group / SRU

Round One: France v Ireland (Thursday 5 February - 8.10pm) Italy v Scotland (Saturday 7 February - 2.10pm) England v Wales (Saturday 7 February - 4.40pm)

Round Two: Ireland v Italy (Saturday 14 February - 2.10pm) Scotland v England (Saturday 14 February - 4.40pm) Wales v France (Sunday 15 February - 3.10pm)

Round Three: England v Ireland (Saturday 21 February - 2.10pm) Wales v Scotland (Saturday 21 February - 4.40pm) France v Italy (Sunday 22 February - 3.10pm)

Round Four: Ireland v Wales (Friday 6 March - 8.10pm) Scotland v France (Saturday 7 March - 2.10pm) Italy v England (Saturday 7 March - 4.40pm)

Round Five: Ireland v Scotland (Saturday 14 March - 2.10pm) Wales v Italy (Saturday 14 March - 4.40pm) France v England (Saturday 14 March - 8.10pm)

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