The Women’s Six Nations will be available to fans in full for the first time since its inception, thanks to new ground-breaking broadcast support across all of the countries taking part. In the UK, BBC and S4C will be showing all games, with one match per weekend on network channels. In Ireland, RTE and Virgin Media will be sharing coverage, while all of France’s games will be shown on France TV. Italian rugby fans will be able to follow all games on Sky Italia. Rugby enthusiasts will have more access to this season’s Championship than ever before, with 136 countries showing the competition in total. This coverage will be complemented by the entertainment platform, TikTok, who have become the first-ever title sponsor of the women’s tournament. The partnership is in line with the strategy of Six Nations Rugby, which aims to reach new audiences and encourage the development of the game. To further enhance the ability for fans to engage this year, the Championship will be held in its own stand-alone window, separate from the male equivalent competition. Speaking on the historic new deal, Six Nations CEO Ben Morel said: “This is a watershed moment for the Women’s Championship. Fans around the world have never had so many ways to follow the excitement and drama of the TikTok Women’s Six Nations. In a huge year for Women’s rugby, to offer fans a wealth of opportunities to see the stars of the Women’s game, is a moment everyone involved can celebrate.”“To support the development and growth of the Women’s game, and offer fans such unprecedented coverage of the TikTok Women’s Six Nations would not be possible without the unwavering support from all six unions, federations and our broadcast partners.“Each of our broadcasters have been instrumental in bringing to life the offering for fans, and I would like to thank everyone involved for their passion and support.”

This year’s tournament will also return to its traditional round-robin group format. All Six Nations will play each other once, with the winner determined by a league table based on points accumulated. 

Last year, the six teams were split into two pools of three, where the winning team from each pool then faced off in a final. However, as not all teams played each other, there was no opportunity to compete for the Grand Slam or the Triple Crown. 

In the end, it was England who prevailed, after beating France 10-6 in the final. Poppy Cleall scored the decisive try, while Emily Scarratt kicked five points. 

England will begin their title defence with a trip to Scotland at the DAM Health Stadium in Edinburgh on March 26th. 

They face France away in the final round of the competition on April 30th, in what could prove to be another Championship decider.