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2018 Six Nations fixtures announced

Greig Laidlaw plans with his troops - pic © Alastair Ross / Novantae Photography
Greig Laidlaw plans with his troops - pic © Alastair Ross / Novantae Photography

Scotland will kick off next year’s tournament away to Wales followed by back to back home fixtures against France and England. Once again Scotland against Italy is scheduled as the “wooden spoon decider” at the end of the tournament following a trip to Dublin, but as with this year it allows for some comfort in the event of still being in contention for the tournament, which I am sure will be Toony’s hope in his first Six Nations in charge.

3/4 February
Wales v Scotland, Saturday 2.15pm
France v Ireland, Saturday 4.45pm
Italy v England, Sunday 3.00pm

10/11 February
Ireland v Italy, Saturday 2.15pm
England v Wales, Saturday 4.45pm
Scotland v France, Sunday 3.00pm

23/24 February
France v Italy, Friday 8.00pm*
Ireland v Wales, Saturday 2.15pm
Scotland v England, Saturday 4.45pm

10/11 March
Ireland v Scotland, Saturday 2.15pm
France v England, Saturday 4.45pm
Wales v Italy, Sunday 3.00pm

17 March
Italy v Scotland, Saturday 12.30pm
England v Ireland, Saturday 2.45pm
Wales v France, Saturday 5.00pm

*Venue for this match will be announced at a later stage

The 2019 Six Nations fixtures have also been announced, with more evenly-spaced away trips starting with what seems like a rare opener to Italy, then Ireland, France, Wales and a Calcutta Cup to finish.

1/2 February
France v Wales, Friday 8.00pm
Scotland v Italy, Saturday 2.15pm
Ireland v England, Saturday 4.45pm

9/10 February
Scotland v Ireland, Saturday 2.15pm
Italy v Wales, Saturday 4.45pm
England v France, Sunday 3.00pm

23/24 February
France v Scotland, Saturday 2.15pm
Wales v England, Saturday 4.45pm
Italy v Ireland, Sunday 3.00pm

9/10 March
Scotland v Wales, Saturday 2.15pm
England v Italy, Saturday 4.45pm
Ireland v France, Sunday 3.00pm

16 March
Italy v France, Saturday 12.30pm
Wales v Ireland, Saturday 2.45pm
England v Scotland, Saturday 5.00pm

16 Responses

  1. 2018 looks broadly OK….

    For 2019 I see the fixture-makers have protected their self-predicted grand slam nicely by getting the ‘difficult’ games out of the way, then giving themselves Italy to recover before they play us.

    Who actually decides this anyway?

    1. I seem to remember reading somewhere that it was computer software that spat out the fixtures to make it more “fair”. Maybe I’m wrong, and Italy, again, last day of the tournament suggests I am!!

      1. hahahaha….the computer may be unbiased but how about the person who wrote the software? Besides just a “random” draw, which its obviously not, its pretty hard to conceive of a fair approach…

        Given the 6N is a business, with a bottom line, it’s probably something that takes into account TV figures etc, i.e. maximising profit. And there’s not much more profitable than an England slam (or near slam) in a world cup year.

      2. I don’t understand the old “England and France away” pairing that happens every year. I understand they need to do it in 2 year blocks for fairness but why couldn’t we have that bit swapped about a bit? Eg Have Ireland and England away one year/home the next, for example.

      3. I’ve often felt the same, Rory. Given that teams can’t play home and away each year like the Rugby Championship, the current set-up has defined the likelihood of success for decades. Paris and Twickenham away is brutal, and not just for Scots.

        I know it’s speculative, but imagine how last season could have gone if we had had the following schedule:
        Scotland v England
        Italy v Scotland
        Scotland v Wales
        France v Scotland
        Scotland v Ireland

        or

        Scotland v England
        Italy v Scotland
        Scotland v France
        Wales v Scotland
        Scotland v Ireland

        No guarantee of any success, of course. We could lose every match, potentially, but equally I’d argue the chance of building momentum and potentially achieving a Grand Slam are significantly higher.

        Apart from that, just the different ‘feel’ or dynamics of each season would be a refreshing change.

        Presumably, it will never happen because no side will want to play at Twickenham or Paris two years running, which I think would be inevitable (correct me if I’m wrong…).

      4. France have been much worse than Ireland and Wales for a number of years so not really sure this is such an issue. Twickenham has been much less of a fortress to Ireland since the 6N began. Wales have had less of an issue winning in Paris than us. It is swings and roundabouts. We just need to be better and competitive wherever we play.

  2. We have italy in the last round of fixtures again… whyyyy , england get a nice easy start against italy , we go off to wales which is probaly the 2nd best away game i guess.

    1. I think you can spin any run either way. 2018 looks fine to me, we play the best two teams after a rest period whih helps manage injuries, we have one of the harder games up first but Wales are often criticised for being slow starters in the 6N, and when we are limping towards the last week we have our easiest game against a side with the least squad depth.

      We should target Italy, Wales and France for wins IMO whih hopefully means we have some momentum heading towards the England clash.

  3. It looks to me like retaining our Grand Slam in 2019 is going to be more difficult than winning it in 2018. The pressure of a final game against England compared to Italy will be a real test for the boys.

    8-)

    1. Possibly David, but we’ll still have the advantage of being written off in the press despite having won the grand slam!

      It’ll set us up nicely for our world cup win in Japan later in the year :-)

  4. Scotland-Italy last again???? Irrespective of your views on the fixture order, there is a complete disregard for what has gone before.
    For those that want to know, we have had Italy in the last round 6 times since 2000. SIX TIMES!! We have only had them in round 1 once – in 2000! No disrespect to the Azzurri, but they are generally seen as the weakest of the 6N. And as everyone agrees, momentum is key in the competition. Lose the first game and you are playing catch up at best, damage limitation at worst. So any side would want Italy first. Wales away could be disastrous as a loss there would set the tone (toon?).
    OK rant over – I’ve just looked at the 2019 fixtures and I cannot, for the life of me, see a better order for Scotland. Italy up first, at home. If we cannot beat them at home in a world cup year we’re in trouble, even if we’re slow out of the blocks. Next Ireland at home – in our RWC group so all to play for – expect another home win. Then away to France after the break – if we’re going to beat them in Paris (as we should have this year) this is the time, with two wins under our belt. Then Wales away, when they are rebuilding after Gatlands disastrously dull (albeit victorious) Lions tour and he’s left to go to be CEO of RBS. Finally a Grand Slam showdown at Twickenham, where Jim Telfer rouses our boys with a pre-match speech about concrete and Barbour jackets, and we trounce them by 40 points.
    What a World Cup warm up!!

  5. i See the Bbc headline -Edinburgh sign up wing Van der Merwe, sounds exciting me being so silly as to be thinking DTH , nope its a 21 year old from montpellier who has had 3 senior games. . . could be a good signing but i dont like the way BBC got my hopes up of getting dth. clickbait C’s

  6. 2018 looks particularly winnable, although I imagine fans of each of the home nations are thinking the same thing. Can’t wait.

  7. Does the Italy game in Rome normally sell out? Are tickets easy to get & where from?

    1. My brother has been able in recent years to access, from England, eight or so match tickets direct from the Italian rugby federation website – at reasonable prices too. Not always seated together but mostly together. Hope this helps.

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