Women’s Six Nations 2023: Fixtures, schedule and how to watch on TV

England secured another Six Nations Grand Slam with a dramatic victory over France in 2022, and will be hoping to recover from World Cup heartbreak in this year’s renewal. 

The Red Roses will be going for a fifth title in a row when the Championship returns, although their rivals will be determined to knock them off course.

When does the Women’s Six Nations 2023 start? 

The opening weekend of the 2023 Women’s Six Nations is on Saturday 25 March with Wales v Ireland and England v Scotland before Italy v France on Sunday 26 March. There tournament concludes on Saturday 29 April, with England hosting France in their final game.

Women’s Six Nations 2023 team-by-team guide

This year’s Women’s Six Nations is one of transition for all the countries involved, with changes in both playing and coaching teams following last year’s Rugby World Cup. 

This is also the first championship when every team has professional contracts – of various forms – in place while WXV qualification is an additional motivating factor, with teams aiming to finish in the top half of the table to make it into the elite tier of the new global competition launching this year.

Here is the lowdown on all six countries involved…

England

2022: Champions

Coaching dept: Simon Middleton takes charge of his ninth and final Six Nations, with assistant Scott Bemand also stepping down at the end of the championship.

Captain: Sarah Hunter and Marlie Packer are co-captains, but the former is retiring after England’s opening match against Scotland.

Hot topic: Are England being lackadaisical in their approach to this championship and beyond? Yes, there is the romance of Hunter finishing where it all started in Newcastle this weekend and Middleton can justify going out on his own terms given his service to the women’s game, but there are big question marks over whether this could stymie their development in a condensed World Cup cycle.  

Key player: A calf injury may have ruled Natasha Hunt out of the first match but when the scrum-half – back in the Red Roses squad after her shock World Cup omission – has recovered she will be pivotal to the team expanding their attack beyond their famed maul.

Prediction: First

France

2022: Second

Coaching dept: Gaëlle Mignot, the former France captain and hooker, teams up with David Ortiz in a new-look back-room team.

Captain: Audrey Forlani, the 31-year-old lock who was not selected for the World Cup, takes over from Gaëlle Hermet.

Hot topic: Much like England, France have a long list of absentees. Laure Sansus, Céline Ferer, Marjorie Mayans and Safi N’Diaye retired after the World Cup, key forwards Madoussou Fall and Romane Menager are injured and key backs Caroline Drouin and  Joanna Grisez are focusing on sevens. This championship will be a true test of their depth.

Key player: Gabrielle Vernier excelled at last year’s World Cup, both as part of the ‘blue wall’ in defence and when finding holes in the opposition midfield. She is just 5ft 5in but is deceptively strong and is growing ever more important to this France team.

Prediction: Second

Ireland

2022: Fourth

Coaching dept: Greg McWilliams has added former Fiji men’s coach John McKee to his set-up alongside ex-Ireland internationals Niamh Briggs and Denis Fogarty.

Captain: Nichola Fryday leads the side, but she is not one of the players contracted by the Irish Rugby Football Union as she continues to play in England for Exeter Chiefs. 

Hot topic: There was much fanfare to the IRFU introducing professional deals for women’s 15s players for the first time but the salaries, combined with the fact that players had to be based in Dublin, means that a lot of their biggest names turned down offers. Plus, some of those on contracts will be focusing on qualifying for the Olympics with the sevens team.

Key player: Sam Monaghan was Ireland’s breakthrough player last year and this season she has helped Gloucester-Hartpury climb to the top of the Premier 15s table. On top of the hard graft that is a prerequisite for an international lock, she also has soft hands when breaking the gain-line and can deliver pinpoint offloads. 

Prediction: Sixth

Italy

2022: Fifth

Coaching dept: Andrea Di Giandomenico stepped down after the World Cup having been in charge for more than a decade, with former Italy centre Giovanni Raineri coming in.

Captain: Elisa Giordano continues in the role she took on last autumn, although she has less leadership experience around her with Manuela Furlan and Melissa Bettoni retiring. 

Hot topic: The Azzurre became the first Italy team to reach the quarter-finals of a Rugby World Cup (men’s or women’s) last year and the question now is whether they can build on those foundations. Consistency should be their buzzword – and expect them to challenge France in round one.

Key player: Italy, much like their current men’s team, are known for their all-out attack and at the heart of that is inside-centre Beatrice Rigoni. The 27-year-old is now one of the more senior players in the team and relishes testing opponents with the trifecta of her kick-pass-run game.

Prediction: Third

Scotland

2022: Sixth

Coaching dept: Bryan Easson remains at the helm but he has brought in new assistants in Martin Haag (forwards) and Chris Laidlaw (attack).

Captain: Rachel Malcolm first captained Scotland back in 2018 but this year she does so as a professional player for the first time, as one of 28 players contracted by the union. 

Hot topic: Can Scotland end their nine-match, year-long losing run? The majority of those defeats have been by single-figure margins and if they are able to turn narrow losses into narrow wins it will have a significant impact on their self-belief. It is not likely to happen in their opener against England but they will surely target their three home matches against Wales, Italy and Ireland.

Key player: No 8 Jade Konkel-Roberts is so often the player to give Scotland front-foot ball but as she recovers from ankle surgery, there will be more responsibility on Christine Belisle to get her team over the gain-line. The tighthead prop also provides solidity at scrum time.

Prediction: Fifth

Wales

2022: Third

Coaching dept: Shaun Connor joins Ioan Cunningham’s coaching ticket as attack and kicking coach to replace Richard Whiffin, who joined the Highlanders post-World Cup. 

Captain: Centre Hannah Jones, who led Wales on occasion during last year’s World Cup, takes on the captaincy full-time following Siwan Lillicrap’s retirement.  

Hot topic: Fly-half selection. Elinor Snowsill wears the No 10 shirt in Wales’ first game against Ireland but Lleucu George, who is on the bench, is the coming force in the playmaker role. The 23-year-old has been in superb form and must surely get a chance to start during this championship as she could be the long-term fly-half in this team.

Key player: Wales have twice as many players on contracts as they did this time last year and Alex Callender is amongst them. The flanker was the top tackler at the World Cup and, with Alisha Butchers still sidelined with a knee injury, her influence at the breakdown becomes of greater importance. 

Prediction: Fourth

What are the squad lists for the Six Nations?

Women’s Six Nations 2023 fixtures and TV schedule 

Round one

Saturday March 25

Wales v Ireland, 2.15pm, at Cardiff Arms Park (Cardiff), BBC iPlayer

England v Scotland, 4.45pm, at Kingston Park (Newcastle), BBC Two

Saturday March 26

Italy v France, 3pm, at Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi (Parma), BBC iPlayer

Round two

Saturday April 1

Ireland v France, 3.15pm, at Musgrave Park (Cork), BBC iPlayer

Scotland v Wales, 5.30pm, at Edinburgh Rugby Stadium (Edinburgh), BBC Two

Sunday April 2

England v Italy, 3pm, at Franklin’s Gardens (Northampton), BBC Two

Round three

Saturday April 15

Wales v England, 2.15pm, at Cardiff Arms Park (Cardiff), BBC Two

Italy v Ireland, 4.45pm, at Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi (Parma), BBC iPlayer

Sunday April 16

France v Scotland, 3.15pm, at Stade de la Rabine (Vannes), BBC iPlayer

Round four

Saturday April 22

Ireland v England, 2.15pm, at Musgrave Park (Cork), BBC Two

Scotland v Italy, 4.45pm, at Edinburgh Rugby Stadium (Edinburgh), BBC iPlayer

Sunday April 23

France v Wales, 3.15pm, at Stade des Alpes (Grenoble), BBC iPlayer

Round five

Saturday April 29

England v France, 1pm, at Twickenham Stadium (London), BBC Two

Italy v Wales, 3.30pm, at Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi (Parma), S4C 

Scotland v Ireland, 7.30pm, at Edinburgh Rugby Stadium (Edinburgh), BBC iPlayer

How to watch the Women’s Six Nations live

Every game of the Six Nations will be available to watch on BBC iPlayer and the broadcaster’s regional channels, with some matches also broadcast live on BBC Two. 

The Women’s Six Nations broke new ground in 2021 when the finale was broadcast as a standalone event on BBC Two, increasing exposure of the competition. 

Latest odds to win 

No major bookmakers are yet offering odds on the Championship.