The 2022 Six Nations – All You Need to Know
The 2022 Six Nations begins this weekend with Ireland, Wales, Scotland and England all in action on Saturday. It’s one of the oldest tournaments in rugby with its original inception as the Home Nations Championship dating back almost 140 years and it’s a spectacle that always commands attention.
Last time round the tournament was watched entirely from home, as Covid-19 regulations prevented any spectators from attending live matches. That being said, it was one of the most thrilling Six Nations in recent history with a record number of tries scored. It was Wales who ended up victorious, despite missing out on the Grand Slam in a dramatic finale in Paris that saw them throw away a ten-point lead in the final five minutes of the game.
With stadium attendance back on the cards, the atmosphere at each match is certain to be electrifying, as fans will look to make up for missing out last year.
As it stands, Wales, Scotland, Ireland and France will have limited numbers of live attendees, due to Covid restrictions, but there are hopes that these could be eased before the tournament kicks off. However, Italy and England are currently not enforcing restrictions on attendance which nearly resulted in Wales having to play their home matches at Twickenham in what would have been an unbearably cruel twist of fate for the Dragons.
Coupled with the fact that last year’s tournament produced such an immense level of entertainment is the fact that most teams are going into the tournament in good form, after a largely successful set of Autumn internationals for the northern hemisphere sides. Both Ireland and France bested the All Blacks, winning every game in the Autumn series, whilst England beat World Champions South Africa and also remained unbeaten. Additionally, Scotland and Wales both beat Australia and the Italians claimed their first victory under their new head coach.
As a result, confidence is likely to be high across the board and we should be in for one of the most competitive Six Nations yet. England will be hoping to improve on a fairly abysmal showing last time round but are without captain Owen Farrell, who picked up an ankle injury whilst training for his club, ruling him out of the whole series.
Meanwhile, Wales will look to retain the title and become the joint-most successful team since the Five Nations became six in 2000 and Ireland’s Johnny Sexton is just four points away from becoming only the fourth player ever to reach 500 championship points.
In commercial news, Tik Tok has recently become the official title partner of both the men’s and women’s Six Nations, signing a four-year deal that’s set to increase the tournament’s content production and financially benefit all nations involved. The Tik Tok Women’s Six Nations begins at the end of March, following the conclusion of the men’s competition, and represents the first time ever that the women’s version of the tournament will have a title partner.
Whatever happens, we’re sure to be in for quite a show. If you’re interested in securing a hospitality package for any of the games, please get in touch with us here – we’d love to hear from you. We can also arrange any accommodation and travel requirements you may have.