The 2026 Six Nations will have an usual start time this year, with the epic opening game between France and Ireland having been moved to Thursday night.
This is primarily to avoid a television clash with the opening ceremony of the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, which takes place on Friday.
Funnily enough, the last time a Five or Six Nations match was played on a Thursday dates back to the opening fixture of the 1948 Championship. And on that occasion, Ireland won away in France…
As it is, France head into this year’s Six Nations as the frontrunner to defend their title, especially with the return of star captain Antoine Dupont.
Les Bleus are currently the bookmakers’ top pick, although England is viewed as a serious challenger following an impressive 11-match unbeaten run.
Ireland remains in the conversation but faces a tougher road this year due to key absences and a challenging opening fixture away in Paris.
Here are the kick off times for the opening round of the Six Nations
- France v Ireland
- Thursday, 5 February
- 22:10 SAST
- Italy v Scotland
- Saturday, 7 February
- 16:10 SAST
- England v Wales
- Saturday, 7 February
- 18:40 SAST
Exciting opening game
Looking ahead to the first battle of the championship, France assistant coach Laurent Sempéré said it was going a great test for his team.
“It requires a fair amount of adaptation in our habits when preparing for the first match,” admits Laurent Sempéré, the France coach in charge of the lineout and specific skills. “Two fewer days out of a ten-day camp – excluding rest days – amounts to roughly 25% less training time to prepare. So it’s a challenge.
“We’re starting with a major clash, so it required a great deal of seriousness from us. But despite all that, we still wanted to keep time to make decisions, assess the state of the squad, put our game plan in place, and also select players according to what we wanted to achieve.”
