Women’s Six Nations

Dates: Saturday, 22 March – Saturday, 26 April

Coverage: Watch every match live – coverage on BBC television, iPlayer, the BBC Sport website and the BBC Sport app.

The Women’s Six Nations gets under way on Saturday with England looking to make it seven titles in a row ahead of a home Rugby World Cup in August.

The Red Roses won their third successive Six Nations Grand Slam by comfortably beating France in Bordeaux last year.

England therefore are the firm favourites as the trophy hunt begins, but are they in good shape? And what about the other nations who aspire to challenge them?

John Mitchell’s side are on a 20-game winning run and added a second WXV1 title to their collection by beating Canada in October.

Lock Zoe Aldcroft will captain the side after head coach Mitchell opted for a change of leadership from Saracens flanker Marlie Packer, who skippered England for nearly two years.

Given England’s vast and high-quality player pool, Mitchell will want to win his second Six Nations title but could also use the tournament to further widen his options ahead of the World Cup.

World player of the year Ellie Kildunne is the one to watch after bagging nine tries and gaining over 300 metres more than any player in last year’s tournament.

Ireland backed up their third-place finish in the championship last year with a remarkable win over New Zealand at WXV1 in October.

Since Scott Bemand’s appointment as head coach in 2023, Ireland have gone from a side who missed out on the World Cup in 2022 to being ranked sixth in the world after five wins last year.

Their resurgence has coincided with the rise of number eight Aoife Wafer, who scored six tries across nine Tests last year to be named Ireland women’s player of the year.

She turns 22 three days after the team’s opening match of the championship.

Leinster’s Wafer is one of the most explosive ball carriers in women’s rugby and scored twice in the historic victory over New Zealand.

A negative for Ireland is that they will be without co-captain Sam Monaghan, who has been ruled out of the tournament through injury.

Scotland are one place below Ireland in the world rankings and were defeated by Australia in their WXV2 title decider in October.

Bryan Easson has been bold in his squad selection, naming nine uncapped players, with form and “a wider player base to pick from”, external his reasoning for selection.

Evie Willis returns to the squad following the nasty anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury she suffered in August 2023 and will be looking to add to her three caps after featuring regularly at centre this season for Premiership Women’s Rugby side Leicester Tigers.

BBC Scotland’s Andy Burke:

“There is a definite sense this is a Scotland team moving forward and their ambitions have risen accordingly.

“The big guns of England and France will almost certainly occupy the top two spots, therefore Scotland’s goal is to finish third, something they have managed only twice in the history of the Women’s Six Nations, most recently in 2005.

“Scotland have finished fourth in the past two campaigns. They finished bottom of the table in eight of the 12 Six Nations that came before, so there is clear evidence of the team becoming more competitive.

“Wales, Ireland and Italy are all operating at a similar level to Scotland, and given they host all three in Edinburgh this time around, there is an opportunity to enjoy a very positive campaign that can act as a springboard towards the Rugby World Cup.

“The experienced heads of captain Rachel Malcolm, Jade Konkel, Chloe Rollie and Lisa Thomson are all still key figures, but whereas in previous teams they would be required to drag some of the lesser lights along with them, the dawn of professionalism in the women’s game in Scotland has started to bear fruit, and now the new faces in the squad are arriving better prepared for Test rugby.

“Francesca McGhie, 21, has brought pace and finishing power to an exciting back-three that already boasts proven international performers such as Rollie and Rhona Lloyd.

“Back-row Alex Stewart was Scotland’s breakout star in last year’s tournament, the then 19-year-old producing some dominant displays to mark her out as not only a star of the future, but one for here and now.

“There looks to be an excellent blend of youth and experience in this Scotland squad, one that could produce a big year if they can generate some precious momentum in this Six Nations.”

Ioan Cunningham stood down as head coach in November following an underwhelming year of results for Wales.

After finishing the Six Nations with the Wooden Spoon – only managing one narrow win over Italy – Cunningham’s side achieved just a solitary victory against Japan in their WXV2 campaign.

Head coach Sean Lynn, newly recruited from Gloucester-Hartpury, takes charge of the side and will hope for an improved campaign.

Captain Hannah Jones, fresh off the back of a third successive Premiership Women’s Rugby title with Lynn, will be a danger in the midfield with her hard running lines.

With excitement building around the new era, more than 10,000 tickets have already been sold for the visit of England to the Principality Stadium on 29 March, breaking the previous record home attendance for the team.

However, a big loss for Wales is the absence of destructive prop Sisilia Tuipulotu, who will miss the tournament through a hamstring injury.

France, who are fourth in the world rankings, are the last team to beat the Red Roses in the competition back in 2018.

However, their losing run against the champions has extended to 13 games and they will need to show big improvements to mount a title challenge this year.

Under co-head coaches Gaelle Mignot and David Ortiz, Les Bleues struggled at WXV1, losing heavily to Canada and New Zealand.

Wing Marine Menager is likely to be the team’s leading light once again. The 28-year-old scored two tries against the Red Roses last year and made five line breaks across the campaign.

Italy, after only one win in last year’s championship and two wins at WXV2, decided to change head coach and brought in Fabio Roselli to take over from Giovanni Raineri.

Full-back Vittoria Ostuni Minuzzi, despite her diminutive stature, was ranked fourth for metres gained (344.9m) in last year’s Six Nations and can carve up any defence with her nimble footwork.

Openers do not get much harder for Roselli, with his side away to champions England in York on Sunday.