The annual Six Nations sees England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, France and Italy play each other, resulting in a total of 15 rugby games per tournament.
Six Nations Rugby are the official organisers for the event and lead the plan for a schedule with the nations’ rugby unions.
Home advantage alternates each season – so a team can play three away and two at home fixtures one year, followed by the reverse the following year.
For example, all of England’s home fixtures this year will be away fixtures next year.
Six Nations Rugby said that the exact placement of each fixture on a day or round can differ because of factors such as stadium availability and high performance considerations. This impacts exactly at what stage in the contest each country will play each other.
High performance takes into account training, turnaround between fixtures, and home or away travel, which all factor into the schedule.
This ensures that every team has rest, recovery and training built into their schedule.
Broadcasters also play a key part in the discussions of fixtures, so that the best time slots are available for fans as part of a broadcaster’s output.
Six Nations Rugby told BBC Sport this is part of the effort to make sure the “broadest possible audience” has access to the fixtures.
Broadcasting slots are therefore selected to best serve fans at the time they want to be following the action.
Thursday and Friday night fixtures will also feature in this year’s championship.
The unusual Thursday start has arisen because of the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics.
A Six Nations Rugby spokesperson said this builds on arrangements from previous years and feedback from players, fans and broadcasters.
They told BBC Sport that evening fixtures appeal to fans as “the experience is incredible for everyone”.
France have hosted a number of evening matches previously, but they are more limited for evening slots as broadcasters are not permitted to cut across evening news bulletins.
This article is the latest from BBC Sport’s Ask Me Anything team.
