The Women's Six Nations Championship, known as the Guinness Women's Six Nations for sponsorship purposes, is an international rugby union competition featuring six European women's national teams. It started in the 1995–96 season as the Home Nations, with four teams: England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
In the 1998–99 season, it became the Five Nations, with France joining the original four. The following season, Spain replaced Ireland for two seasons.
In 2001–02, the women's Six Nations competition was born with England, France, Ireland, Scotland, Spain and Wales playing, after Ireland re-joined the competition. Spain, at that time, were higher ranked than Italy, and therefore were awarded their place in the competition on merit.
In 2006, a championship trophy was commissioned from silversmith Thomas Lyte, to be followed by a second trophy commissioned for the Under 20 Six Nations championship. Designed and created by Thomas Lyte, the trophies are made from sterling silver and feature engraving detail with the logos of the competing countries.Rugby Trophies - Rugby Football History
In 2007, the Six Nations committee formally adopted Italy as the sixth national team member in the championship, replacing Spain. This aligned the women's competition with the men's competition.
A new trophy was unveiled in 2023, designed and made by British silverware manufacturers Thomas Lyte. The trophy stands 25 inches in height and features six arms reaching upwards representing the nations taking part in the competition.
England have been the dominant team in the competition, winning 22 of the 30 editions, as of 2026.
Results Overall
Home Nations (1996–1998) YearChampionsGrand SlamTriple CrownWooden Spoon199619971998
Five Nations (1999–2001) YearChampionsGrand SlamTriple CrownWooden Spoon199920002001
Six Nations (2002–present) YearChampionsGrand SlamTriple CrownWooden Spoon20022003200420052006200720082009—201020112012201320142015—2016—2017201820192020Not completed2021Not contested20222023202420252026
Final positions Summary Home Nations Five Nations Six Nations 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 England 1st 1st 2nd 1st 1st 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 2nd 1st 1st 1st 1st 1st 1st 1st 3rd 2nd 4th 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 1st 1st 1st 1st 1st 1st 1st France — — — 2nd 2nd 2nd 1st 3rd 1st 1st 3rd 2nd 3rd 4th 2nd 2nd 2nd 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 3rd 1st 3rd 2nd 2nd 2nd 2nd 2nd 2nd 2nd Ireland 3rd 4th 4th 5th — — 6th 5th 5th 5th 5th 4th 4th 3rd 3rd 3rd 3rd 1st 3rd 1st 3rd 2nd 3rd 5th 3rd 3rd 4th 6th 3rd 3rd 3rd Italy — — — — — — — — — — — 6th 5th 6th 5th 5th 5th 5th 4th 3rd 5th 6th 4th 2nd 4th 4th 5th 5th 5th 4th 4th Scotland 2nd 2nd 1st 3rd 4th 4th 3rd 2nd 4th 3rd 4th 5th 6th 5th 4th 6th 6th 6th 6th 6th 6th 4th 5th 6th 5th 5th 6th 4th 4th 5th 5th Spain — — — — 3rd 3rd 4th 6th 3rd 4th 6th — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — Wales 4th 3rd 3rd 4th 5th 5th 5th 4th 6th 6th 2nd 3rd 2nd 2nd 6th 4th 4th 4th 5th 5th 4th 5th 6th 4th 6th 6th 3rd 3rd 6th 6th 6th
Tables Home Nations (1996–1998) Position Nation Tournaments Matches Points Table points Awards Played Won Drawn Lost For Against 13980125572+18316222023960312166+55121110339306125184–596000143910856235–17920002
Five Nations (1999–2001) Position Nation Tournaments Matches Points Table points Awards Played Won Drawn Lost For Against 1312120049168+4232433302312804240141+991600N/A03312507172246–7410000042840474135–61800N/A05312101177341–264200026140045128–12300001
Six Nations without bonus point scoring (2002–2016) Position Nation Tournaments Matches Points Table points Awards Played Won Drawn Lost For Against 11575640112810335+24751288712021575500251726701+102510054N/A0315753504010551097–4270212241575301448611042–18161001351575151595972065–146831000761050141355791216–6372900N/A375256118156764–6041300N/A2
Six Nations with bonus point scoring (2017–) Position Nation Tournaments Matches Points Tries Bonuspoints Tablepoints Awards 1104342012121408+1713334603812122886802104232191460568+89221776324316911N/A031042190237821012–230120155133092000141042141277491292–5439718112107100N/A15104291325651410–845842178605200046104191315401410–88877222470490002
Total Nation Tournaments Matches Points Bonuspoints Tablepoints Awards 1311341210135406824+45823312754522202602281248513832271343+1884284337765N/A03291255507018732279–406153023821264311334029115562929–1373580177001105311323329713463657–23112701451119620872725811512346–1195111012400N/A3773310122250899-6450002100N/A2
Records Highest team scores Scores of 80 points or more: v (89–0) at Twickenham on 8 March 2011 v (88–10) at Twickenham on 20 April 2024 v (86–3) at Madrid on 11 February 2006 v (84–7) at Murrayfield on 18 April 2026 v (83–11) at Swansea on 10 April 1999 v (81–0) at Cardiff Arms Park on 4 February 2005 v (80–0) at Twickenham on 16 March 2019
Awards Player of the Championship The following table outlines the nominees and winners of the Women's Six Nations Player of the Championship Award, which was first presented at the 2020 tournament. Year Team Nominee Winner 2020 N/A Emily Scarratt 2021 Zoe Aldcroft Poppy Cleall Caroline Boujard Poppy Cleall 2022 Sarah Bern Laure Sansus Madoussou Fall Marlie Packer Laure Sansus 2023 Holly Aitchison Gabrielle Vernier Marlie Packer (2) Sisilia Tuipulotu Gabrielle Vernier 2024 Alyssa D'Incà Ellie Kildunne Ellie Kildunne Romane Ménager Aoife Wafer 2025 Abby Dow Aoife Wafer Manaé Feleu Evie Gallagher Aoife Wafer (2) 2026 Megan Jones Aoife Wafer (2) Pauline Bourdon Sansus Francesca Sgorbini Aoife Wafer (3)
See also Six Nations Women's U21 Series Women's international rugby Rugby Europe Women's Championship – competition for other European nations
Notes
References
External links Official Women's Six Nations site