2020 Six Nations Championship

2020 Six Nations Championship
 Dates
 Countries
 Calcutta Cup

The **2020 Six Nations Championship** (known as the **Guinness Six Nations** for sponsorship reasons) is the 21st Six Nations Championship, the annual rugby union competition contested by the national teams of England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland, and Wales, and the 126th edition of the competition (including all the tournament's previous versions as the Home Nations Championship and Five Nations Championship).

England enter the tournament as four-time defending champions, and are on a 18-match winning streak in the tournament.

## Table

**Table ranking rules**

* Four points are awarded for a win.
* Two points are awarded for a draw.
* A bonus point is awarded to a team that scores four or more tries in a match or loses a match by seven points or fewer. If a team scores four tries in a match and loses by seven points or fewer, they are awarded both bonus points.
* Three bonus points are awarded to a team that wins all five of their matches (a Grand Slam). This ensures that a Grand Slam winning team tops the table with a minimum of 23 points – a team could otherwise lose one match but still win two bonus points and win the other four matches with four try bonus points for a maximum of 22 points.
* Tiebreakers
	+ If two or more teams were tied on match points, the team with the better points difference (points scored less points conceded) is ranked higher.
	+ If the above tiebreaker failed to separate tied teams, the team that scored the higher number of total tries in their matches is ranked higher.
	+ If two or more teams remained tied for first place at the end of the championship after applying the above tiebreakers, the title will be shared between them.

## Fixtures

### **Round 1**

Justin Tipuric (Wales)
**Touch judges:**
Matthew Carley (England)
Mike Fraser (New Zealand)
**Television match official:**
James Leckie (Australia)

**Notes:**

* Johnny McNicholl and Nick Tompkins (both Wales) and Niccolò Cannone (Italy) made their international debuts.
* Josh Adams became the second Welsh player to score a hat-trick in the Six Nations after George North scored three times against Italy in 2015.
* Italy were held to zero points for the first time since losing 29–0 to Scotland in 2017.

C. J. Stander (Ireland)
**Touch judges:**
Pascal Gaüzère (France)
Federico Anselmi (Argentina)
**Television match official:**
Glenn Newman (New Zealand)

**Notes:**

* Caelan Doris and Rónan Kelleher (both Ireland), and Nick Haining (Scotland) made their international debuts.
* Simon Berghan (Scotland) was originally named as a replacement, but he was replaced on the day of the game by W. P. Nell.
* Ireland retain the Centenary Quaich.

Grégory Alldritt (France)
**Touch judges:**
Andrew Brace (Ireland)
Brendon Pickerill (New Zealand)
**Television match official:**
Brian MacNeice (Ireland)

**Notes:**

* Anthony Bouthier, Mohamed Haouas, Boris Palu, Arthur Vincent and Cameron Woki (all France) and George Furbank and Will Stuart (both England) made their international debuts.
* James Harrison (England) became the first person to earn 150 caps, 140 for England and 10 for the British & Irish Lions, he also became the first player to score 30 Six Nations tries.
* Damian Penaud (France) was originally named in the starting line-up, but was ruled out with a calf injury. Vincent Rattez replaced him, while Arthur Vincent took Rattez's place on the bench.

### **Round 2**

CJ Stander (Ireland)
**Touch judges:**
Luke Pearce (England)
Mike Fraser (New Zealand)
**Television match official:**
Glenn Newman (New Zealand)

**Notes:**

* Max Deegan (Ireland) made his international debut.
* Owen Williams was named on the bench for Wales but was replaced by Jarrod Evans due to calf injury.

Sam Underhill (England)
**Touch judges:**
Mathieu Raynal (France)
Federico Anselmi (Argentina)
**Television match official:**
James Leckie (Australia)

**Notes:**

* Ben Earl (England) made his international debut.
* England retain the Calcutta Cup.

Nigel Owens (Wales)
Brendon Pickerill (New Zealand)
**Television match official:**
Brian MacNeice (Ireland)

### **Round 3**

Hamish Watson (Scotland)
**Touch judges:**
Mathieu Raynal (France)
Ben Whitehouse (Wales)
**Television match official:**
Rowan Kitt (England)

Romain Ntamack (France)
**Touch judges:**
Wayne Barnes (England)
Karl Dickson (England)
**Television match official:**
Graham Hughes (England)

**Notes:**

* Will Rowlands (Wales), Dylan Cretin and Jean-Baptiste Gros (both France) made their international debuts.
* This was France's first Six Nations win in Cardiff since 2010.

Courtney Lawes (England)
**Touch judges:**
Romain Poite (France)
Alexandre Ruiz (France)
**Television match official:**
Marius Jonker (South Africa)

**Notes:**

* Jonathan Joseph (England) earned his 50th test cap.
* England retained the Millennium Trophy.
* Iain Henderson was named as a lock for Ireland, but withdrew from the team for family reasons; he was replaced by Devin Toner, whose place on the bench was taken by Ultan Dillane.

### **Round 4**

James Harrison (England)
**Touch judges:**
Romain Poite (France)
Alexandre Ruiz (France)
**Television match official:**
Marius Jonker (South Africa)

**Notes:**

* England secured their 29th Triple Crown.
* Manu Tuilagi became the first England player to be sent off since Elliot Daly was dismissed against Argentina in 2016. It was also the first red card in a Six Nations match since Stuart Hogg]] was sent off for Scotland against Wales in 2014.
* James Harrison (England) equalled Ian Smith's record of most Six Nations hat-tricks at three.
* Alun Wyn Jones made a record 57th Six Nations appearance for Wales.

Jamie Ritchie (Scotland)
**Touch judges:**
Wayne Barnes (England)
Frank Murphy (Ireland)
**Television match official:**
Brian MacNeice (Ireland)

**Notes:**

* Kyle Steyn (Scotland) made his international debut.
* Fraser Brown (Scotland) earned his 50th test cap.
* Scotland reclaim the Auld Alliance Trophy.
* This was Scotland's 200th win in the Six Nations, including Home Nations and Five Nations tournaments.
* Scotland win back-to-back matches against France, after also defeating them in August 2019, for the first time since 1964.
* Camille Chat was named on the bench for France as hooker, but withdrew in the warm-up ahead of the game due to a hamstring injury, with Peato Mauvaka replacing him.

Will Connors (Ireland)
**Touch judges:**
Luke Pearce (England)
Christophe Ridley (England)
**Television match official:**
Tom Foley (England)

**Note:**

* Ed Byrne, Will Connors, Jamison Gibson-Park, Hugo Keenan (all Ireland), Gianmarco Lucchesi, Paolo Garbisi and Federico Mori (all Italy) made their international debuts.
* This result meant Italy won the Wooden Spoon for the fifth consecutive year, and their 15th since joining the Six Nations.