WITH THE WOMEN’S Six Nations finally upon us, we felt it would be a good time to explain how this year’s tournament will look after all the confusion and disruption of the last few months.

Ireland begin their campaign away in Wales next weekend, and here’s all you need to know ahead of the tournament. 

Remind me, what happened last year?

While the coronavirus pandemic wreaked havoc on the sporting world, women’s rugby got it particularly bad as most of the focus went towards getting the senior men’s game back up and running. The 2020 Women’s Six Nations wasn’t fully completed – only England managed to play all five of their fixtures – with Ireland playing four, winning against both Scotland and Wales at home, followed by defeat away to England before the tournament was postponed.

Ireland’s most recent competitive game was the rearranged Six Nations game against Italy, a 21-7 win in Donnybrook, with their game against France ultimately cancelled.

Any hopes of a return to normality with the 2021 Six Nations quickly faded when the tournament was postponed mid-January, leading to some concerns it wouldn’t be played at all. Eventually, a new, shorted format was unveiled, with the Women’s Six Nations handed its own standalone window for the first time, and we received further clarity when the fixtures were confirmed just 11 days out from the start of the tournament. So here we are. 

OK, so why has the format changed and what does it look like?

To get the tournament played off quickly, basically. The teams have been split into two pools, with each pool containing three teams. Each team will play two pool games, one home and one away, and also receive one rest weekend. This will lead to a final round play-off weekend, where each team will play their team of equal rank from the other pool – ie, first versus first, second versus second and third versus third – to determine the final standings.

The first games will take place this weekend on 3 April, with the tournament running until 24 April.

So what does that mean for Ireland?

Ireland have been placed in Pool B alongside France and Wales. The way the fixtures have fallen, Adam Griggs’ team have been allocated their rest week for the opening round, so will sit out this weekend’s action ahead of a trip to play Wales next Saturday, 10 April. They then host France in Donnybrook on 17 April.

Will the tournament stick to this format in future years?

Six Nations chief executive Ben Morel has stressed that while the standalone window may continue beyond this year, “The DNA of the Six Nations is a round robin where each team plays against each other with a Grand Slam at the end.” 

So no, the plan is to revert back to the traditional Six Nations format from 2022 on, pandemic permitting.

Where can I follow it all?

All Ireland’s games will be shown live on RTÉ, with every tournament game available live via either RTÉ or the RTÉ player, and there will of course be plenty of coverage throughout the tournament here on The42, where we’ll have a mix of features and interviews as well as our usual match previews and reports.