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Ben Morel, the Six Nations chief executive, has categorically ruled out any chance of the Springboks joining the championship despite interest from the South African Rugby Union.
Now that South African club franchises play in Europe, speculation has persisted that the national team is also interested in joining the Six Nations to increase its share of broadcast revenue and amid concerns about Italy’s competitiveness.
However, Morel insisted that there were no discussions of any change to the championship format, also ruling out any move to consider the introduction of promotion and relegation.
“There is no talk of Six Nations expansion at the moment, the whole focus is on finding the right solution and improvements to the July and November windows and finding a more competitive narrative for those matches,” Morel said. sport telegraph.
“All of our Six Nations energy is focused on that. So there is no conversation about anything else. There has never been. Obviously there’s been some interest, but we’re not participating in any of those conversations.”
When does the 2023 Six Nations start?
The 2023 Six Nations kicks off on Saturday 4 February, when Wales take on Ireland in Cardiff and England play Scotland at Twickenham. The tournament concludes on ‘Super Saturday’, March 18, when all three matches begin on the same day, one after the other.
TV schedule and matches of the Six Nations 2023
round one
Saturday February 4
Wales vs Ireland, 14:15, at the Principality Stadium (Cardiff), BBC
England vs Scotland, 4:45 p.m., in Twickenham (London), ITV
sunday february 5
Italy vs France, 3:00 p.m., Stadio Olimpico (Rome), ITV
second round
Saturday February 11
Ireland vs France, 2:15 p.m., at the Aviva Stadium (Dublin), ITV
Scotland v Wales, 16:45, at BT Murrayfield (Edinburgh), BBC
sunday february 12
England vs Italy, 3:00 p.m., in Twickenham (London), ITV
round three
Saturday February 25
Italy vs Ireland, 2:15 p.m., at the Stadio Olimpico (Rome), ITV
Wales vs England, 4:45 p.m., at the Principality Stadium (Cardiff), BBC
sunday february 26
France vs Scotland, 3:00 p.m., at the Stade de France (Paris), ITV
fourth round
Saturday March 11
Italy vs Wales, 2:15 p.m., at the Stadio Olimpico (Rome), ITV
England vs France, 4:45 p.m., in Twickenham (London), ITV and BBC
sunday march 12
Scotland vs Ireland, 3pm, at BT Murrayfield (Edinburgh), BBC
round five
Saturday March 18
Scotland v Italy, 12.30pm, at BT Murrayfield (Edinburgh), BBC
France vs Wales, 2:45 p.m., at the Stade de France (Paris), ITV
Ireland vs England, 5:00 p.m., at Aviva Stadium (Dublin), ITV
How to watch the Six Nations live
All Championship games will be broadcast live on BBC or ITV.
The BBC lost the rights to broadcast France’s home games in the men’s Six Nations in 2022, meaning all matches in Paris will be broadcast on ITV. England matches are shared between the broadcasters, who began sharing rights to the entire competition in 2016.
S4C will broadcast all the Wales games live, and RTE will have live coverage of seven of the 15 games, including all the Ireland games.
Most Recent Best Odds of Winning
- Ireland 6/4
- France 8/15
- England 9/2
- Welsh 1/15
- Scotland 25/1
- Italy 1,000/1
Odds correct as of January 23
