RugbyRebels

Anyone got any idea why they keep doing basically the same fixtures? I can't believe I'm actually at the point of being kind of bored by another Calcutta Cup opener. Regardless of what comes before it that opening round sets the tone for the whole tournament, it just seems weird to keep repeating the format. Any idea how the fixtures are actually decided?

Six Nations fixtures 2023 (all times GMT)
Saturday 4 February

Wales v Ireland (14:15)

England v Scotland (16:45)

Sunday 5 February

Italy v France (15:00)

Saturday 11 February

Ireland v France (14:15)

Scotland v Wales (16:45)

Sunday 12 February

England v Italy (15:00)

Saturday 25 February

Italy v Ireland (14:15)

Wales v England (16:45)

Sunday 26 February

France v Scotland (15:00)

Saturday 11 March

Italy v Wales (14:15)

England v France (16:45)

Sunday 12 March

Scotland v Ireland (15:00)

Saturday 18 March

Scotland v Italy (12:30)

France v Wales (14:45)

Ireland v England (17:00)

Mikey Brown wrote:Anyone got any idea why they keep doing basically the same fixtures? I can't believe I'm actually at the point of being kind of bored by another Calcutta Cup opener. Regardless of what comes before it that opening round sets the tone for the whole tournament, it just seems weird to keep repeating the format. Any idea how the fixtures are actually decided?

Yeah, I noticed that as well - we've got Scotland, Italy, Wales again as the first three fixtures, with only Ireland and France swapping places.

The other fixtures are shuffled around a bit, so I'm assuming it is random draws and this is just one of those odd runs of statistics that happens sometimes in genuinely random events. Like Wales/Australia/Fiji being in the same pools for 2007, 2015, 2019, and 2023 (and Wales/Fiji being in 2011 group with Wales vs Australia happening in the 3rd place playoff).

Puja

They're literally the same except for home/away and rounds 4 and 5 swapping as a whole, and 2022 was already quite similar to 2021.

https://www.six-nations-guide.co.uk/2022/

Even if it were completely random, somehow, you feel like someone should just step in and suggest they do it a bit differently?

Mikey Brown wrote:They're literally the same except for home/away and rounds 4 and 5 swapping as a whole, and 2022 was already quite similar to 2021.

https://www.six-nations-guide.co.uk/2022/

Even if it were completely random, somehow, you feel like someone should just step in and suggest they do it a bit differently?

Huh. Sorry, I had thought it was just the England fixtures that were the same for the first three rounds. That is bizarre and looks intentional then. Weird.

Puja