The 2022 Six Nations Championship (known as the Guinness Six Nations for sponsorship reasons) was the 23rd Six Nations Championship, the annual rugby union competition contested by the national teams of England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland, and Wales, and the 128th edition of the competition (including all its previous incarnations as the Home Nations Championship and Five Nations Championship). Wales entered the tournament as defending champions.
France won the Championship and the Grand Slam – both for the first time since 2010 – clinching the title with a 25–13 win over England at the Stade de France.[2] Runners-up Ireland won the Triple Crown for the sixth time in the Six Nations era.[3]
Italy came into the tournament on the back of 36 successive Six Nations losses since they beat Scotland, in 2015. Trailing 21–15 with less than two minutes remaining in their final game against Wales, Edoardo Padovani scored a try to win the match for Italy, ending a 40-match winless run in the Six Nations.[4]
1Owen Farrell was originally named in the England squad as captain ahead of the Championship, but was later ruled out due to injury. Tom Curry captained the team for the first two matches, and Courtney Lawes was captain for the final three rounds. 2Fabien Galthié tested positive for COVID-19 ahead of the opening round and Raphaël Ibañez took on the role for France's match against Italy.[5] 3Johnny Sexton was ruled out in round 2 and James Ryan captained in his absence. Ryan was not selected in round 3 and Peter O'Mahony was named as captain.
A bonus point is awarded to a team that scores four or more tries, or loses by seven points or fewer. If a team scores four or more tries, 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 would top the table with at least 23 points, as another team could lose one match while winning two bonus points and win the other four matches while winning four bonus points for a maximum of 22 points.
Tiebreakers
If two or more teams are tied on table points, the team with the better points difference (points scored less points conceded) is ranked higher.
If the above tiebreaker fails to separate tied teams, the team that scores the higher number of total tries (including penalty tries) in their matches is ranked higher.
If two or more teams remain tied after applying the above tiebreakers then those teams will be placed at equal rank; if the tournament has concluded and more than one team is placed first then the title will be shared between them.
Fixtures
The tournament's fixtures were announced on 28 April 2021, and included a Friday night game – Wales hosting France in round 4 – for the first time since the opening match of the 2019 Six Nations Championship.[6]
Hamish Watson (Scotland) was originally named to start, but was forced to withdraw the day before the match after testing positive for COVID-19. He was replaced by Nick Haining, whose place on the bench was taken by Andy Christie.
Andy Christie (Scotland) made his international debut.
Manu Tuilagi (England) was originally named to start, but was forced to withdraw due to injury. His place in the starting line-up was taken by Elliot Daly, who was replaced on the bench by Joe Marchant.[13]
Ben Youngs made his 115th appearance for England to surpass Jason Leonard's record as England's most capped international player.
Courtney Lawes (England) and Dan Biggar (Wales) became the sixth club mates (Northampton Saints) in the history of the Championship to captain their countries against each other.
Italy played with 13 players from the 19th minute of the match due to World Rugby Law 3.20, which requires a team that is unable to continue with contested scrums as a result of a player being sent off to lose an additional player. This meant that no replacement was made for Toa Halafihi.[15]
Italy suffered their 100th defeat in the Six Nations Championship.
Referee Nika Amashukeli became the first Georgian and Tier 2 union official to referee in this Six Nations Championship.
Italy won in the Six Nations Championship for the first time since their victory over Scotland in Edinburgh in 2015 (19–22), ending a 36–match losing streak in the Championship.
Italy defeated Wales for the first time since 2007, and achieved their first away victory against Wales.
Italy won against a Tier 1 nation for the first time since their victory over South Africa in 2016 (20–18).
In the United Kingdom, each game was broadcast live on a free-to-air terrestrial TV channel, either the BBC or ITV, as a result of a new deal covering the four years from 2022 to 2025. The BBC broadcast all Scotland and Wales home fixtures, with ITV airing all England, France, Ireland and Italy home fixtures.[21] All of Wales' games were also broadcast on S4C in the Welsh language[22]
^Despite Adams formally being awarded Player of the Match on the 77th minute by the host broadcaster, Adams later presented Ange Capuozzo the medal after the game.[20]
