The Six Nations Championship, known for sponsorship reasons as the RBS 6 Nations, is an annual international rugby union competition involving six European sides: England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales.
The Six Nations is the successor to the Five Nations Championship (1910–31 and 1947–99) which in turn succeeded the Home Nations Championship (1883–1909 and 1932–39). The Home Nations Championship, played between teams from England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales, was the first international rugby union tournament. The winners of the Six Nations Championship are also known as the European Champions.
Wales are the current title holders, winning each of its matches played during the 2012 Championship, to achieve a Triple Crown and Grand Slam.
Read more about Six Nations Championship: Format, Current Venues, Anthems, Five Nations XV, Records, Six Nations Points Scoring Statistics 2000–2012, Expansion, Administration, Television Contracts and Sponsorship
Famous quotes containing the word nations:
“Of all the nations in the world, the United States was built in nobody’s image. It was the land of the unexpected, of unbounded hope, of ideals, of quest for an unknown perfection. It is all the more unfitting that we should offer ourselves in images. And all the more fitting that the images which we make wittingly or unwittingly to sell America to the world should come back to haunt and curse us.”
—Daniel J. Boorstin (b. 1914)