2018 Six Nations Championship Italy taking place at the Stade Vélodrome, Marseille. Notes: Notes: Notes: Notes: Notes: Notes: Notes: Notes: Notes: Notes: Notes: Notes: Notes: Notes: Notes: 2018 Six Nations Championship The 2018 Six Nations Championship was the 19th series of the Six Nations Championship, the annual northern hemisphere rugby union championship. The tournament continued to be sponsored by the Royal Bank of Scotland Group, via its subsidiary NatWest, so was branded the NatWest 6 Nations. The championship was contested by France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland, Wales and defending champions England. Including the competition's previous iterations as the Home Nations Championship and Five Nations Championship,
The Rugby Championship than Italy and Ireland among the Six Nations teams. Australia and New Zealand first played each other in 1903. South Africa toured both nations in 1921 but there was never any formal competition between these teams, unlike the Home Nations (now known as the Six Nations Championship) in the Northern Hemisphere and the three nations only met sporadically. In the 1930s, Australia and New Zealand started contesting the Bledisloe Cup during rugby tours between the two countries. The final acceptance of professionalism in rugby union launched the Tri Nations concept - nearing the completion of the 1995 Rugby World Cup,