The 2015 Six Nations Championship, known as the 2015 RBS 6 Nations because of the tournament's sponsorship by the Royal Bank of Scotland, was the 16th series of the Six Nations Championship, the annual rugby union tournament. It was contested by England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. Including the competition's previous incarnations as the Home Nations Championship and Five Nations Championship, it was the 121st edition of the tournament.
Ireland retained their title from the previous year, their 13th triumph in the competition.[2] This was the first time that Ireland had retained their title outright since 1949, having shared the 1983 championship with France after winning in 1982.[3] They were the first team to be awarded the redesigned Six Nations trophy introduced for 2015, which featured six sides as opposed to five.[4][5]
* Parisse did not play in Italy's final match at home against Wales after an injury sustained in their round four match against France. Leonardo Ghiraldini took his place as captain.[6]
The 2015 Six Nations Championship commenced with a Friday night fixture, once again held at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, this time between Wales and England.[7][8]
Seán O'Brien was set to return to the Irish line-up after injury, but was replaced by Tommy O'Donnell in the starting XV following injury in the pre-game warm-up.[11]
With this loss, Scotland were whitewashed and finished bottom of the table, receiving the wooden spoon for the fourth time in the Six Nations era, and the first time since 2012.[38]
In the United Kingdom, BBC One televised all the matches live, although for viewers in Scotland the week 4 match between Italy and France was shown on BBC Two Scotland. BBC Two also televised live the buildup of the opening match between Wales and England and after the match, an extra between the two sides on BBC Two but only for viewers in Wales. There was also a special Six Nations special looking ahead to the final week match on BBC Two but only for viewers in Northern Ireland. On the morning of the final week of matches, BBC Two televised classic Five Nations matches including Scotland vs Ireland in 1991 and France vs England in 1992. The final match of the tournament between England and France was watched live on BBC One by 9.63 million people, beating the previous record for that fixture of 9.56 million, set in 2011.[41] This followed audiences of 4.1 million for the match between Italy and Wales and 5.1 million for the match between Scotland and Ireland earlier in the day.[41] The BBC website also received 8.22 million unique browser hits during the day, breaking the previous record of 8.03 million set during the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.[41]S4C simulcasted Wales matches in the Welsh language.[42]
Notes
^ abcReferee Wayne Barnes replaced referee Steve Walsh for the match between Wales and Ireland after Walsh withdrew due to "business commitments". Barnes was due to be a touch judge for the match between Italy and France; he was replaced by referee Nigel Owens. Referee Chris Pollock was due to be a touch judge for the match between Wales and Ireland, but he was replaced by referee Jérôme Garcès.[25]