Six Nations 2026: Tournament preview, favourites, predictions, fixture list and squads

• Ladbrokes brings you all you need to know about the Six Nations 2026

• France are the current favourites with England and Ireland nearest challengers

• We predict France to defend their title

The 2026 Six Nations is just around the corner as England, Ireland, France, Scotland, Wales and Italy battle it out to become the top dog in the northern hemisphere.

Ahead of the six-week tournament kicking off on February 5, here is our preview taking you through the favourites, fixtures, confirmed squads and our expert predictions.

France will look to record back-to-back Six Nations triumphs and go into the tournament as odds-on favourites. They kick off the tournament with a blockbuster encounter against 2023 and 2024 champions Ireland in Paris on Thursday, February 5 in a game which could have a huge bearing on where the 2026 title ends up.

Andy Farrell's men are actually third favourites after a mixed year, with England's impressive 2025 catapulting them to France's main challengers, according to the odds. They kick off their campaign against Wales with Italy and Scotland facing off in the other game in Round 1.

They saw off New Zealand during the Autumn Internationals and undoubtedly have a great chance of their first Six Nations victory since 2020, though there is no doubt that France will be the team to beat, especially with talisman Antoine Dupont returning to the fray.

Scotland are fourth favourites and the only other nation given any realistic chance as they continue to try and disrupt the top-three contenders, with Wales and Italy battling to avoid the wooden spoon.

England

Forwards: Ollie Chessum (Leicester Tigers), Arthur Clark (Gloucester Rugby), Alex Coles (Northampton Saints), Luke Cowan-Dickie (Sale Sharks), Chandler Cunningham-South (Harlequins), Tom Curry (Sale Sharks), Theo Dan (Saracens), Trevor Davison (Northampton Saints), Ben Earl (Saracens), Greg Fisilau (Exeter Chiefs), Ellis Genge (Bristol Bears), Jamie George (Saracens), Joe Heyes (Leicester Tigers), Maro Itoje (Saracens), Emmanuel Iyogun (Northampton Saints), Guy Pepper (Bath), Henry Pollock (Northampton Saints), Bevan Rodd (Sale Sharks), Vilikesa Sela (Bath), Sam Underhill (Bath).

Backs: Henry Arundell (Bath), Seb Atkinson (Gloucester Rugby), Elliot Daly (Saracens), Fraser Dingwall (Northampton Saints), Immanuel Feyi-Waboso (Exeter Chiefs), George Ford (Sale Sharks), Tommy Freeman (Northampton Saints), George Furbank (Northampton Saints), Alex Mitchell (Northampton Saints), Cadan Murley (Harlequins), Max Ojomoh (Bath), Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs), Marcus Smith (Harlequins), Ben Spencer (Bath), Freddie Steward (Leicester Tigers), Jack van Poortvliet (Leicester Tigers)

Ireland

Forwards: Tom Ahern (Munster), Finlay Bealham (Connacht), Tadhg Beirne (Munster), Jack Boyle (Leinster), Thomas Clarkson (Leinster), Jack Conan (Leinster), Caelan Doris (Leinster), Edwin Edogbo (Munster), Tadhg Furlong (Leinster), Rónan Kelleher (Leinster), Jeremy Loughman (Munster), Joe McCarthy (Leinster), Michael Milne (Munster), Tom O’Toole (Ulster), Cian Prendergast (Connacht), James Ryan (Leinster), Dan Sheehan (Leinster), Tom Stewart (Ulster), Nick Timoney (Ulster), Josh van der Flier (Leinster).

Backs: Bundee Aki (Connacht), Robert Baloucoune (Ulster), Harry Byrne (Leinster), Craig Casey (Munster), Jack Crowley (Munster), Nathan Doak (Ulster), Tom Farrell (Munster), Ciaran Frawley (Leinster), Jamison Gibson-Park (Leinster), Hugo Keenan (Leinster), James Lowe (Leinster), Stuart McCloskey (Ulster), Tommy O’Brien (Leinster), Jamie Osborne (Leinster), Sam Prendergast (Leinster), Garry Ringrose (Leinster), Jacob Stockdale (Ulster).

France

Forwards: Dorian Aldegheri (Toulouse), Uini Atonio (La Rochelle), Hugo Auradou (Pau), Cyril Baille (Toulouse), Paul Boudehent (La Rochelle), Francois Cros (Toulouse), Alexandre Fischer (Bayonne), Thibaud Flament (Toulouse), Jean-Baptiste Gros (Toulon), Mickael Guillard (Lyon), Oscar Jegou (La Rochelle), Anthony Jelonch (Toulouse), Maxime Lamothe (Bordeaux Begles), Julien Marchand (Toulouse), Temo Matiu (Bordeaux Begles), Peato Mauvaka (Toulouse), Emmanuel Meafou (Toulouse), Regis Montagne (Clermont-Auvergne), Rodrigue Neti (Toulouse), Lenni Nouchi (Montpellier), Charles Ollivon (Toulon), Dany Priso (Toulon), Thomas Staniforth (Castres), Tevita Tatafu (Bayonne), Cameron Woki (Bordeaux Begles).

Backs: Gregoire Arfeuil (Pau), Theo Attissogbe (Pau), Louis Bielle-Biarrey (Bordeaux Begles), Fabien Brau-Boirie (Pau), Romain Buros (Bordeaux Begles), Thibault Daubagna (Pau), Nicolas Depoortere (Bordeaux Begles), Gael Drean (Toulon), Antoine Dupont (Toulouse), Kalvin Gourgues (Toulouse), Aaron Grandidier Nkanang (Pau), Matthieu Jalibert (Bordeaux Begles), Yoram Moefana (Bordeaux Begles), Noah Nene (Stade Francais), Thomas Ramos (Stade Toulousain), Baptiste Serin (RC Toulon), Ugo Seunes (Racing 92).

Wales

Forwards: Keiron Assiratti (Cardiff), Adam Beard (Montpellier), Liam Belcher (Cardiff), James Botham (Cardiff), Rhys Carre (Saracens), Ben Carter (Dragons), Olly Cracknell (Leicester), Harri Deaves (Ospreys), Ryan Elias (Scarlets), Tomas Francis (Provence), Archie Griffin (Bath), Dafydd Jenkins (Exeter), Dewi Lake (Ospreys, capt), Alex Mann (Cardiff), Josh Macleod (Scarlets), Taine Plumtree (Scarlets), Nicky Smith (Leicester), Gareth Thomas (Ospreys), Freddie Thomas (Gloucester), Aaron Wainwright (Dragons).

Backs: Josh Adams (Cardiff), Sam Costelow (Scarlets), Dan Edwards (Ospreys), Jarrod Evans (Harlequins), Mason Grady (Cardiff), Kieran Hardy (Ospreys), Gabriel Hamer-Webb (Leicester), Joe Hawkins (Scarlets), Louie Hennessey (Bath), Eddie James (Scarlets), Ellis Mee (Scarlets), Reuben Morgan-Williams (Ospreys), Blair Murray (Scarlets), Louis Rees-Zammit (Bristol Bears), Tom Rogers (Scarlets), Ben Thomas (Cardiff), Owen Watkin (Ospreys), Tomos Williams (Gloucester)

Scotland

Forwards: Ewan Ashman, Josh Bayliss, Magnus Bradbury, Gregor Brown, Dave Cherry, Scott Cummings, Alex Craig, Rory Darge, Jack Dempsey, Freddy Douglas, Matt Fagerson, Zander Fagerson, Grant Gilchrist, Jonny Gray, Nathan McBeth, Liam McConnell, Elliot Millar Mills, D'arcy Rae, Jamie Ritchie, Pierre Schoeman, Rory Sutherland, George Turner, Max Williamson.

Backs: Fergus Burke, Jamie Dobie, Darcy Graham, Adam Hastings, George Horne, Rory Hutchinson, Huw Jones, Tom Jordan, Blair Kinghorn, Stafford McDowall, Finn Russell, Kyle Rowe, Ollie Smith, Kyle Steyn, Sione Tuipulotu, Duhan van der Merwe, Ben White.

Italy

Forwards: Simone Ferrari (Benetton Rugby), Danilo Fischetti (Northampton Saints), Muhamed Hasa (Zebre Parma), Marco Riccioni (Saracens), Mirco Spagnolo (Benetton Rugby), Tommaso Di Bartolomeo (Zebre Parma), Pablo Dimcheff (Colomiers Rugby), Giacomo Nicotera (Stade Francais), Niccolo Cannone (Benetton Rugby), Riccardo Favretto (Benetton Rugby), Federico Ruzza (Benetton Rugby), Andrea Zambonin (Exeter Chiefs), Lorenzo Cannone (Benetton Rugby), Alessandro Izekor (Benetton Rugby), Michele Lamaro (Benetton Rugby), Samuele Locatelli (Zebre Parma), David Odiase (Zebre Parma), Manuel Zuliani (Benetton Rugby).

Backs: Alessandro Fusco (Zebre Parma), Martin Page-Relo (Lyon), Stephen Varney (Exeter Chiefs), Giacomo Da Re (Zebre Parma), Paolo Garbisi (Toulon), Juan Ignacio Brex (Benetton Rugby), Leonardo Marin (Benetton Rugby), Damiano Mazza (Zebre Parma), Tommaso Menoncello (Benetton Rugby), Paolo Odogwu (Benetton Rugby), Matt Gallagher (Benetton Rugby), Monty Ioane (Lyon), Louis Lynagh (Benetton Rugby), Lorenzo Pani (Zebre Parma), Edoardo Todaro (Northampton Saints).

Our outright winner prediction: France

Both England and Ireland are worthy challengers to France's crown, but we think a second successive title could be on the cards. That said, we don't see them completing the Grand Slam, with another competitive tournament set to unfold.

So much could lie in the first and last weekends of action, with France beginning against Ireland and ending against England. If the Irish win in Paris in Round 1, expect the whole landscape to flip ahead of what could be a really exciting tournament.

Round 1

Thursday, 5 February 2026

• France vs Ireland, Stade de France, Paris

Saturday, 7 February 2026

• Italy vs Scotland, Stadio Olimpico, Rome

• England vs Wales, Twickenham Stadium, London

Round 2

Saturday, 14 February 2026

• Ireland vs Italy, Aviva Stadium, Dublin

• Scotland vs England, Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh

Sunday, 15 February 2026

• Wales vs France, Principality Stadium, Cardiff

Round 3

Saturday, 21 February 2026

• England vs Ireland, Twickenham Stadium, London

• Wales vs Scotland, Principality Stadium, Cardiff

Sunday, 22 February 2026

• France vs Italy, Stade Pierre Mauroy, Lille

Round 4

Friday, 6 March 2026

• Ireland vs Wales, Aviva Stadium, Dublin

Saturday, 7 March 2026

• Scotland vs France, Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh

• Italy vs England, Stadio Olimpico, Rome

Round 5

Saturday, 14 March 2026

• Ireland vs Scotland, Aviva Stadium, Dublin

• Wales vs Italy, Principality Stadium, Cardiff

• France vs England, Stade de France, Paris

View the latest rugby union odds here.

All odds and markets are correct as of the date of publication.