Will this be the biggest Women's Six Nations so far?

More eyes are on women's rugby than ever before.

Following a highly successful Rugby World Cup last year, supporter numbers in the UK climbed from 7.94m pre-existing fans of women's rugby to 13.21m, according to research commissioned by BBC Sport.

England's victory over Canada in September's final took place in front of 81,885 fans at Allianz Stadium - a record for a women's rugby match and the second-highest attendance for a men's or women's World Cup final.

It was the most-watched women's rugby match on UK television, with a record-breaking peak audience of 5.8m viewers. It also beat both the Six Nations and the British and Irish Lions' winning tour of Australia to become the most-watched rugby match of last year.

Rugby union was the second most-watched women's sport in 2025, so with momentum at an all-time high, this year's Women's Six Nations is set to be comfortably the biggest yet in terms of crowd numbers.

Pre-tournament demand has already broken records, with all four home nations staging fixtures at their national stadiums.

The record crowd for a Women's Six Nations game is 58,498 for the Grand Slam decider between England and France in 2023.

That record is set to fall, with more than 75,000 tickets sold for England's opener against Ireland at Allianz Stadium on Saturday.

"There is probably a line of thinking that audiences will just keep growing, but they are actually hard to maintain," Rugby Football Union director of women's rugby Alex Teasdale told BBC Sport.

"The role of the Red Roses as ambassadors has helped sustain some of that strong buy-in, and the fans have had a brilliant time.

"It has been really pleasing to see, but anyone involved in women's sport knows it is not a given.

"You have to work hard to give fans a brilliant experience so they want to keep coming back."

Scotland will play their first Women's Six Nations match in front of fans at Murrayfield when they host England next weekend.

Scotland women's record home attendance of 7,774 was set at Hive Stadium in 2024, but more than 25,000 tickets have been sold for the fixture.

The expected record crowd will be the biggest for a standalone women's sporting event in Scotland.

Ireland's game against Scotland on the final weekend will be their first at the 51,711-capacity Aviva Stadium and their record home attendance of 7,754 is set to be smashed, with more than 16,000 tickets already reported to have been sold.

Wales, who play Scotland at Principality Stadium on the opening weekend, are aiming to better last year's record crowd of 21,186 for a Wales women's team event on home soil.

Meanwhile, France will host England at the 42,115-capacity Stade Atlantique in Bordeaux in the final round, where they will hope to have a full house for a possible Grand Slam decider.

But will the entertainment on the pitch match the clamour for tickets?

Image caption,

England will play their home matches at Allianz Stadium and Ashton Gate

Will the title race be more competitive?

England awarded full-time professional contracts to 28 players in 2019, and that level of investment has left the other nations behind.

John Mitchell's side are seeking an eighth straight title and fifth Grand Slam in a row. They are on a record 33-game winning run in all competitions, with their last Six Nations defeat coming in 2018.

Last year, England racked up four predictably one-sided wins, scoring 208 points and conceding just 27, before France gave them an almighty scare in an epic title decider.

England are again clear favourites this year, despite several notable absences from their squad.

They still have BBC Sports Personality of the Year runner-up Ellie Kildunne and last year's world player of the year nominee Megan Jones, who will step up as captain in the absence of pregnant Zoe Stratford, but they also have considerable strength in depth.

France are again seen as their closest rivals and have appointed former Canada women's head coach Francois Ratier in the hope that he can end their miserable 16-game losing run to England.

They have home advantage in this year's expected title showdown on 17 May, which could set up another barnstorming finale to the championship.

England's 2025 Six Nations wins

• England 38-5 Italy
• Wales 12-67 England
• Ireland 5-49 England
• England 54-7 Scotland
• England 43-42 France

Can Ireland, Scotland, Italy and Wales close the gap?

Ireland, Scotland and Italy all won two games in last year's tournament, bringing a level of unpredictability that had been lacking at the top of the table, but have work to do to close the gap on England.

Ireland, Six Nations winners in 2013 and 2015, are continuing to improve under Scott Bemand and were narrowly defeated by France at the World Cup.

The Irish Rugby Football Union confirmed 35 centralised contracts for their sevens and XVs stars, with the hope of maintaining their upward trajectory.

Last year's player of the championship Aoife Wafer will likely be at the forefront if they do beat France away on 25 April.

Despite the team's best World Cup performance in 23 years, the management of player contracts left some Scotland players with what they described as "probably the worst case of mental health" they had ever experienced.

Those off-pitch issues are said to have been resolved, but Scotland will rely heavily on star players such as Evie Gallagher and Francesca McGhie.

Italy, who announced their first contracts before the 2023 Six Nations, have a growing number of players competing in PWR but their form has been inconsistent.

Wales crashed out at the pool stage of the World Cup and are still finding their feet under three-time Premiership Women's Rugby-winning head coach Sean Lynn.

He is a top-level coach, but his players are struggling for regular starts in England's top domestic league, so wins might remain elusive.

'Our role is to be the entertainers'

With England's continued dominance comes a struggle to attract casual viewers looking for sporting jeopardy.

Mitchell wants to keep evolving his side's game and create a dynasty by winning back-to-back World Cups, but knows the winning run will come to an end eventually.

"There is a Lions tour in 2027 so there are a lot of factors that will distract our girls along the way," he said. "If we do have a hiccup here and there that is also good to learn from."

Captain Jones believes the team's ability to play exciting rugby will enable them to keep selling tickets.

"Our role is to be the entertainers and make sure that we provide a product that people want to come back and watch," said Jones.

An improved standard of play - evident across the World Cup - could bring more entertaining and competitive games throughout the tournament.

More eyes will help keep the sport accelerating forward, but the product on the pitch needs to deliver for the increased numbers in the stands and watching at home.

If it does, the 2026 Women's Six Nations has all the potential to be the biggest yet.