The games kick off on Friday 2nd February when Wales will host Scotland, and open the 2024 roster of Six Nations Rugby Championships, with a set of fixtures that mirror the elite men’s competition that starts the next day. Round one opens with Italy hosting England and closes with a rematch between the 2023 Under-20 World Championship Finalists: France and Ireland.
Fans can look forward to games being played under Friday Night Lights, with most games being staged on Friday evenings, as the curtain raiser for the Guinness Six Nations games the next day. The only exceptions are France hosting Ireland in round one on Saturday 3rd February, before France travel to Wales in round four, when the two teams will play on Thursday 7th March.
Extensive broadcast coverage will once again ensure fans in each of the six nations will have access to every game. In Ireland, RTÉ and Virgin Media will deliver coverage, and in the UK BBC and S4C will cover the games. Fans in France can view every game thanks to coverage from L’Equipe and in Italy Sky Italia will continue their coverage of the Six Nations Championships. International fans will also have access to every moment of next year’s Championship, through broadcast coverage spanning 154 territories.
The Under-20 Six Nations has shown a year on year increase in popularity as new fans continue to engage with the Championship. Broadcast coverage of the 2023 Championship generated a 11% increase in audience across all fixtures and markets. It was across social and digital channels that the rise in popularity saw a huge spike with a new and younger audience. A 492% increase in social media followers for the dedicated Under-20 accounts, over 1000% increase in video views of Under-20 content, and 65% of audience members on TikTok were below the age of 25 years old.
The Under-20 Six Nations is testament to the commitment from Six Nations Rugby and all six unions to build the best possible platform for the next generation of players to gain valuable experience, and provide international fans with every opportunity to engage with the rugby starts of the future.
