The schedule for the 2023 Men’s and Women’s U18 Six Nations Festivals have been announced, with Ireland hosting the men’s competition and England hosting the Women’s competition.

Dublin’s Energia Park will host the Men’s tournament, which features three matchdays across the 8^th, 12^th, and 16^th April, while Wellington College in England will host the Women’s tournament, with matchdays on the 7^th, 11^th, and 15^th April, meaning there will be six matchdays in total across a ten day period of U18 International rugby.

Men’s U18 Six Nations Festival

Each team will play three fixtures in the Men’s competition, and every player will start at least one game and there will also be rolling substitutions to allow the best development opportunities for all according to the Six Nations’ press release. There will also be a programme of development opportunities for coaches, analysts and match officials.

Hosts Ireland, whose rugby across all ages is absolutely booming, will be taking on Scotland, Wales, and England.

England meanwhile take on France and Italy as well as Ireland, with France facing Scotland and Italy along with that England game, Wales facing Italy, Ireland, and Scotland, the young Scots meeting Ireland, France, and Wales, and Italy – a huge force at age-grade level now – facing Wales, England, and France.

Matches on the first two matchdays will take place at 1pm, 3.15pm, and 5.30pm, while on the final day of competition, Sunday 16^th April, games will be an hour earlier, 12pm, 12.30pm, and 4.30pm.

U18 Men’s Six Nations Festival Fixtures

Matchday 1 – Saturday 8^th April

Wales v Italy – 1pm

Ireland v Scotland – 3.15pm

England v France – 5.30pm

Matchday 2 – Wednesday 12^th April

France v Scotland – 1pm

Italy v England – 3.15pm

Wales v Ireland – 5.30pm

Matchday 3 – Sunday 16^th April

Scotland v Wales 12pm

France v Italy – 2.15pm

Ireland v England – 4.30pm

Women’s U18 Six Nations Festival

This second edition of the Women’s U18 Six Nations Festival will follow a similar format to the first, with each team playing five matches across three matchdays. On Matchdays 1 and 2 teams will play twice each in 35-minute games, then on Matchday 3 they will each play one 70 minute game, meaning than every side will play one another over the three matchdays.

Alongside the games there will also be a two-day coaching conference, with match officials and coaches in attendance from all six unions and federations, which will also see match officials from the six Unions officiating at the festival.

Matchday’s 1 and 2 start at 10am with final fixtures at 5pm, with games kicking off at 10am, 11am, and 12pm, before a break ahead of the afternoon session that has games at 3pm, 4pm, and 5pm. Matchday 3 meanwhile has games at 12pm, 2.15pm, and 4.30pm on Saturday 15^th April.

England and Wales kick things off on the opening day, and over those first two days everyone will play all but one of the other sides, then on the final day they will take on their remaining opponents in a 70 minutes games, with Italy and Scotland meeting at 12pm, Ireland and Wales at 2.15pm, and England and France at 4.30pm.

U18 Women’s Six Nations Festival Fixtures

Matchday 1 – Friday 7^th April (35 minute games)

England v Wales – 10am

Scotland v England – 11am

Wales v Scotland – 12pm

France v Ireland – 3pm

Italy v France – 4pm

Ireland v Italy – 5pm

Matchday 2 – Tuesday 11^th April (35 minute games)

Scotland v Ireland – 10am

Ireland v England – 11am

France v Scotland – 12pm

England v Italy – 3pm

Wales v France – 4pm

Italy v Wales – 5pm

Matchday 3 – Saturday 15^th April (70 minute games)

Italy v Scotland – 12pm

Ireland v Wales – 2.15pm

England v France – 4.30pm

Commenting on the two U18 Six Nations Festivals, Julie Paterson, Director of Rugby at Six Nations Rugby said:

“The Six Nations Under-18 Festivals are a vital development platform for our athletes. For the players and coaches, and the valuable support staff, these festivals offer a real opportunity to gain valuable match day experience at international level whilst also engaging and challenging them through various professional development opportunities during the festival week . It is also a fantastic opportunity for the next generation of match officials to learn and share knowledge with members from the other unions.”

“The Under-18 Festivals are testament to the commitment from Six Nations Rugby to deliver an accelerated development pathway and inspire future players, coaches and match officials to be the best they can be, and to provide every opportunity to follow in the footsteps of those performing at the elite level of the game.”