New Women’s U21 Six Nations Tournament Announced
The Ireland Under-20 players celebrate following their record victory over Scotland at the Six Nations Women's Summer Series ©INPHO/Geraint Nicholas
Following the success of the U20 Women’s Summer Series, which in just two years has seen 14 graduates from the age grade competition go on to represent their country in the Women’s Six Nations, the tournament will evolve into the U21 Women’s Six Nations Series, taking place for the first time in April and May this year.
Whilst predominately featuring athletes under the age of 21, the ability to select a limited number of players up to the age of 23, ensures the profile of players who can experience the opportunity to represent their country on the pathway to full international honours is more accessible.
Evolving the Summer Series format, where all teams would compete in a week-long festival format, in 2026 and 2027, teams will now take part in two home fixtures and one away, or vice versa. The format change is designed to echo the training week and travel element of the elite tournament, to better prepare players for the rhythm of the Women’s Six Nations.
(Photo by Geraint Nicholas / Inpho)
To align the elite and pathway competitions even further, Round One of the U21 Series will correlate with Round Two of the Women’s Six Nations, offering an exciting weekend of double headers in Edinburgh, Cardiff and Galway, and the opportunity for fans to attend two fixtures in one day, given the proximity of venues to each other in respective cities.
Commenting the significance of the Guinness Women’s Six Nations as an annual momentum driver for the women’s game, and introduction of the U21 Women’s Six Nations Series, Julie Paterson, Chief of Rugby at Six Nations Rugby said:
“The Guinness Women’s Six Nations sits in the same conversations as the WTA, WSL, and our teams standing alongside the Lionesses, in terms of the contribution to the growth of women’s sport. New attendance records will be set this year, the global broadcast coverage for the Championship mean millions of fans can tune in, highlighting the strong position the game is in. Much like the other women’s sports, the success of the Women’s Six Nations is the result of investment, evolution, and work to create a Championship that not only gives the players the best possible platform to shine, from a robust foundation on which to build a commercially sustainable product.
It is important to remember how young women’s rugby is, and as 2026 welcomes the first fully aligned international global calendar, the Guinness Women’s Six Nations has led the way being the first women’s competition out of the blocks this year. The work is nowhere near done, we need to keep innovating and driving the game forward at pace, and this is why the launch of the U21 Women’s Six Nations Series is so important. The Women’s Six Nations celebrates the elite level of the game, but we need to make sure the foundations are solid, and the pathway to follow in the footsteps of the athletes who have gone before provides a clear line of sight to international honours and become the Six Nations stars of the future.”
