U-18 Six Nations Festivals Kick Off In Wellington And Vichy
Ireland Under-18 Women's head coach Craig Hansberry and captain Lucia Dickinson are pictured with their fellow coaches and captains in Wellington ©Danté Kim
The Under-18 Men’s and Women’s Six Nations Festivals return this Easter, with the Women’s event starting this afternoon and kicking off a stronger dedicated Women’s window in the global rugby calendar.
Wellington College in England will host the fifth edition of the U-18 Women’s Six Nations Festival for a third year, which runs until Friday week. The Ireland squad was announced on Tuesday, and includes 11 players with past experience at this level.
The U-18 Men’s Six Nations Festival will return to Vichy in France, for a second consecutive year, and once again features two invitational teams, Spain and Georgia, as part of the commitment from Six Nations Rugby to support the development of teams from the broader game.
The Men’s event starts on Friday and runs until Saturday week, with the Ireland U-18 Schools squad, which was confirmed yesterday, facing England in their opening match.
Ireland Under-18 Schools head coach Michael Hodge and team captain Luke Coffey were involved in a photocall to mark the 2026 U-18 Men’s Six Nations Festival in Vichy ©Matteo Pellegrinuzzi
In both Six Nations Festivals, teams will compete across three matchdays. The Women’s event will feature three fixtures per matchday, with the format designed to prepare the players to graduate into the newly-created U-21 level in future seasons, another vital point on the journey towards the elite game.
For the first time in its history, Women’s rugby has a clearly aligned standalone window within its calendar, with the U-18 Festival setting the scene for the Guinness Women’s Six Nations and the U-21 Series that follows. This highlights the growth of Women’s rugby and the momentum being injected at all critical levels of the sport.
IRELAND UNDER-18 WOMEN’S Fixtures & Watch Live
Watch live on irishrugby+ and the Six Nations U-20 YouTube channel
Thursday, April 2 –
Ireland v France, Wellington College, 2.15pm
Monday, April 6 –
Ireland v England, Wellington College, 1pm (35-minute match)
Scotland v Ireland, Wellington College, 2pm (35-minute match)
Friday, April 10 –
Ireland v Italy, Wellington College, 2.15pm
IRELAND UNDER-18 MEN’S Fixtures & Watch Live
Watch live on irishrugby+ and the Six Nations U-20 YouTube channel
Friday, April 3 –
England v Ireland, Stade Louis Darragon, 4.15pm local time/3.15pm Irish time
Tuesday, April 7 –
Ireland v Spain, Stade Louis Darragon, 6.30pm local time/5.30pm Irish time
Saturday, April 11 –
France v Ireland, Stade Louis Darragon, 6.30pm local time/5.30pm Irish time