Six Nations Fixtures 2015: Dates, Times, Live Stream, TV Info, Round 1 Preview
The 2015 Six Nations gets underway on Friday and this year's tournament provides each side the opportunity to prove their worth ahead of the World Cup later this year.
Ireland were narrow winners in 2014 and certainly have the firepower to repeat the trick this year, but Wales and England are set to challenge.
Indeed England's trip to the Millennium Stadium for the tournament's opening encounter could prove to be one of the defining clashes of this year's Six Nations.
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Read on for full television, live streaming and scheduling details ahead of the first round of fixtures, as well as a full preview as each side looks to make a winning start.
| Date | Time (GMT/ET) | Fixture | TV Info (UK/US) |
| Friday, Feb. 6 | 8:05 p.m./3:05 p.m. | Wales vs. England | BBC1/beIN Sports |
| Saturday, Feb. 7 | 2:30 p.m./9:30 a.m. | Italy vs. Ireland | BBC1/beIN Sports |
| Saturday, Feb. 7 | 5 p.m./noon | France vs. Scotland | BBC1/beIN Sports |
UK viewers can live stream all the action via BBC iPlayer, US viewers via beIN Sports Connect.
Round 1 Preview
The last time England visited Cardiff's Millennium Stadium in the Six Nations was in 2013, and Stuart Lancaster's men were looking to complete the Grand Slam. They were duly pummelled 30-3 and the Welsh were crowned champions having utterly humiliated England's young side.
The memory of that drubbing will surely galvanise the English as they head to the Welsh capital on Friday, as a similarly heavy defeat on this occasion would effectively end their title challenge on the first weekend.
Lancaster has been hit, as so often in his tenure as head coach, by a number of injuries in the lead-up to Friday's game, with backs Owen Farrell, Brad Barritt, Kyle Eastmond and Manu Tuilagi missing, along with forwards Geoff Parling, Tom Wood and David Wilson.
However, England's comfortable 29-18 victory over Wales at Twickenham last year will give Lancaster confidence that he can put out a winning side on Friday.
Wales, though, with their home advantage and less injury-hit side must be seen as favourites and the pressure is on Warren Gatland's men to make a winning start.
After back-to-back titles in 2012 and 2013, 2014's Six Nations was something of a come down for Wales, but Gatland has announced a strong side for the opener which should have the edge over England, especially in a scintillating back line, per BBC Sport Wales:
Ireland get their title defence going on Saturday in Italy with the Azzurri looking to bounce back from a miserable 2014 tournament in which they lost every game.
Italy coach Jacques Brunel is in his final year as head coach and is eager for his side to make a good start in the tournament, per the Six Nations:
"Success for us is winning matches, it's not just winning them but how we win them. The content of the matches is important. We will play against very strong teams, we started with Ireland who are the champions so of course it will be difficult. I have been here for three years, we have implemented a path and we have ambition.
"
However, they face an in-form Irish side who had a terrific autumn—beating Australia and South Africa—and Joe Schmidt's team will be raring to go after last year's success.
Despite initial worries, Ireland's fitness concerns have been largely quashed, per RTE Sport's Jacqui Hurley, and after demolishing Italy 46–7 last year, they look good for a winning start in 2015:
Saturday's second game sees France take on Scotland at the Stade de France and, as ever, it is almost impossible to predict how Les Bleus will perform.
Philippe Saint-Andre has a quality set of players at his disposal—with the ability to perhaps even compete for the World Cup in the autumn—but inconsistency is a genuine issue.
In the autumn they beat Fiji and Australia before losing to Argentina; a set of results indicative of said inconsistency.
Youngster Teddy Thomas is one to watch in this year's tournament, possessing as he does great pace and finishing, but France's defensive capabilities also need to improve, per rugby writer Jamie Hosie:
The visiting Scots are on an upward turn after several dismal years. Vern Cotter headed defeats of Tonga and Argentina back in November and an eight-point defeat to New Zealand.
A strong showing in this year's Six Nations will give the Scots huge momentum heading into the World Cup and they have recently proven they have what it takes to prevail against top teams.
Last year's contest between Scotland and France ended in a 19-17 victory for Les Blues and it is set to be similarly tight this weekend.
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