Women's Six Nations Championship

The Women's Six Nations Championship, known as the Guinness Women's Six Nations for sponsorship purposes,^[1] is an international rugby union competition featuring six European women's national teams. It started in the 1995–96 season as the Home Nations, with four teams: England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales.^[2][3]

In the 1998–99 season, it became the Five Nations, with France joining the original four.^[2] The following season, Spain replaced Ireland for two seasons.^[2]

In 2001–02, the women's Six Nations competition was born with England, France, Ireland, Scotland, Spain and Wales playing, after Ireland re-joined the competition.^[2] Spain, at that time, were higher ranked than Italy, and therefore were awarded their place in the competition on merit.

In 2006, a championship trophy was commissioned from silversmith Thomas Lyte, to be followed by a second trophy commissioned for the Under 20 Six Nations championship. Designed and created by Thomas Lyte, the trophies are made from sterling silver and feature engraving detail with the logos of the competing countries.^[4]

In 2007, the Six Nations committee formally adopted Italy as the sixth national team member in the championship, replacing Spain.^[2][3] This aligned the women's competition with the men's competition.

A new trophy was unveiled in 2023,^[5] designed and made by British silverware manufacturers Thomas Lyte.^[6] The trophy stands 25 inches in height and features six arms reaching upwards representing the nations taking part in the competition.^[7]

England have been the dominant team in the competition, winning 22 of the 30 editions, as of 2026.^[2]