21 Mind Blowing Stats and Facts About the Six Nations Rugby

It's upon us again - the Six Nations Championship is one of the highlights of the rugby union calendar. England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, France and Italy will battle it out in 2024. And to get set for the competition, here are 21 mind blowing statistics and facts about the 6 Nations.

Stacey MacNaught
Published January 22, 2024
Updated January 2024

It’s almost here. The 2024 Six Nations Championship is round the corner and rugby union fans are ready.

While this competition features just 6 teams, it’s a ferocious contest every single year attracting a global audience on TV and masses of spectators in stadia.

So, let’s have a look at some of the records, the statistics and facts about the 6 Nations.

Six Nations Attendance Statistics

A 2017 UEFA study named the Six Nations Championship the most attended sporting event in the world with an average attendance per game of 72,000.
Over 1 million people attended games during the 2023 Six Nations Tournament
The highest attendance during the 2023 competition was 82,000. This was for England v France at Twickenham on 11th March 2023

Six Nations Viewing Statistics

It’s not just eyes in the stadium watching these games. The Six Nations attracts a global TV viewing audience too. Here are some of the statistics and figures around how many people tuned in to watch on TV.

4. Over 121 million people across the world watched last year’s Six Nations tournament

5. Fans streamed over 1.1 million hours of highlights content on Youtube as well

The Six Nations Online and On Social Media

Of course, in the age of social media, it’s not just watching that we do. We also take to the Internet to look up facts, to get scores and even to share our opinions on the game (often in real time). So let’s take a look at the prominence of the Six Nations online and on social.

6. In January 2023, there were 301,000 searches in Google globally for “six nations”

7. There were also 60,500 searches globally for “six nations tickets”

8. To date (as of January 2024), there are 410,000+ posts on Instagram with the hashtag #sixnations

9. There are a further 59,000+ with #sixnationsrugby

10. The official Six Nations Tiktok account has over 543,000 followers as of 3 weeks before the 2024 tournament even gets going

11. That same account, at the time of writing, has amassed over 15 million likes on its content

Most Six Nations Appearances

12. The player with the most appearances in the Six Nations is Sergio Parisse, who has featured in 69 Six Nations games since his 2004 debut for Italy. That’s pretty impressive by any standards.

13. He is one of only 8 players who’ve featured 60 times or more. The others are Alun Wyn Jones (67 appearances for Wales), Brian O’Driscoll (65 appearances for Ireland), Rory Best (64, Ireland), Ronan O’Gara (63, Ireland), Marti Castrogiovanni (60, Italy), Cian Healy (60, Ireland), Johnny Sexton (60, Ireland)

Record for the Most Points Scored in a Six Nations Championship

So who has scored the most points in a Six Nations tournament? Let’s take a look at the record breaking figures.

14. Johnny Sexton (Ireland) holds the record for the most points scored in Six Nations games. He’s scored an impressive 566 points in his 60 appearances

15. He is one of only four players to score more than 500 points in Six Nations games. The other 3 are Ronan O’Gara (557, Ireland), Jonny Wilkinson (546, England) and Owen Farrell (528, England)

Records for the Most Tries in Six Nations Games

Let’s take a look at records for the highest number of tries by individual players in Six Nations games.

16. The record for the most tries scored ever in Six Nations games goes to Ireland’s Brian O’Driscoll. In his illustrious career, he scored 26 tries in Six Nations Games.

17. He is one of only 4 players to score 20 or more. The other 3 are Ian Smith (24, Scotland), George North (23, Wales) and Shane Williams (22, Wales)

Other Six Nations Records and Facts

18. The highest number of points scored by one team in a single Six Nations game ever was 80. This was a record set by England in their 2001 encounter with Italy

19. That game also takes the record for the highest number of points scored altogether at a Six Nations game. Italy’s 23 points took the final score to 80-23 and a total points tally of 103

20. The record for the most tries in a single Six Nations game goes to Scotland, who scored 12 tries in their game against Wales – but it was a long time ago! It happened in 1887 when it was known as the Home Nations Championship

21. England holds the record for the most tournament wins since 2000 (when Italy joined and it became the Six Nations). They’ve won the championship seven times (two of which were Grand Slams). France and Wales have won it six times each though, so if either of those sides clinches it in 2024, they’ll equal England’s record

Another Record Breaking Six Nations in 2024?

Are we going to see more records broken? Can George North score 4 tries and claim his place as the Six Nations’ all time top try scorer?

We’ll find out in just a few short weeks.

Stacey MacNaught

Stacey's a hiking enthusiast and mother of 3. She's obsessed with bagging munros and crossing ridges. She also runs a recreational women's football team, has been involved in coaching junior football.

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