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50 free Six Nations trivia questions with answers — sports quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
Every February the oldest international rugby tournament takes over six countries' weekends. It began in 1883 as a four-team Home Nations contest, grew when the French arrived, shrank when they were thrown out, and became the Six Nations when Italy joined in 2000. Along the way it collected a trophy cabinet of rivalry cups, a scoring system that rewards tries, and a habit of last-minute drama. This quiz covers the whole span: the slams and crowns and the wooden spoon, the cups played for between pairs of nations, the record scorers and appearance-makers, the deciders that are still argued about, the grounds from Edinburgh to Rome, the sponsors and broadcasters of each era, and the women's and under-20 championships. Every answer is anchored to the completed 2026 season. It suits anyone who watches the championship with friends, runs a clubhouse quiz, or simply wants to know why a penalty in Paris in March 2026 mattered so much.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01What befell the six-sided Six Nations trophy after round three in 2026, forcing a replica to be presented?
It was damaged by fire
It was damaged by fire and retired from ceremonial use, so the 2026 winners lifted a replica and a new trophy was commissioned for 2027. The 2015 original stood 75 cm tall in sterling silver.
Q 02Whose last-kick penalty in Paris beat England 48–46 in March 2026 and earned France a second straight title?
Thomas Ramos
Thomas Ramos, the championship's top scorer for a fourth year running, landed the kick that edged Ireland out of the title by two table points.
Q 03Which two forwards were punished in 1988 for playing football with the Calcutta Cup along Edinburgh's Princes Street?
Dean Richards and John Jeffrey
Dean Richards and John Jeffrey knocked the 1878 trophy about after a few drinks; Jeffrey got a six-month ban from the Scottish union while Richards was suspended for one match.
Q 04Italy's 23–18 win in Rome in 2026, their first ever over England, ended how many straight defeats in the fixture?
32
32 consecutive defeats had included every meeting since Italy joined the championship in 2000, and the upset helped push England down to fifth, matching their worst finish of the Six Nations era.
Q 05Why was the 2026 opener between France and Ireland played on a Thursday night, a first for the championship?
A Winter Olympics ceremony clash
A Winter Olympics ceremony clash pushed the game to Thursday 5 February, and France won it 36–14 at the Stade de France to start their title run.
Q 06Which Ireland fly-half holds the Six Nations career points record with 566, completed during the 2023 Grand Slam season?
Johnny Sexton
Johnny Sexton captained that 2023 side and had been named World Rugby Player of the Year in 2018, the second Irishman to win it after Keith Wood.
Q 07Which Ireland centre holds the championship try record with 26, having passed Scotland's Ian Smith in 2011?
Brian O'Driscoll
Brian O'Driscoll's try against England in 2011 broke a mark Ian Smith had held for 78 years, and he retired in 2014 with 141 caps, then a world record.
Q 08Under the bonus-point system introduced in 2017, how many extra table points does a Grand Slam earn?
Three
Three extra points lift a perfect season to at least 23, beyond the 22 a team that lost once could collect, so a Grand Slam winner can never finish second.
Q 09Italy finished bottom of the table in how many of the 27 Six Nations championships played from 2000 to 2026?
18
18 wooden spoons include 12 whitewashes, yet only England and Ireland have never finished last in the Six Nations era.
Q 10Which France wing scored a record nine tries in the 2026 championship, four of them in the last match in Paris?
Louis Bielle-Biarrey
Louis Bielle-Biarrey beat his own record of eight from 2025 and was named Player of the Championship in both years.
Q 11The original championship trophy, first presented in 1993, carried how many side panels?
15
15 panels, one per player in a team, were the work of eight silversmiths at London firm William Comyns, and a concealed drawer in the mahogany base held six alternative finials, one emblem per nation.
Q 12The three handles on the 1993 championship trophy, designed by James Brent-Ward, represented which people?
The match officials
The match officials, a referee and two touch judges, each got a handle on a bowl that held 3.75 litres of champagne.
Q 13France were expelled from the Five Nations after the 1931 tournament over allegations of what in their domestic game?
Professionalism
Q 21Whose last-minute try at Wembley in 1999, converted by Neil Jenkins, denied England a Five Nations Grand Slam?
Scott Gibbs
Scott Gibbs shrugged off several tacklers from about 20 metres out with the clock past 80 minutes, and Wales's one-point win handed the championship to Scotland.
Q 22Which Scotland captain chose the slow walk onto Murrayfield before the 1990 Grand Slam decider against England?
David Sole
David Sole's side won 13–7 for a third Five Nations slam, and by 2026 Scotland had still not managed another.
Q 23Which anthem was sung without incident at Croke Park in 2007, scene of the Bloody Sunday shootings of 1920?
God Save the Queen
Professionalism allegations and administrative failings kept France out until 1947, so the four Home Nations played alone again through the 1930s.
Q 14Why was England left out of the 1888 and 1889 Home Nations championships, five years after the tournament began?
Refusing to join the IRFB
Refusing to join the IRFB, the international board founded in 1887 that became World Rugby, left England outside the game's new governing body and outside the championship.
Q 15Because no silverware existed for it until 2006, the Triple Crown was sometimes known by what nickname?
The invisible cup
The invisible cup gained a body when sponsor RBS commissioned Hamilton & Inches to make a Triple Crown Trophy, first presented to Ireland in 2006.
Q 16In 1975 retired Durham miner Dave Merrington carved an unofficial Triple Crown trophy, now at Twickenham, from what?
A lump of coal
A lump of coal hewn from the Haig Colliery in Cumbria became a crown on a four-sided base bearing a rose, a shamrock, a thistle and the Prince of Wales's feathers.
Q 17Before 1994, what happened when two or more teams finished the Five Nations level on match points?
The title was shared
The title was shared, so England's Triple Crown sides of 1954 and 1960 had to split the championship with France; since 1994 level teams are separated on points scored and conceded, then tries.
Q 18How many Grand Slams had been completed by the end of 2026, from Wales's first in 1908 to Ireland's in 2023?
42
42 slams split as England 13, Wales 12, France 10, Ireland 4 and Scotland 3, while Italy are still waiting for a first.
Q 19Which Scottish ex-teacher, 'the voice of rugby', commentated on the championship for the BBC until retiring in 2002?
Bill McLaren
Bill McLaren made his BBC radio debut on Scotland's 12–0 loss to Wales in 1953 and switched to television six years later.
Q 20Scotland's last championship, the 1999 Five Nations, saw them finish above England on which tiebreaker?
Points difference
Points difference carried Scotland past England, who were beaten by Wales in the final match at Wembley after leading with 80 minutes gone.
God Save the Queen passed off peacefully and Ireland then beat England 43–13, their biggest ever win over England.
Q 24England's refusal to shift from Ireland's 'lucky' side in 2003 forced President Mary McAleese to do what?
Walk on the grass
Walk on the grass she did, because the red carpet no longer reached the Irish line-up; the IRFU sent her a written apology the next day and England won the Grand Slam.
Q 25Whose late drop goal in Cardiff sealed Ireland's 2009 Grand Slam, their first since 1948?
Ronan O'Gara
Ronan O'Gara's kick made it 17–15 before Stephen Jones missed a long penalty for Wales, ending a 61-year wait for a second Irish slam.
Q 26Ireland's 2018 Grand Slam began with an 83rd-minute drop goal in Paris that came after how many phases of play?
41
41 phases ended in a 15–13 win, and Ireland went on to become the first team to collect the three-point bonus for a Grand Slam.
Q 27Whose try in the final two minutes in Cardiff in 2022 ended Italy's run of 36 straight Six Nations defeats?
Edoardo Padovani
Edoardo Padovani turned a 21–15 deficit into Italy's first championship win since they beat Scotland in Edinburgh in 2015.
Q 28By what record score did Wales beat England in Cardiff in 2013, snatching the title and denying them a Grand Slam?
30–3
30–3 remains Wales's biggest win over England, built on Leigh Halfpenny's penalties and two second-half tries from wing Alex Cuthbert after a 9–3 half-time lead.
Q 29Scotland hit six unanswered tries from 31–0 down at Twickenham in 2019 before England's late try rescued what score?
38–38
38–38 let Scotland keep the Calcutta Cup as holders, after England had led 31–0 barely half an hour in.
Q 30Italy's first Six Nations home, the Stadio Flaminio used from 2000 to 2011, was built for which event?
The 1960 Olympic football
The 1960 Olympic football tournament got a 24,000-seat ground across the Tiber that later failed Six Nations stadium guidelines, so Italy moved to the Stadio Olimpico in 2012.