2022 Women's Six Nations Championship Explained
2022 Women's Six Nations Championship |
Date: | 26 March – 30 April 2022 |
Count: | 18 |
Grand Slam: | (16th title) |
Matches: | 15 |
Top Point Scorer: | Emily Scarratt (39) |
Top Try Scorer: | Laure Sansus (6) |
Player Of The Tournament: | Laure Sansus |
Previous Year: | 2021 |
Previous Tournament: | 2021 Women's Six Nations Championship |
Next Year: | 2023 |
Next Tournament: | 2023 Women's Six Nations Championship |
Triple Crown: | (22nd title) |
The 2022 Women's Six Nations Championship, known as the TikTok Women's Six Nations for marketing purposes, was the 21st series of the Women's Six Nations Championship, an annual women's rugby union competition between England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. It was held from 26 March to 30 April 2022.[1]
England entered the tournament as defending champions, having won the abridged version of the competition held in 2021.[2]
England defeated France in the final round of the tournament to secure their 18th title and their 16th Grand Slam.
Format
The 2022 competition saw the tournament return to its traditional format, with each participating country playing each other once, following the COVID disrupted tournament that took place in 2021. However the tournament retained its later starting date, which saw it begin after the conclusion of the men's competition.[3]
Participants
Nation | Stadiums | Head coach | Captain |
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Home stadium | Capacity | Location |
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| Kingsholm Stadium | 16,115 | Gloucester | Simon Middleton | Sarah Hunter |
Welford Road Stadium | 25,849 | Leicester |
| Stade des Alpes | 20,068 | Grenoble | Annick Heyraut | Gaëlle Hermet |
Stade Ernest-Wallon | 19,500 | Toulouse |
Stade Jean Dauger | 16,934 | Bayonne |
| RDS Arena | 18,500 | Dublin | Greg McWilliams | Nichola Fryday |
Musgrave Park | 8,008 | Cork |
Ravenhill Stadium | 18,196 | Belfast |
| Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi | 5,000 | Parma | Andrea Di Giandomenico | Manuela Furlan |
| Edinburgh Rugby Stadium | 7,800 | Edinburgh | Bryan Easson | Rachel Malcolm |
Scotstoun Stadium | 4,765 | Glasgow |
| Cardiff Arms Park | 12,125 | Cardiff | Ioan Cunningham | Siwan Lillicrap | |
Squads
See main article: 2022 Women's Six Nations Championship squads.
Table
Position | Nation | Matches | Points | Tries | Bonus points | Table points |
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Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | For | Against | | For | Against | | | |
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1 | | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 282 | 22 | +260 | 45 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 27 |
2 | | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 152 | 48 | +104 | 22 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 20 |
3 | | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 69 | 139 | –70 | 12 | 22 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 11 |
4 | | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 68 | 158 | –90 | 11 | 24 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 9 |
5 | | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 44 | 163 | –119 | 4 | 24 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
6 | | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 59 | 144 | –85 | 7 | 21 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | |
Table ranking rules
- Four points are awarded for a win.
- Two points are awarded for a draw.
- A bonus point is awarded to a team that scores four or more tries, or loses by seven points or fewer. If a team scores four or more tries, and loses by seven points or fewer, they are awarded both bonus points.
- Three bonus points are awarded to a team that wins all five of their matches (a Grand Slam). This ensures that a Grand Slam winning team would top the table with at least 23 points, as another team could lose one match while winning two bonus points and win the other four matches while winning four bonus points for a maximum of 22 points.
- Tiebreakers
- If two or more teams are tied on table points, the team with the better points difference (points scored less points conceded) is ranked higher.
- If the above tiebreaker fails to separate tied teams, the team that scores the higher number of total tries (including penalty tries) in their matches is ranked higher.
- If two or more teams remain tied after applying the above tiebreakers then those teams will be placed at equal rank; if the tournament has concluded and more than one team is placed first then the title will be shared between them.
Fixtures
Round 1
Notes:
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Notes:
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FB | 15 | Manuela Furlan (c) | RW | 14 | Aura Muzzo | OC | 13 | | | | IC | 12 | | | | LW | 11 | Maria Magatti | FH | 10 | Beatrice Rigoni | SH | 9 | | | | N8 | 8 | Elisa Giordano | OF | 7 | Isabella Locatelli | BF | 6 | | | | RL | 5 | Giordana Duca | LL | 4 | | | | TP | 3 | | | | HK | 2 | | | | LP | 1 | Gaia Maris | | | Replacements: | HK | 16 | | | | PR | 17 | | | | PR | 18 | | | | LF | 19 | | | | FL | 20 | | | | SH | 21 | | | | FH | 22 | | | | FB | 23 | | | | Coach: | Andrea Di Giandomenico | |
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Assistant referees:Aimee Barrett-Theron (
South Africa)
Precious Pazani (
Zimbabwe)
Television match official:Chris Assmus (
Canada)
Notes:
- Assia Khalfaoui (France), Alessandra Frangipani and Emanuela Stecca (both Italy) made their international debuts.
Round 2
Player of the Match:
Laure Sansus (France)
Assistant referees:
Clara Munarini (Italy)
Precious Pazani (Zimbabwe)
Television match official:
Ian Tempest (England)
Notes:
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Player of the Match:
Sioned Harries (Wales)
Assistant referees:
Nikki O'Donnell (England)
Katherine Ritchie (England)
Television match official:
Chris Assmus (Canada)
Notes:
- Emma Orr (Scotland) made her international debut.
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| |
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FB | 15 | Vittoria Ostuni Minuzzi | RW | 14 | | | | OC | 13 | Michela Sillari | IC | 12 | | | LW | 11 | Maria Magatti | FH | 10 | Veronica Madia | SH | 9 | | | | N8 | 8 | Elisa Giordano (c) | OF | 7 | | | | BL | 6 | | | | RL | 5 | Giordana Duca | LL | 4 | | | | TP | 3 | | | | HK | 2 | | | | LP | 1 | | | | Replacements: | HK | 16 | | | | PR | 17 | | | | PR | 18 | | | | LK | 19 | | | | FL | 20 | | | | SH | 21 | | | | CE | 22 | Alyssa D'Incà | | | FB | 23 | | | | Coach: | Andrea Di Giandomenico | |
| | | |
Player of the Match:
Natasha Hunt (England)
Assistant referees:
Doriane Domenjo (France)
Clara Munarini (Italy)
Television match official:
Olly Hodges (Ireland)
Notes:
- Francesca Barro (Italy) made their international debut.
- Kat Roche was originally scheduled to referee the match but was replaced by Hollie Davidson prior to kick-off. Davidson's place as an assistant referee was taken by Clara Munarini.
Round 3
Notes:
- The crowd of 14,689 was a record for an England ticketed home game.[4]
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FB | 15 | Vittoria Ostuni Minuzzi | RW | 14 | Manuela Furlan (c) | OC | 13 | Alyssa D'Incà | IC | 12 | Beatrice Rigoni | LW | 11 | Maria Magatti | FH | 10 | | | | SH | 9 | Sara Barattin | N8 | 8 | | | OF | 7 | | | | BF | 6 | Beatrice Veronese | RL | 5 | Valeria Fedrighi | LL | 4 | | | | TP | 3 | | | | HK | 2 | | | | LP | 1 | | | | Replacements: | HK | 16 | | | | PR | 17 | | | | PR | 18 | | | | LK | 19 | | | | FL | 20 | | | | SH | 21 | | | | FH | 22 | Beatrice Capomaggi | WG | 23 | Federica Cipolla | Coach: | Andrea Di Giandomenico | |
| |
Player of the Match: Sam Monaghan (Ireland)Touch judges: Doriane Domenjo (France) Francesca Martin (Wales) Television match official: Eriz Gauzins (France)
| |
Notes:- Aoife Wafer (Ireland) and Alessia Margotti (Italy) made their international debuts.
- The Italian team suffered a COVID outbreak while preparing for the match and underwent the following changes:[5]
- Giordana Duca was replaced by Valeria Fedrighi, Michela Sillari was replaced by Alyssa D'Incà and Aura Muzzo was replaced by Manuela Furlan. Furlan was in turn replaced by Vittoria Ostuni Minuzzi.
- On the bench Michela Merlo was replaced by Emanuela Stecca, Fedrighi was replaced by Alessia Margotti, D'Incà was replaced by Beatrice Capomaggi and Ostuni Minuzzi was replaced by Federica Cipolla.
Round 4
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FB | 15 | Manuela Furlan (c) | | | | RW | 14 | Aura Muzzo | | | | OC | 13 | Michela Sillari | | | | IC | 12 | Beatrice Rigoni | | | | LW | 11 | Maria Magatti | | | | FH | 10 | Veronica Madia | | | | SH | 9 | Sofia Stefan | | | | N8 | 8 | Ilaria Arrighetti | | | | OF | 7 | Isabella Locatelli | | | | BF | 6 | Beatrice Veronese | | | | RL | 5 | Giordana Duca | | | | LL | 4 | Valeria Fedrighi | | | | TP | 3 | Lucia Gai | | | | HK | 2 | Vittoria Vecchini | | | | LP | 1 | Melissa Bettoni | | | | Replacements: | | | | HK | 16 | Silvia Turani | | | | PR | 17 | Gaia Maris | | | | PR | 18 | Michela Merlo | | | | LK | 19 | Sara Tounesi | | | | FL | 20 | Alessandra Frangipani | | | | SH | 21 | Sara Barattin | | | | CE | 22 | Alyssa D'Incà | | | | FB | 23 | Vittoria Ostuni Minuzzi | | | | Coach: | | | | Andrea Di Giandomenico | | | | |
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Notes:- Elisa Giordano was originally named at number 8 for Italy, but was replaced by Ilaria Arrighetti prior to kickoff. Arrighetti, who was originally named at openside flanker, was replaced by Isabella Locatelli. Locatelli's place on the bench was taken by Alessandra Frangipani.
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Notes:- Molly Scuffil-McCabe and Niamh Byrne (Ireland) made their international debuts
- The attendance of 15,863 broke the record for the largest attendance at a ticketed England home game. The previous attendance record was set in Gloucester in round 3.
Round 5
| | | |
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FB | 15 | Manuela Furlan (c) | | | RW | 14 | Aura Muzzo | | | OC | 13 | | | | IC | 12 | Beatrice Rigoni | | | LW | 11 | Maria Magatti | | | FH | 10 | Veronica Madia | | | SH | 9 | | | | N8 | 8 | Elisa Giordano | | | OF | 7 | Ilaria Arrighetti | | | BF | 6 | | | | RL | 5 | | | | LL | 4 | Valeria Fedrighi | | | TP | 3 | Lucia Gai | | | HK | 2 | Melissa Bettoni | | | LP | 1 | | | | Replacements: | | | HK | 16 | Vittoria Vecchini | | | PR | 17 | Gaia Maris | | | PR | 18 | | | | LK | 19 | Sara Tounesi | | | FL | 20 | | | | SH | 21 | | | | CE | 22 | Alyssa D'Incà | | | FB | 23 | Vittoria Ostuni Minuzzi | | | Coach: | | | Andrea Di Giandomenico | | | |
| |
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Notes:- With this win England won their 18th Women's Six Nations title and their 16th grand slam.
- This was England's 23rd consecutive win, tying their own record for the most consecutive wins by a senior international side.[6]
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Player of the Match:Neve Jones (Ireland) Assistant Referees:
Clara Munarini (Italy)
Francesca Martin (Wales)
Television match official:
Ian Tempest (England)
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Notes:- Vicky Irwin (Ireland) made their international debut
Player statistics
Most points
Most tries
Broadcast
Notes and References
- Web site: Women's Six Nations Fixtures & Results . 2022-03-03 . TikTok Women’s Six Nations . en-GB.
- Web site: Preview: England v France . 2022-03-05 . Six Nations Rugby . en-GB.
- Web site: 2021-12-02 . 2022 Women's Six Nations fixtures and broadcast details announced . 2022-03-03 . Six Nations Rugby . en-GB.
- News: 10-try England beat Wales in front of record crowd . en-GB . BBC Sport . 2022-04-10.
- Web site: 2022-04-08 . Furlan and Barattin start for Italy against Ireland . 2022-04-11 . TikTok Women’s Six Nations . en-GB.
- News: England seal Women's Six Nations Grand Slam . en-GB . BBC Sport . 2022-05-01.
- Web site: Broadcaster listings for Guinness Six Nations . 2022-03-03 . TikTok Women’s Six Nations . en-GB.