THE RBS Six Nations Championship will include a Friday night fixture for the first time next year while Scotland again launch their campaign against the reigning champions on a Sunday.
The 2009 fixture list was announced yesterday with confirmation of the news reported last month that an agreement had been struck between France and Wales to pursue the success of Friday-night games in the recent Rugby World Cup with a match in Paris
on 27 February, kicking off at 9pm local time.
Scotland have a tough start, hosting Grand Slam winners Wales at Murrayfield on Sunday 8 February (3pm ko), then facing France just six days later in a Valentine's Day trip to Paris. They then host Italy and Ireland with a week's break in between and finish with England at Twickenham in the middle of the triple-bill 'Super Saturday' on 21 March.
Sunday has been a controversial date as it affects travelling support and is also believed to cut the income generated in Edinburgh and across Scotland from these popular internationals.
It was agreed by the six nations to accommodate BBC coverage – the broadcasters' cash pay-outs for the tournament rights largely fund professional rugby in the respective nations – but the last time Scotland opened their championship on a Sunday it ended in a rare victory over France in 2006.
Mike Blair, who finished a disappointing recent championship for Scotland as captain, was pleased with the fixtures. He said: "It's always good to begin the championship at home as it gives you the better chance of starting with a win and then looking to build momentum.
"We then face a tight six-day turnaround to face France in Paris so the balance between training and rest will be important. Following that we have home games against Italy and Ireland and that could stand us in good stead for our final game as we seek to retain the Calcutta Cup at Twickenham," added Blair.
The first match of the championship will be England's clash with Italy, while the final game – often proving to be the decider in recent times – is between Wales and Ireland in Cardiff.
Warren Gatland has described as "interesting" the prospect of Wales making history by contesting a Friday night game. The Grand Slam-winning coach said: "Travelling to France is always a tough proposition, and playing on a Friday night will be interesting but won't faze us. We will prepare in the same professional way as we do for any other game, and we are lucky to have an impressive band of travelling supporters who can bring a home atmosphere to any fixture."
He added: "We will go into the championship as the holders, and that means other teams will be gunning for us, but that is a position we relish being in.
"The fixture list is the flip side of the one that treated us so well this year. It offers us different challenges, with three games on the road. But we are given the opportunity to go to Scotland and Italy, where the players will feel they didn't get their performance right in 2007, and we will have the chance to put that right. Our challenge is to continue to improve, and there is no better way to start that than against the world champions this summer."
Six Nations Council chairman Jacques Laurans said: "The 2008 RBS Six Nations Championship concluded recently on yet another high note. The atmosphere in Cardiff (for Wales versus France] was electric, and I am convinced that next year's championship will be equally as dramatic."
Ticket prices for Scotland's home matches will be revealed on Tuesday 29 April and go on sale from the Scottish Rugby Ticket Centre on Tuesday 6 May.
The full article contains 632 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
