In the history of the six-team Six Nations, a side other than England or France has only won the title once, and that was in 2013, when Ireland broke the duopoly.
England have won the last five tournaments, but this year marks their first Six Nations under new coach John Mitchell. The Red Roses, who are heavy favorites to lift the trophy, will be hoping for a record crowd when they play Ireland in the fourth round at Twickenham.
John Mitchell will have to rearrange his back row against Wales in round two today as Sarah Beckett is banned for three weeks following her red card against Italy.
Scroll down to read five things you need to know about this year's tournament. You can also read Sarah Bern's assessment of each member of the England women's squad, plus our team-by-team guide to the competition, including predictions.
How to watch the 2024 Women's Six Nations on TV
The programs will still be shown on the BBC this year. Every match from the tournament will be streamed live on BBC iPlayer and BBC Sport online, with the vast majority also on BBC television. Six of the games will be shown on BBC One or BBC Two - see below for details.
The BBC presenting team is led by Gabby Logan, Sonja McLaughlan and Lee McKenzie.
Six Nations Women's Match Schedule 2024
Round one
Sat March 23: France 38 Ireland 17 (Stade Marie-Marvingt)
Sat March 23: Wales 18 Scotland 20 (Cardiff Arms Park)
Sun March 24: Italy 0 England 48 (Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi)
Round two
Round three
Round four
Round five
2024 Women's Six Nations Table
How do I get tickets for matches?
Tickets are still widely available. See each team's websites for details. Tickets for England, for example, can be purchased via EnglandRugby.com.
The story continues
Five things you need to know about the Women's Six Nations
Why the table matters
The Women's Six Nations has become synonymous with a lack of danger in recent years due to the dominance of England and France, but the final rankings still hold some significance.
The best-placed team outside England and France will qualify for next year's Women's Rugby World Cup. These two teams have already secured their place at the tournament, which will take place in England, after reaching the semi-finals at the 2022 World Cup, and they will be favorites to finish in the top two of this year's championship. That gives extra meaning to finishing third - or perhaps even ending the duopoly at the top of the rankings.
In addition to the World Cup spot, the final rankings in the table will determine which level of the WXV - the global competition launched by World Rugby last year with the aim of increasing the number of Test matches in the women's game - the teams will be in at the end of the season fight. year. That tournament will act as the next stage of World Cup qualifying, so the higher you finish in the rankings, the easier the route to England 2025.
Names on shirts
As with the men's championship, the women's players will have their names on the back of their match shirts. This is a first for Ireland, Scotland, France and Italy. Players from Wales and England had their names on shirts during matches last year, becoming the first home nations in the women's game to do so.
Tom Harrison, the Six Nations chief executive, said it was "actually a lot easier to implement that in the women's game than in the men's game". He added: "We see that there is a real willingness [in the women's game] to answer some questions we ask. does this work? Can we try this out? We found the women's game very exciting because of the things that are going on."
New innovations
For the first time in women's rugby league, the official bunkering system for televised matches is a feature, offering referees the ability to refer incidents of foul play for off-field review when a potential red card is not clear and obvious. A yellow card will be shown to the player and the "Foul Play Review Official" (the bunker) will review the footage during that 10 minute sin-bin period to determine if this should be upgraded to a red card.
There will also be the introduction of the shot clock, which gives players 60 seconds to take a penalty and 90 seconds for a conversion, and instrumented mouthguards, which measure impact to the head and can alert medical staff if a player needs a head injury. research.
Standalone matches in the main stadiums
Following the success of the Grand Slam match at Twickenham last April, when England and France were watched by a record crowd of 58,498, the Red Roses return to the home of English rugby to take on Ireland on April 20. The match is part of the RFU's long-term plan to sell out Twickenham for the 2025 World Cup final and will be another milestone.
It's not just England playing in their national stadium. Wales will also play a first standalone women's match at the Principality Stadium, facing Italy in the final weekend, as Wales Rugby Union looks to grow the fan base for its women's team.
Tickets are also reasonably priced: from £20 for adults and £5 for juniors at Twickenham; from £10 for adults and £5 for juniors at the Principality Stadium.
New faces at the helm
You may have already seen this slightly awkward photo of the seven coaches (France has co-coaches in Gaelle Mignot and David Ortiz), taken at the official launch of the Women's Six Nations in London, with John Mitchell and Scott Bemand, the new head coaches of England and Ireland respectively.
Former New Zealand head coach Mitchell, who was appointed by the Rugby Football Union last May and took on a more informal role in the WXV competition last year, is in charge of the Red Roses for the first time in the Championship. Bemand has been involved in several Six Nations campaigns in his former role as Red Roses backs coach, but this is the Englishman's first time in charge of a country.