The Six Nations is one of the most popular international rugby tournaments to watch and bet on. Every year, England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales compete for glory, and that’s an excellent opportunity for rugby union fans to do some Six Nations betting.
What Makes the Six Nations Competition so Enticing?
All six countries participating in this competition play other international matches outside it, such as one-off Test matches, Test Series, and, of course, the Rugby World Cup, though that’s only once every four years.
However, several factors make this particular tournament both unique and one that’s increasingly growing in popularity.
The first is that it ensures rivalries going back almost 150 years, such as those between England and Wales or England and Scotland, are guaranteed to be renewed at least once every year.
The second is that the quality of the rugby being played is top-class. For example, as of October 2025, Ireland, France, and England were ranked 3rd, 4th, and 5th, respectively, in the World Rugby Official Rankings.
So you’re watching the top players from the top teams in action during every week of Six Nations rugby betting.
The third is that Six Nations matches are almost always broadcast on free-to-air TV channels, meaning everyone can watch them, not only those who have access to expensive paid-for sports channels.
And lastly, much like other iconic sporting events that have been around for over a century, such as the English FA Cup, this is a ‘legacy’ sports event that carries tradition and nostalgia with it.
All of these factors make Six Nations betting so compelling. Betting on high-class international rugby matches in a tournament that crowns a different winner every year is, therefore, a no-brainer for rugby union betting fans.
History of Six Nations Competition
The Six Nations Championship began in 1883 as the Home Nations, featuring England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales.
France joined in 1910, creating the Five Nations, and Italy’s inclusion in 2000 formed today’s Six Nations.
The tournament has become one of rugby’s greatest international events. With Europe’s best six teams in action every year, long-standing rivalries are renewed annually.
Wales may be very much in a slump at the moment, but they've won the most titles alongside England, both with 39.
However, England has won more Grand Slams (winning all their matches in one edition) than anyone else. Their 13 Grand Slams surpass Wales’ 12, and they hold the most Triple Crowns, with 26, just one more than Wales’ 22.
How We Evaluate Six Nations Betting Sites
The first thing you should know is that there are betting sites that are good in general because they offer everything a bettor needs for a fun and safe betting experience. Those websites are typically good for betting on most sports and tournaments.
When discussing whether a site is good for a particular tournament, we look at betting markets and special offers for that specific event, in addition to the basic factors.
Here are some of the things we consider important when deciding on the top online Six Nations betting sites.
Free Bets and Bonuses
Every sportsbook will have some sort of welcome offer that entices customers to sign up and play with them rather than at another competitor, whether they’re an established sportsbook or one of the new betting sites.
When it comes to welcome offers, the best options are the Six Nations betting sites that offer generous sign-up bonuses, with qualifying bets that don’t require much money and effort, and hopefully don’t have wagering requirements attached to them.
If free bets can be used for betting on Six Nations, so much the better.
But it’s also important that they run other offers beyond that, including boosted odds and cashback offers, especially if they revolve around Six Nations betting online.
Betting Features and the Quality of Odds
Bettors enjoy the betting features that are designed to enhance their experience and add excitement to their betting.
Rugby bettors, for example, appreciate it when they can get an early payout on their bet if the team they wagered on takes a lead that gets them a payout on the bet before the match ends.
Live betting and the odds the bookmaker offers for in-play betting play a great role in choosing your next betting destination. The more generous the odds, the better, especially in the long term.
Payments and Security
We all like to use different methods for getting our money in and out of the best Six Nations betting sites. It’s crucial that they offer a good mix of debit cards, bank transfers, and e-wallets, allowing customers plenty of choice.
Security is crucial when it comes to protecting your money, personal details, bank information, and other sensitive information, so a safe betting site is imperative.
It’s also important that they follow the law in terms of keeping their own funds separate so they can pay out to winning customers, are protected from hackers' attacks, and are regulated by one of the more respected licence regulators.
Customer Support
Customer support may be one of the least fun aspects of Six Nations betting online, but it’s also one of the most important. Sooner or later, you may have to query the settlement of a bet, ask why a payment didn’t go through or address some other issue.
The customer support team at a Six Nations betting site must be quick to respond to queries, efficient, friendly, and helpful.

Most Important Betting Features for Six Nations Betting
Betting features are an important part of making your Six Nations betting experience that little bit better. Here are some of the more important ones:
- Cash Out: Don’t let that last-minute try or conversion ruin your winning bet. Using Cash Out at the best Six Nations Betting sites means that bets that might have gone on to lose due to bad luck can end up winning if you take a profit before the event is over.
- Bet Builders: Bet Builders aren’t as common for Six Nations betting as they are for other events like Premier League football or NFL, but some of the best Six Nations betting sites do offer them, allowing you to combine several selections from the same match in one bet.
- In-play betting: Live betting is popular for all sports and competitions, especially since it’s very convenient to do so when betting online. Live betting is more dynamic and adds thrills to your experience.
If you decide to bet on the Six Nations, it is good to know the available markets. There are plenty of options, and your choice will depend on your betting preferences. These are some of the basic options:
Match Winner Betting
The main and most popular Six Nations betting market is quite simply, who’s going to win the match.
Games between England, France, Ireland and Scotland always tend to be quite tight affairs, so the odds aren’t particularly short on any of those teams, though it’s a different story when Wales and Italy are in action.
Remember that when betting on Six Nations, there’s Team A, Team B, and the draw, so it's the same as betting on a football match.
Handicap Betting
In matches where the odds are more one-sided, you may wish to play the handicap market instead. So either go with the favourite to overcome the handicap, or go with the outsider to win, draw or lose by fewer points than what the handicap is.
Outright Betting
Who’s going to win the tournament as a whole? The Six Nations Outright betting market will be live and available for betting a few months before the tournament starts.
Six Nations winner betting odds will be updated after each match, until we know who the winner is, so the market remains available even while the tournament is ongoing.
Other Rugby Tournaments You Should Keep an Eye On
If you want to bet on competitions in the world of rugby union other than the Six Nations, there are some good ones.
First up, there’s the Rugby World Cup, but it’s only played once every four years, so you’ll have to wait a while for it.
Then there’s the Rugby Championship, a tournament played during the English summer and contested by four of the world’s best Southern Hemisphere teams: New Zealand, Australia, South Africa and Argentina.
At the club level, the English Gallagher Premiership Rugby, the equivalent of the Premier League in football, is also a big event for betting.
Among European-based rugby betting fans, the Six Nations is the most popular tournament, while fans from the southern hemisphere tend to prefer the Rugby Championship. Unsurprisingly, the World Cup trumps both.
Six Nations Live Betting
All the best Six Nations betting sites are also very likely to offer live betting on the tournament’s matches, with dozens of markets open between the first whistle and the last.
After any event of any importance, such as a try, a penalty awarded, a yellow card, and so on, the bookie will update their live odds. Live betting has the advantage over pre-match betting that you can watch some of the match and draw some conclusions before placing a bet.
You can also use such strategies as waiting for a team to go behind before backing them at bigger odds, if you know they tend to be slow starters.
How Popular Is Six Nations Betting?
It’s no surprise that punters from the six countries involved in it are keen to place bets on it, especially when their own teams are in action. And unlike the World Cup, it takes place every year, so punters don’t have to wait long till the next one.
But Six Nations betting has a following in other countries, such as Australia and South Africa, so it’s not just in Europe that it’s such a big event.
Final Tips for Betting on the Six Nations
So all that’s left to do is leave you with some last tips to put in place when betting on Six Nations.
- Sit out the first week: There’s nothing wrong with just watching the action rather than betting on it during the first round of matches. Make some notes about the teams' strengths and weaknesses, players to watch, and trends in the match before putting your money down when the next round of games comes along.
- Use any available bonuses: Free bets, reload bonuses, cashback offers, and odds boosts all give you more bang for your buck, so you might as well take advantage of them when available.
- Have accounts with multiple bookmakers: There are many advantages to having more than one betting account. These include a wider variety of markets to bet on, higher odds, more bonuses to claim across them, and betting features that other sportsbooks may not have.