Six Nations news: Ranking each country’s supporters and stadium

The Six Nations offers a varied set of fanbases who all have different styles of support and different levels of passion.

While all of them have the potential to get extremely loud, plenty can get quiet when things don’t go their way.

Here, Sports News Blitz rugby reporter Charlie Elliott puts together his list of Six Nations supporters ranked from worst to best.

6. France

The main hindrance for a good atmosphere at the Stade de France is the fact that the pitch is so far from the stands. A huge gap between spectator and action typically means that much of the sound is lost, thus making it hard to create a genuine atmosphere.

Support at the Stade de France is also decidedly more fair-weather than at other stadiums, with the crowds energised when France are winning but prone to being rather silent when they are behind.

That said, the Stade de France certainly has the potential to be loud on its day and, should the French team give their fans something to cheer about, it will be a noisy fortress.

5. Italy

With Italy usually the whipping boys of the Six Nations, fans at the Stadio Olimpico can often struggle to get behind their team with any real sense of enthusiasm. However, now that Italian rugby is on the up, we may see an upturn in the stadium’s atmosphere.

Rome, it must be said, is not exactly a rugby-mad place either, galvanised as it is by one of the world’s fiercest football rivalries. As a result, it might be better to move rugby internationals to an area that truly loves the sport or even just to a smaller stadium in future.

Italian fans can also quite rightly be accused of only turning up for the Six Nations and not caring much about the ‘smaller’ games throughout the year.

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4. England

Twickenham has a lot of atmospheric potential thanks to being such a large and well-designed stadium. Yet, although it could contain the noise in theory, there are regular and deserved accusations that the crowd there is too ‘posh’ and not exactly partisan.

That said, Twickenham can get loud and boisterous when it wants, especially if England are challenging.

Unfortunately, considering all the negativity and pessimism surrounding the national team at the moment, support is likely to stay muted for now.

3. Ireland

Ireland experienced noticeably poor support during the Autumn Internationals, which was a far cry from what has been seen in recent years. Indeed, when the Aviva gets going, it can rock while still being a welcoming place for away fans.

Things are, of course, helped somewhat in that department by the fact that Ireland fans have had a lot to cheer about after winning the last two Six Nations.

And with Ireland now aiming for a historic third consecutive title, there will almost certainly be scenes when Ireland host France on the penultimate matchday.

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2. Scotland

Murrayfield gets absolutely electric during the big games and still retains a good atmosphere for the smalle games.

Despite not having much to cheer about in recent years, the support is consistently good. Murrayfield manages to keep the sound in and it shows. 

Hearing the fans singing “Flower of Scotland” is a sight to behold, and the passion can be felt in every part of the ancient ground. 

Everything is celebrated vehemently, and the team seems to always go up a gear in front of the home crowd. 

Scottish pride is unmatched, and they take a well-deserved second place. 

1. Wales

At number one is Wales, more specifically when the roof is closed at the Millennium Stadium. 

Even at their worst, the fans still turn out in their numbers and every Six Nations game seems like a true national occasion. 

The national anthem is outstanding and sets the tone for a game of rugby usually fueled by passion and desire. 

Not having much to sing about has seemed to unite the fans and, although the atmosphere has fallen slightly in recent years, they still get behind the team and seem like a connected fanbase. 

During the heyday of their success in the early 2010s, it was an electric place to be and is still unmatched by anywhere. 

Wales is a true rugby country and the passion is felt everywhere. 

Easily the winner off the pitch, but unlikely to have the same success on it. 

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