The 2026 Six Nations kicked off on Thursday evening, with Ireland and France opening up what is expected to be a hugely intriguing championship.

Each edition of this tournament is incredibly difficult for the teams involved, even those competing to lift the trophy. That will be no different this time around.

In fact, one overlooked change could make this the most difficult Six Nations to win yet.

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Rory Best Says Overlooked Six Nations Change Will Have Huge Impact

The Six Nations always has a demanding schedule, playing five top level test in a short period of time. However, the 2026 edition will be even more difficult for players.

Whereas in previous years the inclusion of two buy weeks meant that players would play in five games in seven weeks, one of those break weekends has now been cut from the schedule. As a result, there will only be a week off after the first three games, with action on two successive weekends to follow.

Speaking on ITV, former Ireland captain Rory Best explained why this little discussed change to the schedule could end up having a massive impact on this year’s Six Nations.

It will be interesting to see how that pans out.

It was always a tournament where you came in, you had your training week, and then you looked at a bit two week spring because you knew you had a down week.

They don’t have that now. They’re going to have to go three weeks in a row, which is going to be tough. This is a fabulous tournament, it’s so intense.

We will see how that goes. They will get a break then go for the last few weekends.

There is no doubt with the attritional nature of the game that it is going to test the squad depth. There is going to be less time to recover.

The three successive weekends will be a big test for all of the players in this year’s Six Nations, especially those competing at the top end of the table after the first three rounds of fixtures.

It will be interesting to see if squad depth ends up being the decisive factor in the championship.

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