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Did you know ?

Since when has the tournament been known as Six Nations ?
In 1894, the first tournament was held between England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland. France joined the tournament in 1910, leading the championship to be known as Five Nations. When Italy joined in 2000, the tournament became the Six Nations Championship.
What is a Grand Slam ?

The term “Grand Slam” was used for the first time by the British paper The Times to describe the four victories of the English team in 1957. Today, we talk of a Grand Slam when a team wins all its matches in the Six Nations.

What is the origin of the thistle, the emblem of Scotland ?
It comes from a botched offensive by the Vikings and a battle won by Scotland thanks to the thistle. During a surprise night time attack, a barefoot Viking soldier trod on a thistle and woke up the Scottish army. This led to the thistle being chosen as the emblem of Scotland.
What is the emblem of Wales ?
The leek. Legend has it that during a battle against the Saxons in a leek field, Saint David ordered the Welsh army to wear a leek on their helmets so that they could identify themselves. And the Welsh won the battle.
What is "Le Crunch" ?

France vs Angleterre : A history and rivalry at the highest level in Rugby. Every encounter betweenthe two teams is a new opportunity to prove its supremacy over the other one.

That's why those matches of incredible intensity are commonly known as "Le Crunch".

What is the ancestral predecessor to rugby ?

In France, the popular discipline of "la soule" whose origins are unclear, is considered to be the first example of today's football and Rugby.
The rules were quite simple: from a neutral patch of land, two teams from different parishes would compete to bring the ball back to their own village.
Many other examples exost in the British Isles, notably Shrove Football (which, like la soule, was banned by the King). 

In rugby, why is the pass backwards ?
The back pass served to "fluidify" the game by drawing the opponent into his camp to trap and bypass him, as in a game of chess. When rugby was still called "football", the backward pass contributed to its emancipation.
 
Has the emblem of the XV of France always been a rooster ?
At the initiative of the USFSA (Union des Sociétés Françaises de Sports Athlétiques) and its secretary Baron Pierre de Coubertin, the XV of France is officially created. The french jersey is then white marked with two rings, one red and one blue, the first fruits of the future Olympic rings.