Ireland host Scotland and Wales in 2014 Six Nations openers

Ireland open their 2014 Six Nations campaign with home games against Scotland and champions Wales.

Ireland’s first away date of the campaign is against England on February 22 with a fortnight break to the visit of Italy on March 8.

The national side’s final game of the tournament is at the Stade de France in Paris, that clash with France being pencilled in for March 15.

The following year the Irish schedule begins away to Italy on February 7 with a St Valentine’s Day assignment with the French in Dublin. Ireland are home to England on March 1 before away missions against Wales and Scotland on March 14 and 21 respectively.

Friday night fixtures return to the championship next season with Wales playing France at the Millennium Stadium on Friday, February 21 in their third game of the 2014 championship.

The 2015 tournament will open with a Friday night fixture, when Wales host England in Cardiff.

Bill Beaumont, Six Nations Council chairman, said the tournament is growing from strength to strength. “This year we saw over one million people attend the 15 matches, making it still the best attended international rugby tournament in the world on a per match basis. Record numbers also watched on TV in 160 countries, we saw all-time high BBC audiences in the UK. We were the first rugby property to have our own official YouTube channel which means we have ongoing online exposure for the RBS 6 Nations and reached one million views within weeks of the launch.”