Six Nations 2022 fixtures announced as Wales play on…

Six Nations 2022 fixtures announced as Wales play on Friday night in Cardiff

The 2022 Six Nations fixtures have been announced and it marks a return to Friday night rugby for Wales.

Next year's men's edition of the tournament, which will see Wayne Pivac's Wales side bid to retain their title, will run from February 5 to March 19.

Wales' campaign begins away to Ireland, before hosting Scotland and facing England at Twickenham in round three.

Round four sees a return to the controversial Friday night fixture slot for Wales, who host France on March 11 at the Principality Stadium.

Pivac's side will then conclude their tournament against Italy on Super Saturday - March 19. That will be the first match of the day, followed by Ireland v Scotland and France v England.

Kick-off times will be announced in due course.

Friday night fixtures have proved controversial in the past, with travel issues including traffic jams and packed public transport proving a real problem for fans heading to and from games. It is expected the Principality with be operating back to full crowd capacity by next year, with this year's autumn fixtures already earmarked for the return of fans.

In 2017, the WRU told the Six Nations it was not prepared to stage any more Friday night matches in the Championship for the foreseeable future. At that stage, Wales had been involved in all seven Friday games since they were introduced into the tournament in 2009, hosting six of them, including 2017's clash with Ireland.

Feeling they had done their bit, the WRU said it was time for other countries to carry the burden. England have always refused to host a Friday night Six Nations game at Twickenham, citing travel issues in the area.

Former WRU chairman Gareth Davies said in 2017: "We have told Six Nations we won’t be hosting Friday nights.

"I think primarily because of all the adverse criticism we do get.

"Coming into Cardiff is hellish on Friday anyway. “Our line to the Six Nations was, look, we have done our bit, so we think other people should share the burden."

Six Nations CEO Ben Morel said: "The 2021 Championship was one of the most competitive in history with 8 of the 15 matches won by 7 points or less.

"The drama of Super Saturday with France’s last minute win against Wales, meant that the winner of the Championship was only revealed after the final match was played.

"It was an amazing effort from many people to make the Championship happen, not least the players and staff from the unions, the broadcasters, media and our partners.

"That effort paid off in the shape of record TV audiences and the most engaged Championship we’ve ever seen, it was truly a special achievement. This Guinness Six Nations entertained many of our long-standing fans and I believe we won plenty of new ones as well.

"We look forward to next year’s Championship with hopefully a return to normality when we can welcome fans back in stadia and bring that unrivalled Guinness Six Nations atmosphere into sitting rooms, pubs and rugby clubs all over the world."