The RBS Six Nations Rugby is one of the three most popular sporting events in the Rugby Union calendar and certainly up there with Britains most eagerly anticipated sports.

The Six Nations contests between England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, France and Italy. Matches take place usually every two weeks and each team plays each other once resulting in five matches for each nation.

The winner is the nation who accumulates the most points after all five matches, with two points awarded to a nation for a win and one point awarded for a draw. This year is Irelands final year at Croke Park and Englands centenary year at the famous Twickenham.

If a nation manages to defeat all other opponent they are awarded the Grand Slam crown.

The BBC follows the RBS Six Nations with live coverage, analysis and updates spectators with tables and statistics throughout. These are live on BBC One and always available on BBC 5 Live Sport.

Every year the competition gets hotter and stronger and every team seems to improve and close the gap on their rivals. It is so close this year that nobody knows who will win. Any nation can beat any nation on their day.

So get behind your nation and cheer them on in this years RBS Six Nations