Wales to play England on a Friday night in next year's Six Nations

Next year's Six Nations will kick off on a Friday night in February when Wales face England at the Millennium Stadium after a two-year experiment of playing matches outside the traditional weekend window was deemed a success – with broadcasters and sponsors, if not spectators. Wales have been involved in Friday night matches in the past two years, losing in Paris in 2009 and going down at home to France this year. Broadcasting figures were sufficiently high to persuade the Six Nations committee to agree to a request from the BBC, which has the television rights for the tournament in the UK, to turn an experiment into a fixture. Ryan Jones, the Wales captain, said before the game against France in February that he preferred to play on a Saturday afternoon and many paying spectators agree. England in the past have played in Cardiff on a Saturday evening with a 5.30pm kick-off and supporters travelling by train have had problems returning home. "We had a good look at all the issues," a member of the Six Nations committee said. "The BBC were keen to keep a Friday night fixture because viewing figures have been excellent and, as far as spectators go, Sunday afternoon seems to be the most unpopular time. It is something we will keep reviewing, but from a commercial point of view it is a no-brainer." The committee is limited in its Friday night options with neither England nor Ireland able to stage matches then. Scotland, who often rely on away supporters to ensure that Murrayfield sells out, are concerned that their ground would contain rows of empty seats. That leaves France, who opted for a number of Friday night kick-offs during the 2007 World Cup, and Wales, who often play one of their November internationals outside the weekend, as the best choices commercially. England and Wales met at Twickenham on the opening weekend of this year's Six Nations, attracting a TV audience of 7.5m in the UK. The BBC believes next year's 4 February fixture can deliver an even higher figure. Between 2003 and this year, the total viewing figures for the tournament rose from 94m to 125m, an average of 8.3m taking in all six competing nations. This year's Friday night game between Wales and France attracted the second highest number of viewers in the competition, as well as a sell-out crowd. It was beaten only by the final game between France and England in Paris, when the home side won the grand slam. "People are still getting used to the idea of Friday night rugby and there will be objections, but I think it is good for the tournament," Warren Gatland, the Wales coach, said. "It may take some time to settle in as far as supporters are concerned, but the players are used to it because so many Magners League fixtures are played on a Friday." Wales will open and close the tournament, their final match a night-time kick-off against France in Paris. Ireland's first fixture at the Aviva Stadium – the replacement for Lansdowne Road – will be on 13 February against France, the first of two Sunday fixtures for the 2009 champions, while England will take on Scotland at Twickenham in the penultimate round on a Sunday. England's home game against France on 26 February will start at 5pm. 2011 RBS 6 Nations dates Friday 4 February Wales v England 7.45pm Saturday 5 February Italy v Ireland 2.30pm; France v Scotland 5pm Saturday 12 February England v Italy 2.30pm; Scotland v Wales 5pm Sunday 13 February Ireland v France 3pm Saturday 26 February Italy v Wales 2.30pm; England v France 5pm Sunday 27 February Scotland v Ireland 3pm Saturday 12 March Italy v France 2.30pm; Wales v Ireland 5pm Sunday 13 March England v Scotland 3pm Saturday 19 March Scotland v Italy 2.30pm; Ireland v England 5pm; France v Wales 7.45pm