 Wales play France on a Friday night during the 2010 Six Nations
Wales and England will kick off the 2011 Six Nations in the Championship's first Friday night curtain-raiser. The arch rivals will clash at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium on 4 February for the landmark fixture. Champions France will begin their title defence in Paris against Scotland, while Ireland travel to Rome to take on Italy at the Stadio Flaminio. The 2011 season will also see Ireland return to Lansdowne Road for the first time in four years. Gaelic games stadium Croke Park has hosted Ireland's home Test matches in the past four years during the construction of the new Aviva Stadium, which is set to be completed by the end of the month. England will travel to the 50,000 capacity stadium in Dublin for their final match of the championship on 19 March. Friday night fixtures were introduced in 2009 when France hosted Wales at the Stade de France before the corresponding game in Cardiff this year.  | 606: DEBATE |
Wales lost 21-16 in Paris in February 2009 before a 26-20 defeat at the Millennium Stadium as Six Nations chiefs hoped to capitalise on the tradition of Friday night rugby in France. But the Friday night project involving two countries from the home four nations will be a new experience. The initiative has sparked complaints from both fans and players who would rather play on traditional weekend days. Rugby fans have bemoaned the inconvenience of internationals on work days, citing travelling to games in time for kick-off as the major difficulty. And Wales captain Ryan Jones has also publicly voiced his displeasure on playing on Fridays. But Six Nations chiefs are keen to continue the Friday night experiment because it brings in a wider television audience and other commercial rewards. A BBC spokesman said: "The Six Nations committee decide on the schedule of the championship, and it was their choice to have this Friday night fixture, but the BBC is happy to support it. "The Friday night matches have proved successful over the last two years, with over five million viewers tuning on both occasions."
RBS Six Nations fixture list in full (UK time): Friday, 4 February:
Wales v England (1945 GMT) Saturday, 5 February:
Italy v Ireland (1430 GMT), France v Scotland (1700 GMT) Saturday, 12 February:
England v Italy (1430 GMT), Scotland v Wales (1700 BST) Sunday, 13 February:
Ireland v France (1500 GMT) Saturday, 26 February:
Italy v Wales (1430 GMT), England v France (1700 GMT) Sunday, 27 February:
Scotland v Ireland (1500 GMT) Saturday, 12 March:
Italy v France (1430 GMT), Wales v Ireland (1700 GMT) Sunday, 13 March:
England v Scotland (1500 GMT) Saturday 19 March:
Scotland v Italy (1430 GMT), Ireland v England (1700 GMT), France v Wales (1945 GMT)
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