Home is where the heart is, the saying goes, but in our experience every rugby player relishes the test of an intimidating away ground.
The Six Nations offers a range of awe-inspiring stadiums, from the city-centre magnificence of the Principality in Cardiff – the only venue that can grow yet more noisy and atmospheric by closing its roof – to the out-of-town concrete colossus that is Twickenham’s 82,000-capacity Allianz Stadium.
There is Stade de France on the outskirts of Paris, Stadio Olimpico in the north of Rome, Murrayfield in the west of Edinburgh, the Aviva Stadium south of the Liffey, but which of them is the favourite of this year’s Six Nations team captains? We asked all six – and were given five different answers.
Antoine Dupont (France)
France’s Antoine Dupont has fond memories of playing at Wales’ Principality Stadium (Photo: Getty)France’s scrum-half will this week lead Les Bleus to a stadium where he has one of his fondest recollections.
“My first win in Cardiff, it was in 2020,” Antoine Dupont tells The i Paper. “We were very young, our generation. It was a milestone for us to be able to win there. So it’s a huge memory for me.”
France’s 27-23 success that day was followed by a 13-9 win in 2022, then Dupont missed the 2024 visit while he was concentrating on sevens.
So what makes the Principality special? Dupont gives an answer echoed by generations of players and supporters since the venue opened as the Millennium Stadium in 1999.
“Cardiff is my favourite because it’s the loudest,” he says. “It’s always special when you play there, you almost can’t hear yourself, and between each other it’s very hard to speak and be heard. It’s a very special atmosphere. It’s the loudest stadium I have ever been in.”
Jamie George (England, captain for the opening win over Wales)
However, England’s Jamie George chose Murrayfield for its distinctive atmosphere (Photo: Getty)George plumps for the stadium that England are heading to this weekend, and it is the one where he made his Six Nations debut in 2016.
“I love being in Edinburgh,” says the hooker who now has 106 caps. “I think Murrayfield is a brilliant place to play rugby. It’s hostile for us as an England team. So yeah, that would be exciting for us.”
Many an England player has reminisced about the distinctive atmosphere at Murrayfield, including the funereal pace of their team bus into the grounds, with bagpipers slowly leading them in, surrounded by a not-so-welcoming party of home fans.
“It’s all that,” George says of a venue where he has two wins and three losses with England, while he also won the European Cup with Saracens there.
“Getting off the bus is quite noisy and quite loud, and there’s often some heated words said. And you’ve got to embrace that as international players. It all adds up to it, and it all makes a huge difference. We’re really looking forward to it this year again.”
Dewi Lake (Wales)
The Aviva Stadium has been the home of the Ireland national team since 2010 (Photo: Getty)As Lake is not permitted to pick Wales’s home venue to agree with Dupont’s choice, instead the hooker looks across the Irish Sea to Dublin, and a red-letter day for him, even if his team came off second-best in a 29-7 Six Nations defeat by Ireland in February 2022.
“My favourite is the Aviva,” Lake says. “It’s where I made my debut, got my first cap [as a replacement for Ryan Elias]. So it’s a place that holds special memories for me, especially within this tournament [the Six Nations].
“The cap was incredible; the result, not so much. Taine Basham scored our lone try – an interception off the base of a ruck under the sticks. So yeah, I do remember the day quite vividly. I’ve tried to forget the final score and just focus on receiving my cap. It was an incredible day, and I wouldn’t change it.”
Unlike his five captaincy counterparts, Lake still has a few Six Nations stadiums to tick off his bucket list.
“I’ve never played in Rome and I’ve never played in Paris,” he says. “I’ve missed those away games due to injury or something like that. So, yeah, the Aviva would be my favourite away ground – so far.”
Sione Tuipulotu (Scotland)
Twickenham is the second largest stadium in the UK behind Wembley (Photo: Getty)Scotland’s captain has a twinkle in his eye as he nominates a venue that has been good to his team in recent years in the Six Nations, with wins in 2021 and 2023, and a draw in 2019, after a 36-year victory-free drought.
“Away at Twickenham is always big for Scottish rugby,” Tuipulotu says. “Away in Rome is pretty good as well, if you’re talking about the city. So they’d be my top two.
“But Twickenham is my favourite stadium. That’s not what they call it now, is it? Sorry, my bad – it’s the Allianz. But it will always be Twickenham, won’t it?”
Well, the money paid by the insurer doesn’t go directly to the away team, so we reckon it’s your choice, Sione! But what’s so great about it?
“I think just the hostility, to be honest, and I’m sure they feel the same coming to Murrayfield,” Tuipulotu says. “To be a travelling player going to a hostile ground, I feel like it always brings out the best in you. And yeah, it always makes for a pretty hostile match against England, one that I know means a lot to the country. As soon as you hop off the bus, you can feel it. And I’m sure it’s the same for them when they hop off the bus and walk into Murrayfield.”
Tuipulotu played in the 2023 win, but he was injured for Scotland’s 16-15 loss at Twickenham last year. “Obviously, they [England] got the win that day, and they’re going really well at the moment, so we know it’ll be a tough match coming round next at Murrayfield, too.”
Michele Lamaro (Italy)
Like George, Italy’s Michele Lamoro enjoys the passion of the Scottish home crowd (Photo: Getty)Italy’s captain and flanker picks out a spine-tingling aspect of the pre-match build-up in Edinburgh.
“At Murrayfield, the atmosphere is absolutely amazing – especially the Scotland anthem,” Lamoro says. “When they sing the anthem, the passion that Scottish fans bring to the game is something that is really impressive.”
He is referring to the moment when the music cuts, and the majority in the 67,000-capacity stadium sing a capella (which happens to mean “in the style of a chapel” in Italian). And it is a feel, even if it’s not your crowd?
“You feel it, 100 per cent,” Lamoro says, about a venue where has yet to taste a win in his three visits with Italy. “It is really a big thing. The atmosphere is something great… they’re not only supporting Scotland, they are supporting the sport in general. And that’s something you can feel on the pitch, once you are in there.
“To win in Murrayfield is very tough, and I don’t have a particular happy moment there, but at the same time, you can remember with pleasure the way you faced the whole stadium.”
Caelan Doris (Ireland)
The Stade de France is a sight to behold when fully lit up at night (Photo: Getty)“I love Stade de France,” says Ireland’s captain, who has played six times at the Paris venue in the suburb of Saint-Denis.
“With the [2023] World Cup as well as the Six Nations, we have some positive memories, and less so in there as well. But what remains consistent throughout is the atmosphere. It’s always next-level – the noise, the involvement level of the fans, is unbelievable.”
As Doris says, he and Ireland have had mixed results at Stade de France. His three visits in the Six Nations have ended in defeat (Ireland’s 2024 win over France was in Marseille), and the same happened against New Zealand in the 2023 World Cup quarter-final. On the upside, there were World Cup pool wins over South Africa and Scotland.
The one that sticks in Doris’s mind is when Ireland met France there in February 2022. “I remember walking out onto the pitch and, pre-warm-up, the stadium was pretty much full already. The drums were going, it was a great atmosphere – carnival-like, almost. I’m always going to be excited for that.”
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