Italy joined the Five Nations to create rugby union’s Six Nations Championship in 2000.
Before Italy’s admission, the competition involved England, France, Ireland, Scotland and Wales and was known as the Five Nations Championship. Italy entered the expanded tournament for the first time in the 2000 edition. Its debut match was against Scotland at Murrayfield, where Italy lost 34–20.
Italy’s inclusion gave the championship a permanent sixth team and established the modern format of five matches for each nation. The competition’s roots reach back to the Home Nations Championship, first played by England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales in 1883. France joined in 1910, although the tournament was not continuously known as the Five Nations because of periods of exclusion and suspension. Italy’s admission is therefore the defining event that created the present Six Nations era.