Six Nations: Which is the tournament's greatest stadium?
- Published
The pure passion of the Principality, a carnival atmosphere in Paris or the occasional hushed hostility of Twickenham - which is the greatest?
That is the latest debate tackled by former British and Irish Lions captain Sam Warburton and ex-England scrum-half Danny Care on the Six Nations Greatest podcast.
Warburton and Care have ranked the tournament's stadiums. Have a read then choose your order at the bottom of the page.
6. Italy's Stadio Olimpico
Italy's last Six Nations win at the Stadio Olimpico came against Ireland in 2013
Care: "I think as a fan, as a weekend, I'd say it's one of the best. As soon as you know you're away to Italy the families start booking their flights.
"But is the rugby as good as it's going to be on other weekends? No, because of the competition. But for me I like the Olimpico and I like walking out into the arena. But you're a long way from the crowd and it's a long walk when you're getting subbed on or off getting back to your seat."
Warburton: "It's a really long walk out and it's like you're going into some sort of gladiatorial battle the way you had to climb up the stairs and the stadium would open up in front of you.
"But I think the Olimpico is quite wide and the fans are quite far away. The Italians aren't normally in the game and the fans go quiet quite quickly. Great stadium, great country, great away trip for fans but I wouldn't put it near somewhere like Twickenham."
5. Ireland's Aviva Stadium
Ireland beat Wales 29-7 in their last outing at the Aviva Stadium
Warburton: "I loved it at the Aviva. The pitch was immaculate. Changing rooms immaculate. Stadium is stunning.
"It's a great stadium with a great atmosphere and the Irish are rampant there. Ireland at home are very difficult and they do thrive off that home advantage."
Care: "We've often played there on St Patrick's Day and it's an incredible atmosphere. You get that fun, festival-type vibe but you also get the vibe that you're not very well liked as an Englishman.
"They want to do anything they can to make it hard for you. The crowd just get into the game and it's so hard to win there. I'd say I only won there once."
4. France's Stade de France
The 2023 Rugby World Cup final will be played at the Stade de France
Warburton: "It's a beautiful stadium with lovely big changing rooms, really grand, very French as you can imagine.
"That was probably the single most hostile place to play. A lot of the Welsh and Scottish fans sing but they just seem to shout. It's very hostile and aggressive. The most intimidating place I found was actually the Stade de France."
Care: "When France are on it, I don't think I've heard noise like it. But when they're off, it's worse than Twickenham - they will boo their own team and whistle."
3. Scotland's BT Murrayfield
Murrayfield first opened in 1925
Care: "When you get off that bus at Murrayfield and they are so close to the bus calling you all the names under the sun... we've had bottles thrown at us, we've been doused in beer.
"Scotland, when you get there you do feel a genuine hatred that those people want you to get hurt. I don't have many great memories from playing at Murrayfield and I think the fans play a massive part in that because they make it horrible and they make it uncomfortable."
Warburton: "I love the stadium and even though it's old, it's unchanged from when I used to watch rugby as a kid. I love the friendly Celtic rivalry, the history, the bagpipes... the stadium is old but it's unique."
2. England's Twickenham
England will face Wales in their first match of 2022 at Twickenham on Saturday
Care: "Twickenham is the home of rugby. I remember the first time I ran out I was like 'wow, this is cool' and I had tears in my eyes.
"When it's loud it's as good as any other Six Nations stadium, but when it's quiet and you're not playing well you know it as an England player - and you feel it.
"I'll always remember we played Argentina [in 2009] and the biggest cheer of the day was when somebody threw a paper airplane and it went through the posts because we were playing that badly."
Warburton: "I loved the way the bus would come in. You go through a few high streets and you can see people in the pubs in England shirts and the bus pulls up about 100 metres away from the stadium.
"It was quite hostile but I loved it, that's what it's all about. We're like the small brother coming across the Severn Bridge and that's when I really felt the rivalry. I did find if we were winning it would go very quiet so it was a massive thing to silence the crowd."
1. Wales' Principality Stadium
The Principality roof will remain open for the 2022 Six Nations to curb the spread of coronavirus
Warburton: "[It's] the proximity to the pitch and how close the fans are to the action. We had to have body language [line-out] calls because we couldn't physically hear each other.
"It's in the city centre and if you're not in the stadium there's another 100,000 people drinking within a half a mile radius of the stadium.
"It's just the hub of Cardiff. Location-wise, it's definitely the best. I always think 'oh, am I being biased?' But even [former New Zealand captain] Richie McCaw said you haven't completed your international graduation unless you've played at the Principality."
Care: "This is why I love the Principality: genuinely you will see 90-year-old women sticking two fingers up against the bus as you drive through the city centre.
"There was a guy with all the face paint on and he ran and genuinely headbutted the bus! That has always stuck with me, how passionate that guy was. I think it was quite early on in my England days and that was the first time one of the senior players said, 'lads, you'll want to take your headphones off and listen to this.'"
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