England to look north in the 6 Nations

England will play Italy, Scotland and France at home in the Championship with Twickenham Stadium, the Twickenham Stoop and The Northern Echo Arena hosting the reigning World Champions.

Two of the games will act as double headers – one alongside the full XV men’s side and another alongside the England U20s men's side.

England, who finished second in the 2014 Six Nations, will have to balance their players against the needs of it's sevens squad with a raft of players now contracted centrally to the national sevens squad. Gary Street is likely to have some but not all players available at various points during the competition.

They will play their first match since becoming World Champions in August away to Wales at Swansea RFC on Sunday February 8, kick off 2.30pm.

Seven days later and the Twickenham Stoop will hold England’s first home game of the tournament against Italy at 2pm on Sunday February 15. Tickets for the match go on sale today via Ticketmaster and Harlequins.

Ireland await England in the third round of the Six Nations at Ashbourne RFC on Friday February 27 at 7.30pm. England last played Ireland in the Rugby World Cup semi-final.

England’s home run then resumes with the side making their maiden appearance at the 27,000-seater Northern Echo Arena against Scotland on Friday March 13 at 7.35pm. The match will be part of a double header with the men's Under 20 side taking on Scotland earlier at 5.30pm, also in their Six Nations championship. Both matches will be televised live on Sky Sports.

England have only ever played nine Six Nations games outside London and the Home Counties since the tournament began in 1996 - and eight of those games were in the first six years of the competition. Their only trip outside the south east since 2001 was in 2011 when they played France at Worcester, also as part of a double header with a men's U20 international. This also be England's first visit to the north of England since 1998, when they played Wales at Waterloo RFC.

Twickenham Stadium then awaits England on Saturday March 21 for a double header against France alongside Stuart Lancaster's charges. France, who finished third at their home World Cup this summer, are the reigning Six Nations champions after a Grand Slam winning campaign in 2014.

Kick-off is at 7.20pm and rugby fans can watch the match for free with free entry to the stadium after the men’s RBS 6 Nations clash. The match will also be broadcast live on BBC Sport.

Gary Street’s side last lifted the Six Nations trophy in 2012. There have been three different winners over the last three years.

Street added: “The success of the World Cup has really stimulated the public’s interest in women’s rugby and that coupled with three of the four Rugby World Cup semi-finalists playing in the Six Nations sets this tournament up to be the most exciting yet in my opinion.

“We are also really pleased to be playing at some great venues again this season. For the past few years we have been playing at Twickenham Stadium and the Stoop regularly but it is great this season to take the Six Nations in England on the road to the Northern Echo Arena which is a fantastic stadium.

“We’ve had long-running success with the Six Nations but most recently France and Ireland have taken the spoils and that makes us hungry to get back to our past successes. It will be no easy task though. We are at the start of a new World Cup cycle so we must expose some of our younger players to international rugby while the Sevens World Series runs concurrently with this tournament. To be successful we have to get the balance right.”

England Women Six Nations 2015 Fixtures:

Wales  v EnglandSunday 8th February 2015Swansea RFCKO 230pm

England v ItalySunday 15th February 2015The Twickenham Stoop,KO 2pm

Tickets availablehere

Ireland v EnglandFriday 27th February 2015Ashbourne RFCKO 7.30pm

England v ScotlandFriday 13th MarchKO 7.35 (after England Men’s U20s v Scotland U20s, KO 530pm)Darlington Mowden Park, the Northern Echo Arena

England v FranceSaturday 21st MarchKO 7.20pm (after England Men v France, KO 5pm)Twickenham StadiumFree entry after England Men v France