Six Nations 2010 launched

The 2010 Women's Six Nations was officially "launched" at a press conference this afternoon in London. As Scrumqueens reports, the launch was alongside that of the men's tournament with (possibly for the first time) representatives from all six teams present.

Unfortunately disappointingly (but not, perhaps, surprisingly) other reports also say that the women's launch was "an afterthought" with few (if any) of the journalists present being made aware of the women's competition, or who the women's representatives were - a situation not exactly helped by the fact apparently none of the press briefings gave any details about the games in the women's tournament.

So, for the record, the Women's Six Nations kicks off a week on Friday - a day before the men's tournament - when Ireland take on Italy at Ashbourne, scene of their incredible win over France last season. In fact all of Ireland's home games will be Friday evening matches at Ashbourne.

Wales and England also have a single "home" for this season's competition - Bridgend and Esher respectively - and the match of the weekend in the opening round will be the meeting of these two teams at Esher on Saturday. First and second last year, England will also be looking for revenge following Wales' win in the tournament last season. Finally France will be travelling to Scotland. A complete list of this season's fixtures can be found here.