There’s a moment, about twenty minutes before kickoff at the Aviva Stadium, when the entire city of Dublin seems to hold its breath. The streets around Lansdowne Road have been buzzing since morning — pints in hand, scarves wrapped tight, songs already half-sung. And then the teams walk out, and 50,000 people exhale in a roar that you feel in your ribs.
If you’ve only ever watched the Six Nations on television, you’re missing something essential. The match itself is brilliant. But it’s the other twenty-three hours of the day that transform a rugby weekend from a sporting event into a life experience.
The pre-match: a city in full voice
On match day in Dublin, the pubs around Ballsbridge and Baggot Street start filling by late morning. In Edinburgh, the Rose Street pubs and the bars around Haymarket become a sea of tartan and conversation. There’s no hostility — Six Nations weekends are famously friendly. Rival fans drink together, sing together, and make the kind of fast friendships that only sport and a shared pub table can produce.
Celtic RnR builds the pre-match into every sports tour because it’s where the real magic happens. We partner with pubs that can handle groups, organise guided walking tours of the city’s sporting landmarks, and — for those who want the full experience — arrange pre-match hospitality with local sports journalists and former players.
The match: intensity you can’t manufacture
The Six Nations is the oldest rugby tournament in the world, and the atmosphere in Dublin, Edinburgh, Cardiff, and London reflects that history. There’s a weight to it — every rivalry carries decades of narrative. Ireland vs. England. Scotland vs. Wales. The energy in the stadium is different from any club match or one-off international because every result matters, every try shifts the championship, and every fan in the building knows the stakes.
Our sports tours include premium seating and, where available, hospitality packages. But honestly, the atmosphere is electric wherever you sit.
The post-match: where the stories are made
Win or lose, the post-match is sacred. The pubs fill back up. The match is replayed in conversation a hundred times over. Someone orders a round. Someone else starts a song. And somewhere around the third pint, the strangers at the next table have become part of your group.
This is what a Celtic RnR sports tour captures that a ticket alone never could — the full arc of the day, from the first nervous coffee to the last laughing taxi ride back to the hotel.
Making it happen for your group
Six Nations tickets are notoriously hard to come by, and accommodation in Dublin and Edinburgh on match weekends fills months in advance. That’s where Celtic RnR earns its keep. We secure tickets, book group-friendly hotels within walking distance of the stadium, arrange coaches, dinners, and pub reservations, and build in cultural excursions for the non-match days.
Whether your group is ten or sixty, alumni association or corporate outing, we build the weekend around you.
Explore our Ireland Rugby Tour and Scotland Rugby Tour, or start planning your group’s weekend.
— Mike Healy, Celtic RnR Tours
