The Six Nations 2019 has kicked off in style! In a nod to this famous rugby tournament, we reveal where fans would feel most at home in each of the three competing countries from outside Britain, and pick properties worth scrumming down for…   

France
France’s rugby heartland is its south, where it’s practically a religion. This is in contrast to the north, where the sport competes with the more popular football. The French Basque country, which borders Spain on the Atlantic coast, is especially fond of the game famed for its distinctive oval ball. The region has no major football club, with locals more interested in following the rugby teams of Biarritz, former side of legendary Serge Blanco, or Bayonne.

Not far north is Bordeaux, a chic city and famous wine region that is also a rugby stronghold and home to one of the country’s strongest club teams. In the foothills of the Pyrenees, Pau has an equally competitive side with a strong following.

But France’s self-proclaimed rugby capital is Toulouse. A proud Occitan city and home to a number of clubs, its flagship side, Stade Toulousain, is currently reigning supreme and regarded as the most successful in the history of European rugby. Further south still, the sunny Languedoc region has teams to be proud of too, most notably those of Perpignan and Montpellier.

Italy
A football nation at heart, rugby in Italy is played almost entirely in the north of the country, with interest strongest in the regions of Veneto and Lombardy, spreading to the wider Po Valley area. Historians put this down to northern Italian workers introducing the sport back home after discovering it during spells working over the border in France.

The sport’s popularity has grown in the past 20 years, especially since 2000 when the Five Nations Championship invited Italy to join the tournament to create the Six Nations.

The city of Treviso in Veneto, regarded as the spiritual home of Italian rugby, is home to one of the country’s most famous teams, Benetton Rugby. Italy’s other premier team is Zebre based in Parma.

Veneto’s appeal to property-hunters is boundless. Oozing Italian culture with fantastic food and wine, it offers every type of landscape, from the Alps to its famous Lakes, and from its Adriatic beaches to the pretty towns and charming cities, including Venice.

Ireland
You’d think rugby was played in every town up and down Ireland, given the success of its teams on an international and European level. Incredibly, the sport has to compete with the Emerald Isle’s more popular Gaelic games, namely Gaelic football and hurling, and even football.

That said, the island has a growing rugby fanbase in each of its four provinces, with Leinster’s team based in Dublin, Munster’s in Limerick (they also play in Cork), Ulster’s in Belfast and Connacht’s in Galway. Out of these, Limerick is often referred to as the spiritual home of Irish rugby, thanks to the sport’s long history in the city and county, helped by the passion of Munster’s famous Red Army fans and the other famous club based there, namely Shannon RFC.

Ireland has some wonderful rural properties, where residents can tap into the stress-free outdoorsy lifestyle, especially on the wilder west coast. For a more urban experience, its towns and cities serve up bucket-loads of culture combined with a friendly social scene.