Five/Six Nations facts
11:10, 30 Jan 2013
Shane Stapleton
All you need to know on the history of the Five/Six Nations as we get ready for another great championship...
HISTORY
After 12 years of occasional friendly matches between the teams, the inaugural Home International Championship, comprising England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales was played in 1883. France officially joined in 1910 having played in four tournaments up to that point with the Championship now referred to as the Five Nations.
The competition was suspended during World War I before France were ejected from the tournament in 1931, which reverted back to being the Home Nations from 1932 through to 1939. Proceedings were halted again during World War II and resumed in 1947 as the Five Nations with France welcomed backed into the fold.
The completion of the championship is postponed for the first time since 1962, when a smallpox epidemic in Wales forced rearrangement of the original and rescheduled Ireland v Wales match dates. The delayed match was a wooden spoon encounter, a 3-3 draw on November 17.
The 1972 championship was abandoned when Scotland and Wales declined to visit Dublin due to political unrest.
In 1973, the season was unique for a five-way tie, with every nation having won and lost two games.
Scotland beat Wales 12-10 in March 1975 in Murrayfield in front of a championship record attendance of 104,000.
Prior to 1994 teams that finished equal on points shared the Championship but from then on ties were broken by considering the points differences between the teams.
The inside of the Six Nations title is coated with gold to prevent the champagne poured into it corroding the trophy.
Back-to-back Grand Slams have been won on five occasions: Wales achieved the first one in 1908 and 1909, England have done it three times in 1913 and 1914, 1923 and 1924 and 1991 and 1992 while France did it in 1997 and 1998.
The oldest title is the Calcutta Cup, which has been running since 1879 and is contested annually between England and Scotland. The trophy is made of melted down Rupees.
The Millennium Trophy has been awarded to the winner of the game between England and Ireland with the first presented in 1989, and in the same year, the Centenary Quaich was contested between Ireland and Scotland for the first time.
Since 2007, France and Italy have also contested for their own silverware — the Giuseppe Garibaldi Trophy — honouring the 200th anniversary of the birth of Giuseppe Garibaldi who helped unify Italy and was also a French military general.
The youngest ever Five/Six Nations players were Wales Jake Blackmore (aged 17 years and 62 days) and the oldest was England's Frederick Gilbert (aged 39).
England hold the record for consecutive games won in the championship with 10, which they have done twice. Wales and France top out at nine wins in a row, Ireland have never won more than seven on the bounce, while Scotland’s high watermark is six.
Italy joined the Six Nations in 2000 and won their opening games 34-20 against Scotland at the Stadio Flaminio in Rome in February that year, their next win in the tournament did not come until they hosted Wales at the same venue in February 2003.
France and Wales contested the first ever game played on a Friday night in 2009.
FRANCE
France hold the record for longest amount of games without victory: 17 games, starting in January 1911 and ending in February 1920.
The record for most consecutive wins against the one opponent is held by France over Ireland: 14 wins, starting in 1986 and ending in 1999.
France won their first shared title in 1954 and their first outright title in 1959.
There was no tangible reward for winning the Five Nations Championship until 1993 when a trophy was presented for the first time to the winners — who were France.
The French set a record for most points scored in defeat when they lost 43-35 to Wales in March 2001 at Stade de France.
WALES
The 1970s marked a golden age for Welsh rugby as they won three Grand Slams and one Triple Crown during the decade.
Since the Six Nations started in 2000, Wales have conceded the fewest tries in a single campaign with just two in 2008.
In 2005 Wales became the first team ever to win a Grand Slam by playing more games away than at home — a feat repeated by Ireland in 2009.
The record for most individual tries on the one ground is held by Shane Williams, he dotted down 14 times at the Millennium Stadium between 2000 and 2011.
ITALY
Italy collected the Wooden Spoon in 2006 but achieved a historic feat by earning their maiden point away from home after drawing with Wales.
Italy won two games for the first time in 2007 as they beat Scotland in Edinburgh and Wales in Rome.
The Azzurri made history with a first championship win over France in 2011, stunning Les Bleus 22-21 in Rome, but still picked up the Wooden Spoon. Or, as it’s called in Italian, Cucchiaio di legno.
Italy have conceded the most tries in a single tournament with 25, in both 2000 and 2003.
The lowest match-winning percentage in championship history belongs to Ludovico Nitoglia with 5%, and that comes in the form of just one draw from 10 games between 2005 and 2006.
ENGLAND
The RFU paid £5,500 for Twickenham when they bought the plot back in 1907.
In the history of the Five/ Six Nations, England have won the most titles with 26.
England hold the record for the number of Grand Slams won with 12, followed by Wales with 11, France with nine, Scotland with three and Ireland with two.
England also hold the record for the number of Triple Crowns won with 23, followed by Wales with 20, Scotland and Ireland both with ten — it was not until 2006, when Ireland won it, that a physical trophy was awarded.
England were the first side to win the Six Nations in 2000 before repeating the trick in 2001 — the latter with a record points differential of +149, from 229 scored (also a record) and 80 conceded.
The English recorded the biggest winning margin in Six Nations history in February 2001: 80-23 over Italy. They also created a record for tries converted by adding the extras on nine of 10 tries.
England have scored the most cumulative points in the tournament since 2000, with 1829.
Jonny Wilkinson holds the record for most points in a single campaign when he amassed 89 points (including one try, 24 conversions, and 12 penalties) in 2001. Ronan O’Gara of Ireland is second on the list with 82 points (four tries, 10 cons, 14 pens) in 2007.
The most wins by a single player in championship history belongs to Jason Leonard, who won 44 (and lost 10) of 54 games — that’s an 81.48% winning rate. Ronan O’Gara is second on the list with 41 wins (plus 19 losses and 1 draw) from 61 games (a 68.03% winning ratio).
The record for most individual points on the one ground is held by Jonny Wilkinson, with 329 at Twickenham from 1998 to 2011.
SCOTLAND
National stadium Murrayfield first got floodlights back in 1994.
Scotland were the last team to lift the Five Nations trophy as Italy joined the following year in 2000 and the tournament became known as the Six Nations.
Jim Aitkin became the oldest ever championship try scorer when he crossed the whitewash against Wales in Cardiff during Scotland’s 15-9 win at the age of 36 years and 60 days.
IRELAND
As Gaeilge, Six Nations is referred to as Comórtas na Sé Náisiún.
Ireland’s Mike Gibson and Tony O’Reilly have the longest ever Five/Six Nations careers at 15 years and 23 days each. England’s Simon Shaw is next on 14 years and 36 days.
Ireland’s Ronan O’Gara has the most points in tournament history with 551 (2012 inclusive).
Brian O’Driscoll has the most overall individual tries in Five/Six Nations history with 25 (2012 inclusive). He also holds the record for captaining his side more than anyone else in the competition: 41 times.
The record for highest winning percentage by an Irish player in championship history belongs to Guy Easterby at 90%, or nine wins from 10 games between 2001 and 2005.
DISCIPLINE
Italy set a record of four yellow cards in a single game when Diego Dominguez, Carlo Checchinato, Mauro Bergamasco and Matthew Phillips all went to the bin at Stade de France in a 33-12 loss in 2002.
Five players have received two yellow cards in a single tournament: Walter Cristofoletto (2000), Scott Quinnell (2000), Mauro Bergamasco (2002), Gonzalo Garcia (2010), Nick de Luca (2012).
Three players have received red cards since the six-team format started in 2000: Walter Cristofoletto (2000), Alessandro Troncon (2001), Scott Murray (2006).
France set a record for red cards in a single Five/Six game when front-rows Vincent Moscato and Gregoire Lascube were sent off at Parc des Princes in a 13-31 loss to France in 1992.
RECORDS
|
Team
|
Span
|
Mat
|
Won
|
Lost
|
Draw
|
%
|
For
|
Aga
|
Diff
|
|
England
|
1882-2012
|
443
|
235
|
169
|
39
|
57.44
|
5906
|
4521
|
+1385
|
|
France
|
1910-2012
|
344
|
179
|
147
|
18
|
54.65
|
5046
|
4396
|
+650
|
|
Ireland
|
1883-2012
|
443
|
186
|
233
|
24
|
44.69
|
4790
|
5415
|
-625
|
|
Italy
|
2000-2012
|
65
|
9
|
55
|
1
|
14.61
|
960
|
2103
|
-1143
|
|
Scotland
|
1883-2012
|
444
|
185
|
236
|
23
|
44.25
|
4665
|
5480
|
-815
|
|
Wales
|
1882-2012
|
441
|
231
|
185
|
25
|
55.21
|
5630
|
5082
|
+548
|
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