|
|
| Played | Won | Drawn | Points | |
| France | 5 | 5 | 0 | 10 |
| England | 5 | 4 | 0 | 8 |
| Ireland | 5 | 3 | 0 | 6 |
| Scotland | 5 | 2 | 0 | 4 |
| Wales | 5 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Italy | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Congratulations to France in achieving another Grand Slam
The Six Nations Championship kicked off on Saturday 2nd February 2002. England won the 2001 Championship and failed to achieve a Grand Slam after their defeat by Ireland.
England were again favourites and won the Triple Crown.
What does this Competition mean in the professional era? It is still a tournament full of passion and engenders immense Nationalistic pride.
Here are some
Famous quotes:
Phil Bennett's dressing room address Wales v England 1977 - "Look what these bastards have done to Wales. They've taken our coal, our water, our steel. They buy our houses and only live in them for a fortnight every 12 months. What have they given us? Absolutely nothing. We've been exploited, raped, controlled and punished by the English - and that's who you are playing this afternoon".
Clive Woodward on the Five Nations 1999 - "Winning is everything. If I wanted entertainment I'd play Pavarotti at Prop and Cliff Richard at stand-off"
Gareth Chilcott on England v Wales 1987 - "For the first 10 minutes they could have taken the ball off the park and none of us would have noticed".
England
England's emphatic victory in their 29-3 defeat of Scotland has set their 2002 campaign to a positive start. Martin Johnson has returned from injury to lead his country. They are desperate to win a Grand Slam which slippied from their grasp in 1999, 2000 & 2001.
England 45 Ireland 11
Who would have predicted this scoreline against what had until this
game been an in-form Irish side. England dominated the match running in
6 tries. A fantastic display from Wilkinson at Number 10.
The defeat against France is a bitter disappointment.
England 50 Wales 10
England secured the Triple Crown in a game that lacked any real passion
or committment by either side.
 |
 |
Yet England cruised to victory. Jonny Wilkinson put Wales to the sword with a personal score tally of 30 points.
France
Amazingly France finished 5th in last year's Championship & lost 48-19 to England. Most of the veterans of the past are out. They beat both South Africa and Australia in the Autumn Internationals. This season they have finished Six Nations Champions. What a turnaround of fortunes.
France 33 Italy 12
This game was a poor spectacle and the French landslide just did n't happen. France trailed 12-6 until Italy's Checchinato's yellow card proved costly during which France scored 16 points.
Victory over Wales meant France had won their opening two matches.
France 20 England 15
When you play France in the spring, with the sun on their banks, in Paris, you would be a foolish punter to suggest even the best ranked opponents will cruise to victory. This was a classic of its kind; England were poor but the French were inspirational. Imanol Harinordoquy's try summed up the French performance. Fabien Galthie produced a flawless performance.
France 44 Ireland 5
France beat Ireland in the grandest manner. Flair, power & shere brilliance. 80,0000 packed the Stade de France. Five tries to one says it all.
Ireland
The core off the Squad are from Munster whose European campaign has earned them a semi-final place. They finished runners up in the 2001 Championship, the first time since 1987. They now stand 6th in the official world rankings. The defeat at Twickenham & the Stade de France was a huge blow to them.
Ireland 54 Wales 10
A magnificent start to the Irish's campaign against a lacklustre Welsh side. This represented a record win over Wales.David Humphrey ran the show with a try count of 6-1.
Ireland 43 Scotland 22
Although Scotland had the better of the first half territorially they could not turn the advantage into points; Man of the match Brian O'Driscoll was just dynamite running in a hat trick of tries.
Ireland 32 Italy 17
This was an ill disciplined Italien side who spent a quarter of the match with 14 players. At half time Ireland led 19-0 but the floodgates failed to open. Ireland meet France at the Stade de France next.
Italy
Diego Dominguez remains a key figure for the minnows of the Championship. Alas, Italy has won only seven of its last 34 games, and three of those were against Spain, Romania & Namibia. Another wooden Spoon for Italy although their display against England was most encouraging.
Italy 12 Scotland 29
For most of the game the scores were locked but Scotland ran away with the game in the final quarter.
With four losses in succession, Italy took the wooden spoon yet again.
Italy 9 England 45
The expected rout never happened and Italy can take heart from their performance
Scotland
Scotland 3 England 29
This was a record defeat for the Scots at Murrayfield and they were sent on their way by two early tries run in by the ever present Jason Robinson. Wilkinson reached 500 points in Test matches for England and the Lions. Scotland's fly half Duncan Hodge summed up their afternoon missing four penalty kicks at goal.
Scotland 10 France 22
Three tries, one in the first half and two in five minutes after the
break, sealed the victory for France. This was a much improved scottish
performance though.
Although Scotland took heart from their win in Rome, the loss against
Ireland and France has shattered this seasons campaign.
Wales
Wales played three matches at home this season with away games to Ireland & England. Based on their pre-Christmas home form, they struggled to end up even mid-table. If anything is to go by the margin of defeat against both Ireland and England is an immense setback. Rob Howley retired from International Rugby making his last appearance against Scotland.
Wales 33 France 37
A classic of a game. The passion returned to the welsh in a game they might have won. This performance put their campaign back on track - but it was short lived.
Wales 44 Italy 20
A great boost for Welsh rugby, and the style of play was refreshing; Rhys Williams came of age - great pace proved he has much to offer at centre or wing. Despite all this Wales were thumped by England at Twickenham.
Wales 22 Scotland 27
A game which ran away from Wales. Stephen Jones had kicked his fifth
penalty of the game to put them 22-21 in front with 10 minutes to go. Bill
McLaren made his last appearance as a commentator.
