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We congratulate England on winning the Championship
| Played | Won | Points | |
| England | 5 | 4 | 8 |
| Ireland | 5 | 3 | 6 |
| France | 5 | 3 | 6 |
| Wales | 5 | 3 | 6 |
| Italy | 5 | 1 | 2 |
| Scotland | 5 | 0 | 2 |
The six Nations kicked off on Saturday 5th February. Italy join the Championship this year and got off to a tremendous start by beating Scotland in Rome, but came down to earth losing to Wales.
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
Disappointing in the World Cup, the highly critical top brass will expect nothing less than a Grand Slam. The win over France in Paris may well be the Championship decider. England's strength lies in their forwards, although it is arguable that the front five's forward play has declined since the early 1990s. A good pairing at half-back in Matt Dawson and Jonny Wilkinson.
England 50 Ireland 18
Whilst an English victory was always on the cards, none of the rugby pundits expected such an emphatic win. Ben Cohen, the new England wing scored two tries in his debut. England ran in six tries in total, and achieved their highest win over Ireland. The second half did see Ireland score two tries through Kevin Maggs and Mick Galwey. Jonny Wilkinson kicked a total of 20 points.
England 46 Wales 12
England comfortably beat Wales. Five memorable tries from Phil Greening, Neil Back, Richard Hill, Lawrence Dallaglio and Ben Cohen. Current form places them strong favourites to achieve the Grand Slam. Their convincing win over Italy, only leaves the old enemy Scotland to beat to achieve the Grand Slam.
France
No one will forget the epic World Cup semi-final with New Zealand. Self belief is probably at a high and there has been such a turnaround since France's disastrous 1999 Five Nations campaign. France were probably favourites for the competition, until their defeat by England.
France 9 England 15
Not a spectacle by any stretch of the imagination. A game of big tackles is what sticks in the mind. England were deserved winners in this titantic clash. Both sides, at this stage of the Championship, appear to be in a League of their own.
Despite their injury problems, France beat Scotland in Murryfield.
France 42 Itlay 31
France overcame their 5 match losing streak at the Stade de France. This was not the rout that was predicted. A spirited performance ny the Italiens kept them in touch throughout the match.
Ireland
Ireland have not managed two wins in the Championship since 1993. Ireland will be looking to its talented youngsters to revive the emerald Isle's hopes. Ronan O'Gara has displayed considerable form in the European Cup competition, but was sadly missed through injury in the 50-18 defeat by England.
Ireland 44 Scotland 22
This was a superb performance by the Irish. Full of commitment, pace and passion. Deservidly rounded off with a Keith Woods try. As for the replacement fly-half, Humphreys, a dream game for him. He will no doubt start in the number 10 spot in the next game.
Ireland 60 Italy 13
Ireland scored six tries, with Ronan O'Gara at last capturing his European Cup form. He amassed 30 points, a championship record.
France 25 Ireland 27
Ireland achieved their first victory over France since 1983. Brian O'Driscoll, scored three tries. It was left to outside half John Humphreys to win the game for Ireland with a late penalty.
This has been an incredible revival of fortunes for the Irish following their dismal performance in the opener against England.
Ireland 19 Wales 23
Ireland's renaissance came down to a bump at Landsdowne Road. The intensity of this game was quite frightening. It was ironic that Wales first try came from a line-out despite their performance in this aspect of the game being generally shambolick. Bugett the scorer. Jones added the second, whilst Ireland scored through fortress man Hogan. Ireland played out of their skins in the last quarter but could not convert pressure in to points.
Italy
Mervyn Davies the great former Welsh International and British Lion has described Italy as essentially a country where they play soccer and basketball, and ride bikes. How wrong he has proved to be!
Italy 34 Scotland 20
Italy's 34-20 victory over Scotland has firmly placed Italy on the Rugby Map. Doego Dominguez marshalled the victory in true Hugo Porta style. He scored 29 points. Italy came down to earth though losing 47-16 to Wales.
The Italians were simply outclassed by Ireland
Italy 12 England 59
Italy certainly took the game to England in the first half, but eventually the flood gates opened.Eight tries scored in all with Austin Healey taking three of them. However, this was still a creditable performance by the Italians.
Italy performance against France was a fitting climax to end their first outing in the European Championship.
Scotland
Scotland, last years Five Nations champions, came down to earth with a monumental thump following their defeat by Italy 34-20. Despite demolishing the French in Paris last season and having had a creditable World Cup, McGeechan, the new Scotland coach, has his work cut out to inspire his team to achieve its full potential. The Scots were thumped by Ireland, making sweeping changes for the French game.
Scotland 16 France 28
The Scots redeemed themselves after the rout in Dublin, but only managed one try.
They were hugely disappointing in Cardiff in a mistake ridden match. All that is now left of their season is to prevent England from achieving the Grand Slam
Scotland 19 England 13
This was a magnificent Scottish performance in horrendous playing conditions denying England the Grand Slam. For sheer guts and determination, Scotland deserved to win. Simon Hodge scored all Scotland's points. The question is was Princess Anne snubbed in England not collecting the Six Nations trophy from her?
Wales
Wales have hit new heights since the disaster of the 1998 Five Nations, with two wins over France, beating England last season (who can forget that Scott Gibbs try) and South Africa.
Wales 3 France 36
However, a disciplined performance by the French saw Welsh hopes of becoming Six Nations Champions become a distant dream. Wales lost 36-3. This was a game Wales threw away. They lost many of their own lineouts through over complication. Early first half pressure was not turned into points. There is considerable talent in the Welsh team which is not reaching its full potential. Robert Howley, released from the burden of captaincy, is still not reproducing the form that made him first choice for the Lions. He may well lose his place.
Wales 47 Italy 16
A creditable performance by the welsh against an Italian side still on a high after its victory over Scotland. Tries from Quinnell, Bateman, Howarth and Williams were all crowd pleasures.
Neil Jenkins's set yet more records:
1. Most Five/Six Nations points in history
2. First man to pass 300 in championship
The Welsh were very disappointing against England and were simply outclassed on the day.
The controversy raging in Wales over the qualification of foreign born players rang in the changes for the Welsh game againat Scotland. Out of form Howley wwas dropped in favour of Llanelli's Rupert Moon.
Wales 26 Scotland 18
An unfamiliar welsh team ran in victors in this mistake ridden encounter. Moon and Jones, the Llanelli half backs combined well and put in creditable performances. They are likeky to retain their places. Shane Williams continues to grow in stature, running in two tries.
Wales can take heart from their "backs to the wall" performance against
Ireland. Taking into account injury problems, the eligibility controversy
et al, Wales have salvaged much from a disappointing Six nations Championship
for them.
