Six Nations: The History

SIX NATIONS SPOTLIGHT: First there were two. Now there are six.

For much of the time, there were five. These are the nations which have been playing annually in Europe, the elegant top dogs of European rugby.

First, England played Scotland at Raeburn Place in Edinburgh on 27 March 1871, a match which Scotland won by a goal and a try to a try. The ground at Raeburn Place is still there, the home of Edinburgh Academicals.

In 1875 Ireland came along. Then there were three.

Matches were played 20-a-side in those days. Ireland managed a bit of chaos for their match at the Oval. The team was made up of ten from the south and ten from the north, players unknown to each other. Two who had been selected did not pitch up at all, and backs were played in the forwards, and vice versa. England won well - by a goal, a dropped goal and a try to nil on that Monday afternoon on the soggy Oval.

In 1881, Wales joined in. And then there were four. England smashed them. Points were not awarded in those days but in today's terms the score would have been 82-0. And so Wales dropped out again for the next year, restarting in Swansea in December 1882. Now there were four.

Then England were dropped in 1888 and 1889, because England did not want to join in with the newly formed International Rugby Board (World Rugby since 2014) because it would not recognise its ability to make laws for the game. And then there were three.

In 1890, England toed the line, and there were four. England had six votes while Scotland, Ireland and Wales had two votes each.

In 1910, France joined in. And then there were five.

In 1931, France were pitched out on the grounds that they were brutal and soft on professionalism. And then there were four.

In 1947, after the break for World War II, France were allowed back in. And then there were five.

In 2000 Italy joined in. And now there are six.

But they did not play every year. There were no official matches during World War I and World War II, and in 1885, when Scotland were refusing to play England, and in 1897 when Scotland and Ireland refused to play Wales because of alleged professionalism as Scotland did again in 1898, and in 1972 the "Championship" was not completed because Scotland and Wales, to their shame, decided it was too dangerous to visit Ireland to play rugby.

"Championship"? Yes, it was a myth until 1993. Till then people, largely in retrospect, worked out what the championship could have looked like had it been one, starting in 1883.

In 1993 it became officially a championship with a trophy whose winner would be decided if necessary by points' difference, as happened in 1999 when Scotland ended with a better points' difference than England after England's dramatic last-minute defeat by Wales at Wembley Stadium. That was not enough in a rugby world in which trophies were proliferating. So a new trophy was introduced in 2015.

And it should be called the International Championship, because there have not always been five nations involved. It sounds a bit presumptuous to call it that as there are nations playing international rugby outside of the cosy six.

A Grand Slam is awarded to the team which beats all the other five. It has no trophy. The French call it the Grand Chelem.

The Wooden Spoon also has not tangible trophy, but then it would be unwanted as it is "awarded" to the team coming bottom.

There is another "trophy" which used to be mythical - the Triple Crown. That is for competition amongst England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales (the "Home Unions") and goes to the team which beats the other three. When France have not played,  a successful run is referred to as a Triple Crown victory. When France have played, we have referred to a full house of victories as a Grand Slam. Now Grand Slam includes Italy's participation. The Triple Crown got a tangible trophy in 2016, the year in which bonus points were first awarded to Six Nations matches.

After we have made allowance for all of this, the winners of the International Championship down the years have been:

1883: England, Grand Slam

1884: England, Triple Crown

1885: No result

1886: Scotland

1887: Scotland

1888: Ireland with one more try than Scotland or Wales

1889: Scotland

1890: England

1891: Scotland, Triple Crown

1892: England, Triple Crown

1893: Wales, Triple Crown

1894: Ireland, Triple Crown

1895: Scotland, Triple Crown

1896: Ireland

1897: No result

1898: No result

1899: Ireland, Triple Crown

1900: Wales, Triple Crown

1901: Scotland, Triple Crown

1902: Wales, Triple Crown

1903: Scotland, Triple Crown

1904: Scotland

1905: Wales, Triple Crown

1906: Ireland, better points' difference than Wales

1907: Scotland, Triple Crown

1908: Wales, Triple Crown

1909: Wales, Triple Crown

1910: England

1911: Wales, Grand Slam, Triple Crown

1912: England, better points' difference than Ireland

1913: England, Grand Slam, Triple Crown

1914: England, Grand Slam, Triple Crown

1915-1919: No matches

1920: Wales, better points' difference than England & Scotland

1921: England, Grand Slam, Triple Crown

1922: Wales

1923: England, Grand Slam, Triple Crown

1924: England, Grand Slam, Triple Crown

1925: Scotland, Grand Slam, Triple Crown

1926: Scotland

1927: Scotland

1928: England, Grand Slam, Triple Crown

1929: Scotland

1930: England

1931: Wales

1932: Ireland

1933: Scotland, Triple Crown

1934: England, Triple Crown

1935: Ireland

1936: Wales

1937: England, Triple Crown

1938: Scotland, Triple Crown

1939: Wales, better points' difference than Ireland & England

1940-46: No matches

1947: England

1948 Ireland, Grand Slam, Triple Crown

1949 Ireland, Triple Crown

1950 Wales, Grand Slam, Triple Crown

1951 Ireland

1952 Wales, Grand Slam, Triple Crown

1953 England

1954 Wales, Triple Crown

1955 Wales

1956 Wales

1957 England, Grand Slam, Triple Crown

1958 England

1959 France

1960 France

England, Triple Crown

1961 France

1962 France

1963 England

1964 Wales, better points' difference than Scotland

1965 Wales, Triple Crown

1966 Wales

1967 France

1968 France, Grand Slam

1969 Wales, Triple Crown

1970 France

1971 Wales, Grand Slam, Triple Crown

1972 No result

1973 Scotland, better points' difference than Wales, England, Ireland, France

1974 Ireland

1975 Wales

1976 Wales, Grand Slam, Triple Crown

1977 France, Grand Slam; Wales, Triple Crown

1978 Wales, Grand Slam, Triple Crown

1979 Wales, Triple Crown

1980 England, Grand Slam, Triple Crown

1981: France, Grand Slam

1982: Ireland, Triple Crown

1983: Ireland

1984: Scotland, Grand Slam

1985: Ireland

1986: France, better points' difference than Scotland

1987: France, Grand Slam

1988: Wales, better points' difference than France

1989: France

1990: Scotland, Grand Slam, Triple Crown

1991: England, Grand Slam, Triple Crown

1992: England, Grand Slam, Triple Crown

1993: France

1994: Wales, better points' difference than England

1995: England, Grand Slam, Triple Crown

1996: England, better points' difference than Scotland

1997: France, Grand Slam; England, Triple Crown

1998: France, Grand Slam; England, Triple Crown

1999: Scotland, better points' difference than England

2000: England

2001: England

2002: France, Grand Slam; England Triple Crown

2003: England, Grand Slam; England Triple Crown

2004: France, Grand Slam; Ireland Triple Crown

2005: Wales, Grand Slam; Wales Triple Crown

2006: France, Ireland Triple Crown

2007: France, Ireland Triple Crown

2008: Wales, Grand Slam, Triple Crown

2009: Ireland, Grand Slam, Triple Crown

2010: France, Grand Slam

2011: England

2012: Wales, Grand Slam, Triple Crown

2013: Wales

2014: Ireland; England Triple Crown

2015: Ireland

2016: England, Grand Slam, Triple Crown

2017: England

2018: Ireland, Grand Slam, Triple Crown

Winners

England: 13 Grand Slams, 25 Triple Crowns

Wales: 11 Grand Slams, 20 Triple Crowns

France: 9 Grand Slams

Ireland: 3 Grand Slams, 11 Triple Crowns

Scotland: 3 Grand Slams, 10 Triple Crowns

Italy: 0

Records

Match

Highest aggregate of points: 86, England vs Wales, 1998

Team

Most points in a season: 229, England, 2001

Most tries in a season: 29, England, 2001

Highest score: 80, England vs Italy, 2001

Biggest win: 57, England vs Italy, 2001 (80-23)

Individual

Most caps: 63, Ronan O'Gara, Ireland

Most tries: 24, IS Smith, Scotland

Most points: 557, Ronan O'Gara, Ireland

Most tries in a match: 5, George Lindsay, Scotland vs Wales, 1887

Most tries in a season: 8, Cyril Lowe (England), Ian Smith (Scotland)

Most tries in a career: 26, Brian O'Driscoll (Ireland)

Most points in a match: 35, Jonny Wilkinson (England)

Most points in a season: 89, Jonny Wilkinson (England)

*The 2001 match between England and Italy makes the records a bit lopsided. England won that match 80-23. That is when Wilkinson scored 35 points.

By Paul Dobson, @rugby365com