Six Nations Tournament

A bit much baggage on the other thread so here's a new one!
Start with the news re the Triple Crown:

'Triple Crown' is now a trophy

Friday, January 27, 2006

For the first time this season the winners of the Six Nations's Triple Crown will receive a trophy.

The Triple Crown is 'won' if one of the Home Nations (England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland) beats all the others during the course of a Six Nations (previously Five Nations) Championship.

But up until now it has been something of a mythic prize. However this season, in addition to the Six Nations trophy itself, a new silver dish will be on offer during a tournament which starts a week on Saturday when Ireland host Italy and world champions England entertain Six Nations title holders Wales.

"For such a long-running and much contested prize in rugby, it may seem quite surprising that no physical trophy for the Triple Crown has ever been adopted by the Home Unions," Six Nations chief executive John Feehan said on Wednesday.

"To now have something that is tangible and so impressive will add greatly to the already ultra-competitive environment of the Six Nations Championship."
Ireland captain Brian O'Driscoll added: "When we won the Triple Crown in 2004 for the first time in 19 years, it was a fantastic occasion and one of the most memorable days in my career so far, but to have been handed a trophy would have been the icing on the cake."

The trophy has been commissioned by Six Nations sponsors the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) who announced Wednesday they had agreed a four-year contract extension of their support for Europe's leading rugby union tournament.

RBS's new commitment will run up to, and include the 2009 competition.

AFP

hi burgs thanks for recommending this site.

It's official Scotland are now sick of battling it out for the wooden spoon and with Italy announcing there ambition to win one game in the tournament this year I formally announce we will have our name on the Triple Crown plate first.

Go the Force and Scotland

Squads for the Six Nations Championship ahead of the start of the 2006 edition on February 4:

England
Backs: Stuart Abbott, Olly Barkley, Ben Cohen, Mark Cueto, Matt Dawson, Harry Ellis, Andy Goode, Charlie Hodgson, Josh Lewsey, Jamie Noon, Pete Richards, James Simpson-Daniel, Mike Tindall, Mark van Gisbergen, Tom Varndell, Tom Voyce

Forwards: Steve Borthwick, Alex Brown, George Chuter, Martin Corry, Lawrence Dallaglio, Louis Deacon, James Forrester, Perry Freshwater, Danny Grewcock, Chris Jones, Magnus Lund, Lee Mears, Lewis Moody, Pat Sanderson, Simon Shaw, Andrew Sheridan, Matt Stevens, Steve Thompson, Julian White, Joe Worsley

Coach: Andy Robinson
Captain: Martin Corry
Last season: fourth
Championship titles: 25 (last 2003)
Grand Slams: 12 (1913, '14, '21, '23, '24, '28, '57, '80, '91, '92, '95, 2003)

France
Backs: Jean-Baptiste Elissalde, Dmitri Yachvili, Frederic Michalak, Benjamin Boyet, Yannick Jauzion, Florian Fritz, Ludovic Valbon, Christophe Dominici, Cedric Heymans, Nicolas Brusque

Forwards: Sebastien Bruno, Dimitri Szarzewski, Sylvain Marconnet, Pieter De Villiers, Olivier Milloud, Jerome Thion, Fabien Pelous, Lionel Nallet, Yannick Nyanga, Julien Bonnaire, Remy Martin, Thomas Lievremont

Coach: Bernard Laporte
Captain: Fabien Pelous
Last season: second
Championship titles: 14 (last 2004)
Grand Slams: 8 (1968, '77, '81, '87, '97, '98, 2002, '04)


Ireland
Backs: Tommy Bowe, Gordon D'Arcy, Shane Horgan, Barry Murphy, David Humphreys, Geordan Murphy, Brian O'Driscoll, Ronan O'Gara, Eoin Reddan, Peter Stringer, Andrew Trimble.

Forwards: Rory Best, Simon Best, Simon Easterby, Jerry Flannery, John Hayes, Marcus Horan, Denis Leamy, Donncha O'Callaghan, Paul O'Connell, Johnny O'Connor, Malcolm O'Kelly, David Wallace

Coach: Eddie O'Sullivan
Captain: Brian O'Driscoll
Last season: third
Championship titles: 10 (last 1985)
Grand Slams: one (1948 )

Italy
Backs: Mirco Bergamasco, Gonzalo Canale, Denis Dallan, Ezio Galon, Paul Griffen, Ludovico Maria Nitoglia, Samuele Pace, Ramiro Pez, Simon Picone, Alessandro Stoica, Rima Wakarua.

Forwards: Mauro Bergamasco, Marco Bortolami, Martin Castrogiovanni, Carlo Del Fava, Santiago Dellape, Carlo Festuccia, Andrea Lo Cicero, Carlos Nieto, Fabio Ongaro, Sergio Parisse, Salvatore Perugini, Josh Sole, Maurizio Zaffiri, Alessandro Zanni

Coach: Pierre Berbizier
Captain: Marco Bortolami
Last season: sixth
Championship titles: none
Grand Slams: none

Scotland
Backs: Mike Blair, Chris Cusiter, Marcus Di Rollo, Andrew Henderson, Sean Lamont, Rory Lamont, Ben MacDougall, Graeme Morrison, Dan Parks, Chris Paterson, Gordon Ross, Hugo Southwell, Nikki Walker, Simon Webster

Forwards: Kelly Brown, Bruce Douglas, Ross Ford, Dougie Hall, Craig Hamilton, Allister Hogg, Allan Jacobsen, Alastair Kellock, Gavin Kerr, Scott Lawson, Scott MacLeod, Andy Miller, Scott Murray, Euan Murray, Jon Petrie, Craig Smith, Simon Taylor, Jason White

Coach: Frank Hadden
Captain: Jason White
Last season: fifth
Championship titles: 14 (last 1999)
Grand Slams: 3 (1925, '84, '90)

Wales
Backs: Gareth Thomas, Barry Davies, Matthew Watkins, Hal Luscombe, Ceri Sweeney, Lee Byrne, Dafydd James, Mark Jones, Shane Williams, Nicky Robinson, Stephen Jones, Michael Phillips, Gareth Cooper, Dwayne Peel

Forwards: Colin Charvis, Martyn Williams, Alix Popham, Dafydd Jones, Gareth Delve, Michael Owen, Adam Jones, Jonathan Thomas, Robert Sidoli, Ian Gough, Matthew Rees, Rhys Thomas, Mefin Davies, Gethin Jenkins, Adam Jones, John Yapp, Duncan Jones

Coach: Mike Ruddock
Captain: Gareth Thomas
Last season: champion
Championship titles: 23
Grand Slams: 9 (1908, '09, '11, '50, '52, '71, '76, '89, 2005)

Schedule
February 4: Ireland v Italy

February 4: England v Wales

February 5: Scotland v France

February 11: France v Ireland

February 11: Italy v England

February 12: Wales v Scotland

February 25: France v Italy

February 25: Scotland v England

February 26: Ireland v Wales

March 11: Wales v Italy

March 11: Ireland v Scotland

March 12: France v England

March 18: Italy v Scotland

March 18: Wales v France

March 18: England v Ireland

Tournament records
Grand Slam Winners
12 - England: 1913, 1914, 1921, 1923, 1924, 1928, 1957, 1980, 1991, 1992, 1995, 2003
9 - Wales: 1908, 1909, 1911, 1950, 1952, 1971, 1976, 1978, 2005
8 - France: 1968, 1977, 1981, 1987, 1997, 1998, 2002, 2004
3 - Scotland: 1925, 1984, 1990
1 - Ireland: 1948

Outright champions
25 - England
23 - Wales
14 - Scotland, France
10 - Ireland

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Burgs

Tournament records
Grand Slam Winners
12 - England: 1913, 1914, 1921, 1923, 1924, 1928, 1957, 1980, 1991, 1992, 1995, 2003
9 - Wales: 1908, 1909, 1911, 1950, 1952, 1971, 1976, 1978, 2005
8 - France: 1968, 1977, 1981, 1987, 1997, 1998, 2002, 2004
3 - Scotland: 1925, 1984, 1990
1 - Ireland: 1948

Outright champions
25 - England
23 - Wales
14 - Scotland, France
10 - Ireland

---

quite suprised by Irelands low numbers - very interesting!

Trimmed it down for you Luke.
Do you mean Ireland champions or Grand Slams?
I guess if you Poms keep hogging them there's only so many years left ;)

Well if England decide to pick Delaglio for the 6n then we may as well all go home. :dopey:

What's that comment based on EnForcer? Laurence is certainly not the 'force' he once was. Only yesterday I watched him at Bath where his all-conquering London Wasps were outplayed in almost every aspect of the game and he in particular was outplayed by Bath's Andy (the Beast) Beattie. I think his inclusion in the squad is more to do with his leadership qualities and his vast experience rather than his current form...if he is in the starting 15 I would wager it was more to do with injuries to others.

Never say die and certainly don't give up before its over, I thought as a Celt you would know that we never let the English even think that we might fear them!

A wee bit of tongue in cheek Flat-top. I know he used to be a great player, cough cough splutter....hard for me to say that, but the thought of bringing him back into the side in the build up to the RWC makes no sense at all to me. Bring the younger lads in even if you have to bring in some inexperience.

i think u could have him in the team
maybe not as a starter but he would be a very useful sub i feel

he may not be the player he once was but he better than other in the squad

I know you have a similar thing going with the S14 but if you're interesetde in the 6N's then this fantasy rugby site might be worth a look.

http://scrum.fantasyleague.com/

Scotland: With their draw there is a glimmer of hope with Game 1, catch France unaware for a huge upset, Game 2, catch Wales still rattling from taking on the big England pack, Game 3, full of confidence and Braveheart passion slay the Rose at home, ........ but I don't think so.

Well the first major upset with Scotland amazingly beating pre tournament favourite France 20-16!!!
Have a read through my quote (from the other thread) above.....you just never know, it's a funny old game is rugby!

I'm still going for Ireland like I always do hehe.

typical French - loosing to Scots gives a huge boost to Englands chances of winning the six nations

An undiscussed aspect of the Six Nations Tournament, following the weekends results Australia has slid to 5th place without playing a game.
England to third, France fourth.
Scotland climb two places to eighth, their highest placing for some time.
Any further upsets over England or France by the others could see Australia continue to fall.
The upside of this is that any Tri Nations victory will ensure a rapid rise due to a greater IRB points spread between Australia and the top two teams.

1 (1) New Zealand 93.32

2 (2) South Africa 88.76

3 (5) England 84.21

4 (3) France 84.15

5 (4) Australia 83.93

6 (6) Wales 81.60

7 (7) Ireland 80.03

8 (10) Scotland 75.55

9 ( 8 ) Argentina 75.16

10 (9) Samoa 73.97

11 (11) Fiji 73.11

12 (12) Italy 72.40

Go Aussies! Wooooooo!

nice back into third! moving up at the right time for the 2007 RWC
should Sth Africa really be that many points ahead?
didnt travel too well in the northern hemisphere