2008 Six Nations Championship

2008 Six Nations Championship
The Welsh team that won the Grand Slam
Date	2 February 2008 – 15 March 2008
Countries	England  France  Ireland  Italy  Scotland  Wales
Tournament statistics
Champions	Wales (24th title)
Grand Slam	Wales (10th title)
Triple Crown	Wales (19th title)
Calcutta Cup	Scotland
Millennium Trophy	England
Centenary Quaich	Ireland
Giuseppe Garibaldi Trophy	France
Matches played	15
Tries scored	50 (3.33 per match)
Top point scorer(s)	Jonny Wilkinson (50)
Top try scorer(s)	Shane Williams (6)
Player of the tournament	Shane Williams
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The 2008 Six Nations Championship, known as the 2008 RBS 6 Nations because of the tournament's sponsorship by the Royal Bank of Scotland, was the ninth series of the rugby union Six Nations Championship. Including the previous incarnations as the Home Nations and Five Nations, this was the 114th series of the northern hemisphere rugby union championship. Fifteen matches were played over five weekends from 2 February to 15 March, resulting in Wales winning the Grand Slam, their second in the last four championships and tenth overall. In winning the Grand Slam, Wales also won the Triple Crown for beating each of the other Home Nations for the nineteenth time. Wales also conceded only two tries in the championship, beating England's previous record of four tries conceded. Wales' Shane Williams was named as the RBS Player of the Championship.^[1]

Participants

For the second year running, Ireland play their home games at Croke Park, while Lansdowne Road is being redeveloped.

The teams involved were:

Nation	Venue	City	Head coach	Captain
England	Twickenham	London	Brian Ashton	Phil Vickery
France	Stade de France	Saint-Denis	Marc Lièvremont	Lionel Nallet
Ireland	Croke Park[2]	Dublin	Eddie O'Sullivan	Brian O'Driscoll[3]
Italy	Stadio Flaminio	Rome	Nick Mallett	Sergio Parisse
Scotland	Murrayfield	Edinburgh	Frank Hadden	Jason White[4]
Wales	Millennium Stadium	Cardiff	Warren Gatland	Ryan Jones

Squads

Table

Position	Nation	Games				Points				Table points
		Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	For	Against	Difference	Tries
1	Wales	5	5	0	0	148	66	+82	13	10
2	England	5	3	0	2	108	83	+25	8	6
3	France	5	3	0	2	103	93	+10	11	6
4	Ireland	5	2	0	3	93	99	−6	9	4
5	Scotland	5	1	0	4	69	123	−54	3	2
6	Italy	5	1	0	4	74	131	−57	6	2

Results

Week 1

2 February 2008 14:00 GMT

Ireland	16 – 11	Italy
Try: Dempsey 18' c Con: O'Gara (1/1) Pen: O'Gara (3/4) 12', 57', 66'	(Report)	Try: Castrogiovanni 60' m Pen: Bortolussi (2/3) 38', 70'

Croke Park, Dublin Attendance: 75,387 Referee: Jonathan Kaplan (South Africa)

• Although Italy's try was credited to Sergio Parisse during the game, he later stated that it had in fact been scored by Martin Castrogiovanni.^[5]

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2 February 2008 16:30 GMT

England	19 – 26	Wales
Try: Flood 23' c Con: Wilkinson (1/1) Pen: Wilkinson (3/4) 1', 11', 45' Drop: Wilkinson (1/1) 17'	(Report)	Tries: Byrne 67' c Phillips 70' c Con: Hook (2/2) Pen: Hook (4/4) 4', 34', 57', 63'

Twickenham, London Attendance: 82,000 Referee: Craig Joubert (South Africa)

• This win was Wales' first over England at Twickenham for twenty years.

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3 February 2008 15:00 GMT

Scotland	6 – 27	France
Pen: Parks (1/2) 30' Drop: Parks (1/2) 4'	(Report)	Tries: Clerc 12' c, 65' c Malzieu 23' c Con: Élissalde (2/2) Skrela(1/1) Pen: Traille (2/2) 18', 55'

Murrayfield, Edinburgh Attendance: 67,800 Referee: Alain Rolland (Ireland)[6]

Week 2

9 February 2008 14:00 GMT

Wales	30 – 15	Scotland
Tries: S. Williams 13' c, 68' c Hook 46' c Con: Hook (2/2) S. Jones (1/1) Pen: Hook (1/1) 28' S. Jones (2/2) 63', 71'	(Report)	Pen: Paterson (5/5) 10', 32', 42', 50', 55

Millennium Stadium, Cardiff Attendance: 74,576 Referee: Bryce Lawrence (New Zealand)

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9 February 2008 16:00 GMT

France	26 – 21	Ireland
Tries: Clerc 14' c, 18' m, 35' c Heymans 48' c Con: Élissalde (3/4)	(Report)	Tries: Penalty try 55' c D. Wallace 59' m Con: O'Gara (1/2) Pen: O'Gara (3/3) 17', 28', 74'

Stade de France, Saint-Denis Attendance: 76,500 Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)

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10 February 2008 14:30 GMT

Italy	19 – 23	England
Try: Picone 76' c Con: Bortolussi (1/1) Pen: Bortolussi (4/4) 5', 11', 44', 54'	(Report)	Tries: Sackey 3' c Flood 15' c Con: Wilkinson (2/2) Pen: Wilkinson (3/4) 31', 37', 57'

Stadio Flaminio, Rome Attendance: 30,625 Referee: Alain Rolland (Ireland)

Week 3

23 February 2008 15:00 GMT

Wales	47 – 8	Italy
Tries: Byrne 28' c, 68' c Shanklin 42' c S. Williams 57' c, 74' c Con: S. Jones (3/3) Hook (2/2) Pen: S. Jones (4/4) 4', 11', 47', 50'	(Report)	Try: Castrogiovanni 12' m Pen: Marcato (1/2) 40+2'

Millennium Stadium, Cardiff Attendance: 74,305 Referee: Dave Pearson (England)

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23 February 2008 17:00 GMT

Ireland	34 – 13	Scotland
Tries: D. Wallace 22' c Kearney 26' c Horan 41' m Bowe 62' c, 79' m Con: O'Gara (3/5) Pen: O'Gara (1/1) 50'	(Report)	Try: Webster 53' c Con: Paterson (1/1) Pen: Paterson (2/2) 24', 31'

Croke Park, Dublin Attendance: 74,234 Referee: Christophe Berdos (France)

• Ireland win the Centenary Quaich.

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23 February 2008 20:00 GMT

France	13 – 24	England
Try: Nallet 24' c Con: Traille(1/1) Pen: Parra (1/1) 49' Yachvili (1/1) 74'	(Report)	Tries: Sackey 5' c Wigglesworth 79' m Con: Wilkinson (1/2) Pen: Wilkinson (3/5) 14', 29', 68' Drop: Wilkinson (1/2) 64'

Stade de France, Saint-Denis Attendance: 79,593 Referee: Steve Walsh (New Zealand)

• Jonny Wilkinson drew level with Wales' Neil Jenkins as the all-time leading point scorer in international rugby history. Including both men's points for the British and Irish Lions, the two have scored 1,090 career points.
• This result left Wales as the only remaining team that could win the Grand Slam.
• This was England's first Six Nations away win over France since their 15–9 win in 2000.

Week 4

8 March 2008 13:15 GMT

Ireland	12 – 16	Wales
Pen: O'Gara (4/4) 5', 19', 62', 68'	(Report)	Try: S. Williams 51' c Con: S. Jones (1/1) Pen: S. Jones (2/4) 26', 46' Hook (1/1) 76'

Croke Park, Dublin Attendance: 75,000 Referee: Wayne Barnes (England)

• Shane Williams draws level with Gareth Thomas as the all-time try leader for Wales with his 40th try.
• Wales win the Triple Crown.

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8 March 2008 15:15 GMT

Scotland	15 – 9	England
Pen: Paterson (4/4) 9', 31', 40+2', 41' Parks (1/1) 48'	(Report)	Pen: Wilkinson (3/5) 27', 50', 53'

Murrayfield, Edinburgh Attendance: 67,987 Referee: Jonathan Kaplan (South Africa)

• England's Jonny Wilkinson becomes the all-time scoring leader in international rugby history, surpassing Wales' Neil Jenkins. Wilkinson's new record now stands at 1,099 points. This figure was reached due to a decision by the IRB to count the Lions' match against Argentina in 2005 as a Test match.
• Scotland win the Calcutta Cup.

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9 March 2008 15:00 GMT

France	25 – 13	Italy
Tries: Floch 13' c Jauzion 53' m Rougerie 66' c Con: Yachvili (2/3) Pen: Yachvili (2/2) 27', 37'	(Report)	Try: Castrogiovanni 58' c Con: Marcato (1/1) Pen: Marcato (2/2) 18', 31'

Stade de France, Saint-Denis Attendance: 79,000 Referee: Alan Lewis (Ireland)

• France win their second consecutive Giuseppe Garibaldi Trophy.

Week 5

15 March 2008 13:00 GMT

Italy	23 – 20	Scotland
Tries: Penalty try 13' c Canale 59' c Con: Marcato (2/2) Drop: Marcato (1/1) 79' Pen: Marcato (2/4) 36', 68'	(Report)	Tries: Hogg 21' c Blair 40' c Con: Paterson (2/2) Pen: Parks (1/1) 25' Paterson (1/1) 72'

Stadio Flaminio, Rome Attendance: 40,000 Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)

• Despite victory over the Scots, Italy win the "wooden spoon", having failed to win by the necessary five point margin required to avoid finishing at the bottom of the table.

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15 March 2008 15:00 GMT

England	33 – 10	Ireland
Tries: Sackey 19' c Tait 57' c Noon 69' c Con: Cipriani (3/3) Pen: Cipriani (4/4) 12', 30', 44', 73'	(Report)	Try: Kearney 4' c Con: O'Gara (1/1) Pen: O'Gara (1/2) 7'

Twickenham, London Attendance: 82,000 Referee: Stuart Dickinson (Australia)

• England win the Millennium Trophy for the first time in 5 years.

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15 March 2008 17:00 GMT

Wales	29 – 12	France
Tries: S. Williams 60' c M. Williams 77' c Con: S. Jones (2/2) Pen: Hook (3/5) 5', 18', 21' S. Jones (2/2) 63', 74'	(Report)	Pen: Élissalde (3/3) 19', 39', 46' Yachvili (1/1) 69'

Millennium Stadium, Cardiff Attendance: 74,609 Referee: Marius Jonker (South Africa)

• Shane Williams takes sole possession of the all-time try scoring lead for Wales with his 41st try.
• Wales win the Grand Slam for the second time in four championships.
• By virtue of Wales beating France by more than three points, England finished second in the table – their best Six Nations finish since 2003.
• Wales conceded just two tries all championship: the tightest ever defence in the Six Nations.

Scorers

Leading try scorers Tries Name Pld Team 6 Shane Williams 5  Wales 5 Vincent Clerc 5  France 3 Lee Byrne 5  Wales Martin Castrogiovanni 5  Italy Paul Sackey 5  England 2 Tommy Bowe 3  Ireland Toby Flood 5  England Rob Kearney 5  Ireland David Wallace 5  Ireland 1 13 players

Leading point scorers Points Name Pld Team 50 Jonny Wilkinson 5  England 48 Ronan O'Gara 5  Ireland 44 Stephen Jones 4  Wales James Hook 5  Wales

Notes and references

1. "Williams wins RBS player of the Championship". RBS 6 Nations. 19 March 2008. Retrieved 26 March 2008.
2. Lansdowne Road, Ireland's traditional home, is being redeveloped and is expected to be back in use by 2009.
3. Ronan O'Gara captained Ireland in their final match against England, which O'Driscoll missed due to a hamstring tear.
4. White missed Scotland's third game because of concussion and started on the bench in the last two games. He was replaced as captain for these games by Mike Blair.
5. "Ireland 16-11 Italy". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Corporation). 2 February 2008. Retrieved 6 February 2009.
6. Rolland replaced original referee Paul Honiss, who was forced to return to New Zealand due to a serious family illness.

External links

• The official RBS 6 Nations website
• 2008 Six Nations Championship Coverage at the Guardian