2007 Six Nations Championship

2007 Six Nations Championship
France vs Wales, Stade de France, Paris, 24 February 2007
Date	3 February – 17 March 2007
Countries	England  France  Ireland  Italy  Scotland  Wales
Tournament statistics
Champions	France (16th title)
Triple Crown	Ireland (9th title)
Calcutta Cup	England
Millennium Trophy	Ireland
Centenary Quaich	Ireland
Giuseppe Garibaldi Trophy	France
Matches played	15
Tries scored	65 (4.33 per match)
Top point scorer(s)	Ronan O'Gara (82)
Top try scorer(s)	Jason Robinson (4) Ronan O'Gara (4)
Player of the tournament	Brian O'Driscoll
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Rugby was played for the first time at Croke Park, seen here during the Ireland vs. England match.

The 2007 Six Nations Championship was the eighth series of the rugby union Six Nations Championship. Including the previous incarnations as the Home Nations and Five Nations, this was the 113th series of the international championship. Fifteen matches were played over five weekends from 3 February to 17 March.

In this year, France again won on points difference above Ireland, after four teams had at least a mathematical chance of topping the table going into the final week. Italy had their first away win of the tournament, beating Scotland in Edinburgh. It was also the first time that they won two of their matches, as they went on to beat Wales in Rome, finishing in 4th place, their best result so far. Scotland won the wooden spoon on points difference below Wales, and Ireland won the Triple Crown for the second straight year and third time in four years.

Participants[]

The teams involved were:

Nation	Venue	City	Head coach	Captain
England	Twickenham	London	Brian Ashton	Phil Vickery[a]
France	Stade de France	Saint-Denis	Bernard Laporte	Raphaël Ibañez[b]
Ireland	Croke Park[c]	Dublin	Eddie O'Sullivan	Brian O'Driscoll[d]
Italy	Stadio Flaminio	Rome	Pierre Berbizier	Marco Bortolami
Scotland	Murrayfield	Edinburgh	Frank Hadden	Chris Paterson[e]
Wales	Millennium Stadium	Cardiff	Gareth Jenkins	Stephen Jones[f]

Squads[]

Table[]

Position	Nation	Games				Points				Table points
		Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	For	Against	Difference	Tries
1	France	5	4	0	1	155	86	+69	15	8
2	Ireland	5	4	0	1	149	84	+65	17	8
3	England	5	3	0	2	119	115	+4	10	6
4	Italy	5	2	0	3	94	147	−53	9	4
5	Wales	5	1	0	4	86	113	−27	7	2
6	Scotland	5	1	0	4	95	153	−58	7	2

• After Round 4 of the competition, all of the teams had lost at least one match, and as a result, no one could win the Grand Slam.
• Ireland won the Triple Crown for the second straight year and third time in four years.

The first four rounds[]

In the build-up to the competition, Ireland were being tipped as favourites for the Grand Slam, having played well during the Autumn Tests. However, despite having started strongly with a win against Wales, they lost to France 20–17 in an historic encounter at Croke Park.^[g] In turn, Ireland went on to beat England, who subsequently won against France.

Round 3 of the competition saw Italy win their first ever away match in the Six Nations. Scotland conceded three tries (all converted) in the first six minutes, and Italy went on to secure an historic 37–17 victory. In the same round, England's defeat by Ireland at Croke Park 43–13 marked their worst result ever in the history of the tournament, both in number of points conceded and in points difference (30 points).

In round 4, Italy achieved a second victory in the same tournament for the first time, when they defeated Wales 23–20 in Rome in a match that ended in controversy.^[3] Trailing by three points, Wales had the chance to equalise in the closing moments of the game when they were awarded a kickable penalty near the Italian 22-metre line. But, having been informed by the referee that 10 seconds remained, they chose to kick for touch, believing that there was time for an attacking line-out and possible try-scoring opportunity, only for the referee to blow his whistle and end the game before the line-out could form. The Welsh players were incensed and the referee later apologised for the misunderstanding that had arisen.^[4]

Final day[]

All three matches in week five of the tournament were played on the same day and four teams — France, Ireland, England and Italy — still had a chance of winning the tournament: France were narrowly ahead of Ireland on points difference, England and Italy could become champions if they won by a large margin and the other results favoured them.

The game between Ireland and Italy was played first. At half-time, Ireland led by a single point, but they extended their lead in the second half. As time ran out, Ireland were in possession and could have kicked the ball into touch, ending the game and leaving France requiring a 30-point margin in their game; instead, they opted to seek another try, to set France a bigger target,^{[citation needed]} only for Italy to regain possession and score a converted try, reducing France's target to 23 points.

The second game was between France and Scotland. After starting slowly, France steadily extended their lead, but were still three points short of their target when, with time running out, Elvis Vermeulen scored a try in injury-time, which was converted, to give France a 27-point victory and put them in the lead in the tournament. The referee referred the try to the Television Match Official (TMO), an Irishman, asking if there was any reason why the try should not be awarded. The TMO advised that there was no reason, and the referee awarded the try.

In the final match, England needed to beat Wales by 57 points to overtake France, while Wales were trying to avoid the wooden spoon. Wales led 15–0 after 15 minutes and 18–15 at half-time, and though England managed to draw level in the second half, James Hook then kicked two penalties and a drop goal, to give Wales the victory by 27–18. This result confirmed France's position as champions and handed the wooden spoon to Scotland, both on points difference.

Results[]

Round 1[]

3 February 2007 13:30 GMT

Italy	3–39	France
Pen: Pez (1/1) 36'	Report	Try: Dominici 23' c Heymans 30' c Chabal (2) 40' m, 44' c Jauzion 63' c Con: Skrela (4/5) Pen: Skrela (1/1) 13' Beauxis (1/1) 72'

Stadio Flaminio, Rome Attendance: 24,973 Referee: Wayne Barnes (England)

FB 15 Roland de Marigny RW 14 Denis Dallan OC 13 Gonzalo Canale  78' IC 12 Mirco Bergamasco LW 11 Andrea Masi FH 10 Andrea Scanavacca  25' SH 9 Paul Griffen  71' N8 8 Sergio Parisse OF 7 Mauro Bergamasco BF 6 Josh Sole RL 5 Marco Bortolami (c) LL 4 Santiago Dellapè  49' TP 3 Carlos Nieto  49' HK 2 Fabio Ongaro  49' LP 1 Salvatore Perugini  49' Substitutions: HK 16 Carlo Festuccia  49' PR 17 Andrea Lo Cicero  49' PR 18 Martin Castrogiovanni  49' LK 19  49' SH 20 Alessandro Troncon  71' FH 21 Ramiro Pez  25' WG 22 Kaine Robertson  78' Coach: Pierre Berbizier

FB 15 Clément Poitrenaud RW 14 Cedric Heymans OC 13 Florian Fritz  69' IC 12 Yannick Jauzion LW 11 Christophe Dominici FH 10 David Skrela SH 9 Pierre Mignoni N8 8 Sebastien Chabal  72' OF 7 Julien Bonnaire  66' BF 6 Serge Betsen RL 5 Jerome Thion LL 4 Lionel Nallet TP 3 Pieter de Villiers HK 2 Raphael Ibanez (c)  58' LP 1 Olivier Milloud  58' Substitutions: HK 16 Dimitri Szarzewski  58' PR 17 Sylvain Marconnet  58' LK 18 Pascal Papé  72' FL 19 Imanol Harinordoquy  66' SH 20 Dimitri Yachvili FH 21 Lionel Beauxis  69' WG 22 Vincent Clerc Coach: Bernard Laporte

3 February 2007 16:00 GMT

England	42–20	Scotland
Try: Robinson (2) 37' m, 55' c Wilkinson 59' c Lund 72' m Con: Wilkinson (2/4) Pen: Wilkinson (5/5) 11', 29', 31', 49', 53' Drop: Wilkinson (1/2) 19'	Report	Try: Taylor 25' c Dewey 77' c Con: Paterson (2/2) Pen: Paterson (2/3) 18', 43'

Twickenham, London Attendance: 82,000 Referee: Marius Jonker (South Africa)

FB 15 Olly Morgan RW 14 Josh Lewsey OC 13 Mike Tindall IC 12 Andy Farrell LW 11 Jason Robinson FH 10 Jonny Wilkinson SH 9 Harry Ellis N8 8 Martin Corry (c) OF 7 Magnus Lund BF 6 Joe Worsley RL 5 Danny Grewcock LL 4 Louis Deacon TP 3 Phil Vickery  74' HK 2 George Chuter LP 1 Perry Freshwater Substitutions: HK 16 Lee Mears PR 17 Julian White  74' LK 18 Tom Palmer FL 19 David Rees SH 20 Peter Richards FH 21 Toby Flood CE 22 Mathew Tait Coach: Brian Ashton

FB 15 Hugo Southwell RW 14 Sean Lamont OC 13 Marcus di Rollo IC 12 Andrew Henderson  62' LW 11 Chris Paterson FH 10 Dan Parks SH 9 Chris Cusiter N8 8 Dave Callam OF 7 Kelly Brown  62' BF 6 Simon Taylor RL 5 Jim Hamilton  62' LL 4 Alastair Kellock (c) TP 3 Euan Murray HK 2 Dougie Hall LP 1 Gavin Kerr  55' Substitutions: HK 16 Ross Ford PR 17 Allan Jacobsen  55' LK 18 Scott Murray  62' FL 19 Allister Hogg  62' SH 20 Rory Lawson CE 21 Rob Dewey  62' FB 22 Rory Lamont Coach: Frank Hadden

4 February 2007 15:00 GMT

Wales	9–19	Ireland
Pen: S. Jones (3/3) 9', 19', 25'	Report	Try: R. Best 1' m B. O'Driscoll 33' c O'Gara 71' c Con: O'Gara (2/3)

Millennium Stadium, Cardiff Attendance: 74,239 Referee: Kelvin Deaker (New Zealand)

FB 15 Kevin Morgan RW 14 Hal Luscombe OC 13 Jamie Robinson IC 12 James Hook LW 11 Chris Czekaj FH 10 Stephen Jones SH 9 Dwayne Peel N8 8 Ryan Jones (c) OF 7 Martyn Williams BF 6 Alix Popham RL 5 Alun Wyn Jones LL 4 Ian Gough  70' TP 3 Adam Rhys Jones HK 2 T. Rhys Thomas LP 1 Gethin Jenkins Substitutions: HK 16 Matthew Rees PR 17 Duncan Jones LK 18 Robert Sidoli  70' FH 19 Gavin Thomas SH 20 Mike Phillips CE 21 Ceri Sweeney WG 22 Aled Brew Coach: Gareth Jenkins

FB 15 Girvan Dempsey RW 14 Andrew Trimble OC 13 Brian O'Driscoll (c) IC 12 Gordon D'Arcy LW 11 Denis Hickie FH 10 Ronan O'Gara SH 9 Peter Stringer N8 8 Denis Leamy OF 7 David Wallace BF 6 Simon Easterby RL 5 Paul O'Connell LL 4 Donncha O'Callaghan TP 3 John Hayes HK 2 Rory Best LP 1 Marcus Horan Substitutions: HK 16 Jerry Flannery PR 17 Simon Best LK 18 Mick O'Driscoll FL 19 Neil Best SH 20 Isaac Boss FH 21 Paddy Wallace FB 22 Geordan Murphy Coach: Eddie O'Sullivan

Round 2[]

10 February 2007 13:30 GMT

England	20–7	Italy
Try: Robinson 39' m Pen: Wilkinson (5/5) 3', 15', 25', 56', 75'	Report	Try: Scanavacca 65' c Con: Scanavacca (1/1)

Twickenham, London Attendance: 82,000 Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)

FB 15 Iain Balshaw RW 14 Josh Lewsey OC 13 Mike Tindall IC 12 Andy Farrell LW 11 Jason Robinson FH 10 Jonny Wilkinson SH 9 Harry Ellis N8 8 Martin Corry (c) OF 7 Magnus Lund BF 6 Nick Easter RL 5 Danny Grewcock LL 4 Louis Deacon TP 3 Phil Vickery HK 2 George Chuter  70' LP 1 Perry Freshwater Substitutions: HK 16 Lee Mears PR 17 Julian White  70' LK 18 Tom Palmer FL 19 David Rees SH 20 Shaun Perry FH 21 Toby Flood CE 22 Mathew Tait Coach: Brian Ashton

FB 15 Roland de Marigny RW 14 Kaine Robertson OC 13 Gonzalo Canale IC 12 Mirco Bergamasco LW 11 Denis Dallan  24' FH 10 Andrea Scanavacca SH 9 Alessandro Troncon N8 8 Sergio Parisse OF 7 Maurizio Zaffiri BF 6 Josh Sole RL 5 Marco Bortolami (c) LL 4 Santiago Dellapè  71' TP 3 Martin Castrogiovanni HK 2 Carlo Festuccia LP 1 Andrea Lo Cicero  58' Substitutions: HK 16 Fabio Ongaro PR 17 Salvatore Perugini  58' LK 18 Valerio Bernabo  71' FL 19 SH 20 Paul Griffen CE 21 Ramiro Pez WG 22 Matteo Pratichetti  24' Coach: Pierre Berbizier

10 February 2007 15:30 GMT

Scotland	21–9	Wales
Pen: Paterson (7/7) 6', 19', 37', 48', 52', 58', 79'	Report	Pen: S. Jones (3/3) 24', 40', 54'

Murrayfield, Edinburgh Attendance: 67,500 Referee: Alan Lewis (Ireland)

FB 15 Hugo Southwell RW 14 Sean Lamont OC 13 Marcus di Rollo IC 12 Rob Dewey LW 11 Chris Paterson FH 10 Phil Godman  70' SH 9 Chris Cusiter N8 8 Dave Callam OF 7 Kelly Brown  56' BF 6 Simon Taylor (c) RL 5 Scott Murray LL 4 Jim Hamilton  49' TP 3 Euan Murray HK 2 Ross Ford LP 1 Gavin Kerr  56' Substitutions: PR 16 Allan Jacobsen  56' LK 17 Nathan Hines  49' FL 18 Allister Hogg  56' SH 19 Rory Lawson CE 20 Graeme Morrison CE 21 Simon Webster WG 22 Nikki Walker  70' Coach: Frank Hadden

FB 15 Kevin Morgan RW 14 Mark Jones OC 13 Jamie Robinson IC 12 James Hook LW 11 Chris Czekaj FH 10 Stephen Jones SH 9 Dwayne Peel N8 8 Ryan Jones (c) OF 7 Martyn Williams BF 6 Alix Popham RL 5 Alun Wyn Jones LL 4 Robert Sidoli  53' TP 3 Duncan Jones HK 2 T. Rhys Thomas LP 1 Adam Rhys Jones Substitutions: HK 16 Matthew Rees PR 17 Gethin Jenkins LK 18 Ian Gough  53' FH 19 Jonathan Thomas SH 20 Mike Phillips FH 21 Ceri Sweeney CE 22 Tom Shanklin Coach: Gareth Jenkins

11 February 2007 15:00 GMT

Ireland	17–20	France
Try: O'Gara 31' m Pen: O'Gara (4/4) 12', 24', 56', 78'	Report	Try: Ibañez 14' c Clerc 79' c Con: Skrela (1/1) Beauxis (1/1) Pen: Skrela (2/4) 4', 9'

Croke Park, Dublin Attendance: 81,000[5] Referee: Steve Walsh (New Zealand)

Round 3[]

24 February 2007 15:00 GMT

Scotland	17–37	Italy
Try: Dewey 14' c Paterson 60' c Con: Paterson (2/2) Pen: Paterson (1/1) 40'	Report	Try: Ma. Bergamasco 1' c Scanavacca 4' c Robertson 6' c Troncon 75' c Con: Scanavacca (4/4) Pen: Scanavacca (3/3) 19', 66', 71'

Murrayfield, Edinburgh Attendance: 50,284 Referee: Donal Courtney (Ireland)

24 February 2007 17:30 GMT

Ireland	43–13	England
Try: Dempsey 30' c D. Wallace 37' c Horgan 63' c Boss 78' c Con: O'Gara (3/3) P. Wallace (1/1) Pen: O'Gara (5/5) 6', 20', 26', 43', 57'	Report	Try: Strettle 46' c Con: Wilkinson (1/1) Pen: Wilkinson (2/3) 2', 56'

Croke Park, Dublin Attendance: 81,611[6] Referee: Joël Jutge (France)

24 February 2007 20:00 GMT

France	32–21	Wales
Try: Dominici 28' c Nallet 34' c Con: Skrela (2/2) Pen: Skrela (5/6) 11', 18', 38', 46', 52' Beauxis (1/1) 80'	Report	Try: Popham 13' c Shanklin 15' c Robinson 74' c Con: S. Jones (3/3)

Stade de France, Saint-Denis Attendance: 79,959 Referee: Tony Spreadbury (England)

Round 4[]

10 March 2007 13:30 GMT

Scotland	18–19	Ireland
Pen: Paterson (6/6) 17', 36', 40', 51', 61', 66'	Report	Try: O'Gara 30' c Con: O'Gara (1/1) Pen: O'Gara (4/6) 9', 38', 68', 70'

Murrayfield, Edinburgh Attendance: 67,800 Referee: Dave Pearson (England)

• Ireland won the Triple Crown.

10 March 2007 15:30 GMT

Italy	23–20	Wales
Try: Robertson 37' c Mauro Bergamasco 78' c Con: Pez (2/2) Pen: Pez (3/4) 12', 20', 73'	Report	Try: S. Williams 27' c Rees 45' c Con: S. Jones (1/1) Hook (1/1) Pen: Hook (2/2) 44', 54'

Stadio Flaminio, Rome Attendance: 24,973 Referee: Chris White (England)

• This was the first time that Italy won two matches in a Six Nations Championship.

11 March 2007 15:00 GMT

England	26–18	France
Try: Flood 48' c Tindall 73' c Con: Flood (1/1) Geraghty (1/1) Pen: Flood (3/5) 8', 31', 35' Geraghty (1/1) 68'	Report	Pen: Skrela (3/3) 4', 15', 21' Yachvili (3/3) 34', 52', 59'

Twickenham, London Attendance: 82,000 Referee: Jonathan Kaplan (South Africa)

• England's victory meant that no team could now win the Grand Slam.

Round 5[]

17 March 2007 13:30 GMT

Italy	24–51	Ireland
Try: Bortolami 75' m De Marigny 80' c Con: Scanavacca (1/2) Pen: Pez (2/3) 15', 26' Drop: Pez (2/2) 12', 29'	Report	Try: Dempsey (2) 17' m, 46' c Easterby 21' m D'Arcy 40' c Horgan 51' m Hickie (2) 55' c, 77' m O'Gara 59' c Con: O'Gara (4/8) Pen: O'Gara (1/1) 6'

Stadio Flaminio, Rome Attendance: 24,973 Referee: Jonathan Kaplan (South Africa)

17 March 2007 15:30 GMT

France	46–19	Scotland
Try: Harinordoquy 29' c Jauzion 33' c Marty 52' c Heymans 59' m Milloud 62' c Vermeulen 80' c Con: Beauxis (5/6) Pen: Beauxis (2/2) 19', 37'	Report	Try: Walker 7' c S. Lamont 40' c E. Murray 76' m Con: Paterson (2/3)

Stade de France, Saint-Denis Attendance: 79,959 Referee: Craig Joubert (South Africa)

• France needed to win by 24 points to overtake Ireland.

17 March 2007 17:30 GMT

Wales	27–18	England
Try: Hook 3' c Horsman 13' m Con: Hook (1/2) Pen: Hook (4/5) 11', 39', 64', 74' Drop: Hook (1/2) 68'	Report	Try: Ellis 32' c Robinson 40' m Con: Flood (1/2) Pen: Flood (1/1) 46' Drop: Flood (1/1) 35'

Millennium Stadium, Cardiff Attendance: 74,500 Referee: Alain Rolland (Ireland)

• England needed to win by 57 points to win the Championship.

Scorers[]

Leading try scorers Pos Name Tries Pld Team 1 Ronan O'Gara 4 5  Ireland Jason Robinson 4 4  England 3 Girvan Dempsey 3 3  Ireland

Leading point scorers Pos Name Points Pld Team 1 Ronan O'Gara 82 5  Ireland 2 Chris Paterson 65 5  Scotland 3 Jonny Wilkinson 50 3  England

Notes[]

References[]