2008 Six Nations Championship
2008 Six Nations Championship | |||
---|---|---|---|
Date | 2 February – 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 sponsorship by the Royal Bank of Scotland, was the ninth series of the rugby union Six Nations Championship, the 114th series of the international 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 19th time. Wales conceded only two tries in the championship, beating England's previous record of four tries conceded. Wales' Shane Williams was named the Player of the Championship.[1]
Participants[]
The teams involved were:
Nation | Venue | City | Head coach | Captain |
---|---|---|---|---|
England | Twickenham Stadium | London | Brian Ashton | Phil Vickery |
France | Stade de France | Saint-Denis | Marc Lièvremont | Lionel Nallet |
Ireland | Croke Park[a] | Dublin | Eddie O'Sullivan | Brian O'Driscoll[b] |
Italy | Stadio Flaminio | Rome | Nick Mallett | Sergio Parisse |
Scotland | Murrayfield | Edinburgh | Frank Hadden | Jason White[c] |
Wales | Millennium Stadium | Cardiff | Warren Gatland | Ryan Jones |
Squads[]
Table[]
Position | Nation | Games | Points | Table points | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | For | Against | Diff | 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[]
Round 1[]
2 February 2008
14:00 |
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' |
2 February 2008
16:30 |
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 | Try: Byrne 67' c Phillips 70' c Con: Hook (2/2) Pen: Hook (4/4) 4', 34', 57', 63' |
- This was Wales' first win over England at Twickenham Stadium for 20 years.
3 February 2008
15:00 |
Scotland | 6–27 | France |
---|---|---|
Pen: Parks (1/2) 30' Drop: Parks (1/2) 4' |
Report | Try: Clerc 12' c, 65' c Malzieu 23' c Con: Élissalde (2/2) Skrela(1/1) Pen: Traille (2/2) 18', 55' |
Round 2[]
9 February 2008
14:00 |
Wales | 30–15 | Scotland |
---|---|---|
Try: 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 |
9 February 2008
16:00 |
France | 26–21 | Ireland |
---|---|---|
Try: Clerc 14' c, 18' m, 35' c Heymans 48' c Con: Élissalde (3/4) |
Report | Try: Penalty try 55' c D. Wallace 59' m Con: O'Gara (1/2) Pen: O'Gara (3/3) 17', 28', 74' |
10 February 2008
14:30 |
Italy | 19–23 | England |
---|---|---|
Try: Picone 76' c Con: Bortolussi (1/1) Pen: Bortolussi (4/4) 5', 11', 44', 54' |
Report | Try: 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) |
Round 3[]
23 February 2008
15:00 |
Wales | 47–8 | Italy |
---|---|---|
Try: 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) |
23 February 2008
17:00 |
Ireland | 34–13 | Scotland |
---|---|---|
Try: 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' |
- Ireland won the Centenary Quaich.
23 February 2008
20:00 |
France | 13–24 | England |
---|---|---|
Try: Nallet 24' c Con: Traille(1/1) Pen: Parra (1/1) 49' Yachvili (1/1) 74' |
Report | Try: Sackey 5' c Wigglesworth 79' m Con: Wilkinson (1/2) Pen: Wilkinson (3/5) 14', 29', 68' Drop: Wilkinson (1/2) 64' |
- Jonny Wilkinson drew level with Wales' Neil Jenkins as the all-time leading point scorer in international rugby history with 1,090 career points (including points scored for the British and Irish Lions).
- This result left Wales as the only remaining team that could win the Grand Slam.
- This was England's first away win over France in the Six Nations since their 15–9 win in 2000.
Round 4[]
8 March 2008
13:15 |
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' |
- Shane Williams drew level with Gareth Thomas as the all-time try leader for Wales with his 40th try.
- Wales won the Triple Crown.
8 March 2008
15:15 |
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' |
- England's Jonny Wilkinson became the all-time scoring leader in international rugby history, surpassing Wales' Neil Jenkins.
- Scotland won the Calcutta Cup.
9 March 2008
15:00 |
France | 25–13 | Italy |
---|---|---|
Try: 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 won their second consecutive Giuseppe Garibaldi Trophy.
Round 5[]
15 March 2008
13:00 |
Italy | 23–20 | Scotland |
---|---|---|
Try: Penalty try 13' c Canale 59' c Con: Marcato (2/2) Pen: Marcato (2/4) 36', 68' Drop: Marcato (1/1) 79' |
Report | Try: Hogg 21' c Blair 40' c Con: Paterson (2/2) Pen: Parks (1/1) 25' Paterson (1/1) 72' |
- Despite victory over the Scots, Italy won the "wooden spoon", having failed to win by the necessary five-point margin required to avoid finishing at the bottom of the table.
15 March 2008
15:00 |
England | 33–10 | Ireland |
---|---|---|
Try: 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' |
- England won the Millennium Trophy for the first time in five years.
15 March 2008
17:00 |
Wales | 29–12 | France |
---|---|---|
Try: 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' |
- Shane Williams took sole possession of the all-time try scoring lead for Wales with his 41st try.
- Wales won 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[]
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Notes[]
- ^ Lansdowne Road, Ireland's traditional home, is being redeveloped and is expected to be back in use by 2009.
- ^ Ronan O'Gara captained Ireland in their final match against England, which O'Driscoll missed due to a hamstring tear.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Rolland replaced original referee Paul Honiss, who was forced to return to New Zealand due to a serious family illness.
References[]
- ^ "Williams wins RBS player of the Championship". RBS 6 Nations. 19 March 2008. Archived from the original on 24 May 2011. Retrieved 26 March 2008.
Categories:
- 2008 Six Nations Championship
- 2008 rugby union tournaments for national teams
- Six Nations Championship seasons
- 2007–08 in European rugby union
- 2007–08 in Irish rugby union
- 2007–08 in English rugby union
- 2007–08 in Welsh rugby union
- 2007–08 in Scottish rugby union
- 2007–08 in French rugby union
- 2007–08 in Italian rugby union
- February 2008 sports events in Europe
- March 2008 sports events in Europe
- Royal Bank of Scotland