Grand Slam (rugby union)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
In rugby union, a Grand Slam occurs when one team in the Six Nations Championship manages to beat all the others during one year's competition or when a touring side from one of the Southern Hemisphere nations plays and defeats all four Home Nations sides in a single tour. The last team to have won the Grand Slam was Wales, in 2008.
Contents |
[edit] Six Nations Championship
In the Six Nations Championship and its predecessors, a grand slam is where one team beats all its opponents during one year's competition. [1] The grand slam winners are awarded the six nations trophy (as tournament winners), but there is no special grand slam trophy. The grand slam is just a matter of pride over glory
Although the term grand slam had long been in use in the game of Contract bridge, the first time that the expression is known to have been applied to rugby union was in 1957, in a preview of a match between England and Scotland:
There is much more than usual at stake for England to-day in the match against Scotland at Twickenham ...
The last time when England achieved the grand slam under present conditions was as long ago as the 1927-28 season, but it is difficult to try to build up a case against her repeating the performance to-day.
—The Times, 16 March 1957
Three teams—Wales in 1908–09, England in 1913–14, 1923–24 and 1991–92, and France in 1997–98—have won two consecutive Grand Slams; no team is yet to have achieved three consecutive Grand Slams.
Prior to 2000, each team played four matches, two at home and two away from home. Following the inclusion of Italy in 2000, each team plays five matches, two at home and three away in one year, and the opposite in the following season. When Wales won the Grand Slam in 2005, it was the first time that the feat had been achieved by a team that had played more matches away than at home. The Welsh Grand Slam in 2008 saw them become the second team to win two Grand Slams in the Six Nations, but the first to do so with both three away games and two away games.
The Grand Slam has been achieved 34 times—England leads, with 12 wins, followed by Wales (10), France (8), Scotland (3) and Ireland (1). Italy has yet to win a Grand Slam.
In Welsh, the Grand Slam is called Y Gamp Lawn, in French Le Grand Chelem.
| Nation | W | Grand Slam Season |
|---|---|---|
 England |
12 | 1913, 1914, 1921, 1923, 1924, 1928, 1957, 1980, 1991, 1992, 1995, 2003 |
 Wales |
10 | 1908, 1909, 1911, 1950, 1952, 1971, 1976, 1978, 2005, 2008 |
 France |
8 | 1968, 1977, 1981, 1987, 1997, 1998, 2002, 2004 |
 Scotland |
3 | 1925, 1984, 1990 |
 Ireland |
1 | 1948 |
 Italy |
0 |
| 1882–1907 | France did not take part in the championship |
| 1908 | Wales |
| 1909 | Wales |
| 1910 | Not achieved |
| 1911 | Wales |
| 1912 | Not achieved |
| 1913 | England |
| 1914 | England |
| 1915–19 | No tournament during World War I |
| 1920 | Not achieved |
| 1921 | England |
| 1922 | Not achieved |
| 1923 | England |
| 1924 | England |
| 1925 | Scotland |
| 1926–27 | Not achieved |
| 1928 | England |
| 1929–31 | Not achieved |
| 1932–39 | France was suspended from the championship |
| 1940–46 | No tournament during World War II |
| 1947 | Not achieved |
| 1948 | Ireland |
| 1949 | Not achieved |
| 1950 | Wales |
| 1951 | Not achieved |
| 1952 | Wales |
| 1953–56 | Not achieved |
| 1957 | England |
| 1958–67 | Not achieved |
| 1968 | France |
| 1969–70 | Not achieved |
| 1971 | Wales |
| 1972–75 | Not achieved |
| 1976 | Wales |
| 1977 | France |
| 1978 | Wales |
| 1979 | Not achieved |
| 1980 | England |
| 1981 | France |
| 1982–83 | Not achieved |
| 1984 | Scotland |
| 1985–86 | Not achieved |
| 1987 | France |
| 1988–89 | Not achieved |
| 1990 | Scotland |
| 1991 | England |
| 1992 | England |
| 1993–94 | Not achieved |
| 1995 | England |
| 1996 | Not achieved |
| 1997 | France |
| 1998 | France |
| 1999–2001 | Not achieved |
| 2002 | France |
| 2003 | England |
| 2004 | France |
| 2005 | Wales |
| 2006–07 | Not achieved |
| 2008 | Wales |
Similar in concept to the Grand Slam is the Triple Crown, which is won if a team from one of the Home Nations (England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland) manages to beat the other three teams. The Triple Crown was won most recently by Wales, in 2008.
[edit] Grand Slam Tour
A Grand Slam tour is one in which the touring side plays Test matches against each of the four Home Nations. If the tourists win all four games, they are said to have achieved the grand slam.
This feat has been achieved four times by South Africa, twice by New Zealand and once by Australia, who have the unenviable record of being the only Southern Hemisphere team to suffer a grand slam of defeats against the Home Nations, in 1957–58.
South Africa have the distinction of being the only team to have achieved the grand slam against the Five Nations: in the grand slam tours of 1912–13 and 1951–52 they also played, and defeated, France.
 South Africa |
1912–13, 1931–32, 1951–52, 1960–61 |
 New Zealand |
1978, 2005 |
 Australia |
1984 |
Because of the congested schedule in international rugby, grand slam tours may become less common. The last grand slam tour was in 2005, when New Zealand achieved their second ever grand slam, but the original programme for the tour envisaged only three Test matches; only the late inclusion of the game against Wales made it possible for New Zealand even to contemplate winning the grand slam. In addition, New Zealand played only test matches, as opposed to midweek and weekend tour games against provincial sides which categorised other Grand Slam tours.
