2008 Six Nations Championship

2008 Six Nations Championship

The Welsh team that won the Grand Slam
Date 4 February 2008 – 19 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) England Jonny Wilkinson (50)
Top try scorer(s) Wales Shane Williams (6)
Player of the tournament Wales Shane Williams
2007 (Previous) (Next) 2009

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

For each nation's squad for the 2008 Six Nations Championship, see 2008 Six Nations Championship squads.

Table

Position Nation Games Points Table
points
Played Won Drawn Lost For Against Difference Tries
1 Wales 550014866+821310
2 England 530210883+2586
3 France 530210393+10116
4 Ireland 52039399694
5 Scotland 5104691235432
6 Italy 5104741315762

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)

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)

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

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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'

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 Girvan Dempsey 2  Ireland
Julien Malzieu 3  France
Mike Blair 4  Scotland
Cédric Heymans 4  France
Allister Hogg 4  Scotland
Simon Picone 4  Italy
Simon Webster 4  Scotland
Richard Wigglesworth 4  England
Gonzalo Canale 5  Italy
James Hook 5  Wales
Mike Phillips 5  Wales
Tom Shanklin 5  Wales
Martyn Williams 5  Wales

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