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The Five Nations Championship

[ Results 1998 ]
[ Countries ] [ History ] [ Fixtures 1998 ]
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bullet2 Results 1998

February 7 1998
France 24 England 17
Ireland 16 Scotland 17

February 21
England 60 Wales 26
Scotland 16 France 51

March 7
France 18 Ireland 16
Wales 19 Scotland 13

bullet2 Remaining Fixtures 1998

March 21
Ireland v Wales, Landsdowne Road, Dublin

March 22
Scotland v England, Murrayfield, Edinburgh

April 4
England v Ireland, Twickenham, London

April 5
Wales v France, Wembley

bullet2 The Five Nations
The Five Nations Rugby Championships take place each year between the countries of the home nations and France. Italy is due to join the tournament in the year 2000, to make it a six-nation event.

rugby The Championships are held at five famous rugby grounds. All the nations competing hope to win the tournament outright with a Grand Slam but for rugby fans there is much more at stake. Each home country competes for the Triple Crown while England and Scotland also play for the historic Calcutta Cup. These tournaments within a tournament add a special interest to the games.

bullet2 Countries involved
england scotland ireland wales franceo

England
Scotland
Ireland
Wales
France

Each country plays each other once during the championships. Home venues are alternated on a two year cycle, for example England play Scotland at Murrayfield in 1998 because they played at Twickenham in 1997.

bullet2 Historical background

rugby The championship is one of the oldest sporting contest in the world of rugby. It was first contested in 1884 between England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland. France made it a Five Nations Tournament when it joined in 1910. It has taken place almost every year since that date with a few exceptions.

The longest interruption was from 1931 to 1946. The home countries of England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland continued to contest the event but France was banned from the championships due to differences between itself and the home countries. These differences were resolved in 1939 but then the tournament was postponed until after the end of World War II in 1946. Since that time only the championships of 1972 have been disrupted for political reasons.

bullet2 Tournaments within a Tournament

There are four prizes to be won during the tournament:

The Five Nations Champions Title
The Calcutta Cup
The Triple Crown
The Grand Slam

The Five Nations Champions Title
This can be won outright by the team with the most points at the end of the championships. Two points are awarded for a win and one for a draw. A full list of results since 1910 is given in the table below.

The Calcutta Cup
Scotland and England have played each other annually since 1871. It is the longest running match series in the world. When the Calcutta Football Club in India ceased to exist in 1877, the committee changed their remaining funds into silver rupees. These were melted down and made into the Calcutta Cup by Indian craftsmen. The cup was presented to the Rugby Union in England and since 1879, the trophy has been awarded to the winning side in the match between England and Scotland.

Results since 1871
Played 114 England 58 wins Scotland 39 wins 17 drawn games

The Triple Crown
The Triple Crown is contested between the home countries, England, Wales, Ireland and Scotland. The team to achieve the Triple Crown title is the one who beats the other three home countries in one season's championships.

The Grand Slam
This title is awarded to the team that beats all the other four countries during one season's championship.

Five Nations Facts and Figures (Since 1910)

Country 5 Nation Outright Winners Triple Crown Winners Grand Slam Winners

England 17 17 11

Scotland 6 5 3

Wales 15 11 6

Ireland 7 4 1

France 10 - 5

bullet2 The Venues

Twickenham
stadium

Date Built: 1907
Capacity: 77,000
First International Match: England v Wales 1910

Twickenham, just outside London, is the home of English Rugby Union. Since it was built it has been refurbished and upgraded several times so that today it is a modern, all seater, floodlit stadium. Its facilities include an interactive rugby museum for visitors, with multi media presentations, shops and refreshment areas.

Administration Centre
Rugby Football Union
Twickenham
Middlesex, TW1 1DZ

Cardiff Arms Park/ Millenium Stadium
stadium

Arms Park - Date Built: Started 1968 (finished 1980)
Millenium Stadium - Date Built: 1997- 9
Arms Park - Capacity: 52,554
Millenium Stadium - Capacity: 75,000

The construction of the new Millennium Stadium is currently underway. It is being built on the historic Cardiff Arms Park site right in the centre of Cardiff. The site has been used for Welsh rugby since 1876. Until 1954, it shared the honours with St. Helen's ground in Swansea, but the Arms Park was chosen as the only national ground from 1954 until 1997. While the new stadium is being built, Wales are using Wembley as a home venue.

The Millenium Stadium is designed for all-year, all-weather use. It will be the first in the UK with a retractable roof - the first of its type in the world.

Administration Centre
Welsh Rugby Union
PO Box 22
Cardiff
CF1 1JL

Murrayfield stadium

Date Built: 1925
Capacity: 60,000
First International Match: Scotland v England 1925

Murrayfield is a fifteen minute bus ride to the west of Edinburgh. It was built on the site of Edinburgh's Polo Club. Since 1925 it has been refurbished so that today it is a modern, floodlit, all seater stadium. Its facilities include under soil heating, a shop and refreshment areas.

Administration Centre
Scottish Rugby Union
Murrayfield
Edinburgh

Landsdowne Road stadium

Date Built: 1878
Capacity: 55,000

Landsdowne Road is situated in Dublin near the city centre. It has hosted internationals since 1878 making it the oldest Test ground. It was refurbished in the 1980's with the Triple Crown Stand. It is a floodlit stadium and facilities include a shop and refreshment areas. In the last few years, the stadium has also hosted international soccer matches for the Republic of Ireland.

Administration Centre
Irish Rugby Football Union
62 Landsdowne Road
Ballsbridge
Dublin

Stade de France
stadium

Date Built: 1997
Capacity: 80,000

From 1919 until 1972, the French played at the Stades Colombes, although they had played their first game in 1906 at the original Parc des Princes. From 1972 until 1997, they played their home games at the Parc de Princes on the outskirts of Paris.

The new national stadium Stade de France, opened on 28 January 1998, is now the home venue for the 5 Nations. It is a modern, all seater stadium, 1.5km from Paris, that will hosts many international events. The lower stand, with its capacity of 25 000, is moveable. It can slide 15 metres back under the middle stand revealing the entire athletics track and the jumping areas. This feature is a world first and means that the Stade de France can be converted into a 75, 000 seat Olympic stadium, although the crowd at football and rugby matches will still be able to be as close as possible to the pitch.

Whenever the French play one of their matches, at any venue, someone always manages to sneak a cockerel into the ground although it is illegal. They let the animal onto the pitch during the game in the hope that it will bring them luck.

Stade de France
http://194.2.229.4/sdf/ang/index.htm

[ Results 1998 ]
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Last modified on: Thursday, March 12, 1998.