2006 Six Nations Championship

2006 Six Nations Championship
2006 Six Nations Championship
	France - Ireland, 11 February 2006
Date	4 February 2006 - 18 March 2006
Countries	England; France; Ireland; Italy; Scotland; Wales
Tournament statistics
Champions	France (15th title)
Triple Crown	Ireland (8th title)
Matches played	15
Tries scored	61 (4.07 per match)
Top point scorer(s)	Ronan O'Gara (72)
Top try scorer(s)	Mirco Bergamasco (3); Shane Horgan (3)
Player of the tournament	Brian O'Driscoll
← 2005 (Previous)	(Next) 2007 →

The 2006 RBS 6 Nations Championship was the seventh series of the rugby union Six Nations Championship to be held since the competition expanded in 2000 to include Italy. Including the previous incarnations as the Home Nations and Five Nations, this was the 112th series of the northern hemisphere rugby union championship.

This was the last Six Nations to be held before the redevelopment of Lansdowne Road into today's Aviva Stadium. Ireland played their 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010 Six Nations home fixtures at Croke Park, also in Dublin.

Unlike most rugby union competitions, the Six Nations has not adopted a bonus point system. Match winners receive two points, with one for a draw and none for a loss. The first tiebreaker is point differential.

In this year, France won the competition on points difference over Ireland. Ireland received the consolation prize of the Triple Crown Trophy, presented for the first time that year, by winning their matches against the other Home Nations: Wales, Scotland and England. Italy once more collected the Wooden Spoon, but showed considerable improvement over past years, earning a first-ever competition point away from home in a draw against Wales. For the first time since 2000, Scotland won the Calcutta Cup.

Participants

The teams involved were:

Nation	Venue	City	Head coach
England	Twickenham	London	Andy Robinson
France	Stade de France	Saint-Denis	Bernard Laporte
Ireland	Lansdowne Road	Dublin	Eddie O'Sullivan
Italy	Stadio Flaminio	Rome	Pierre Berbizier
Scotland	Murrayfield	Edinburgh	Frank Hadden
Wales	Millennium Stadium	Cardiff	Mike Ruddock Scott Johnson

Squads

Final table

Place	Nation	Games				Points				Table points
Place	Nation	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	For	Against	Difference	Tries	Table points
1	France	5	4	0	1	148	85	+63	18	8
2	Ireland	5	4	0	1	131	97	+34	12	8
3	Scotland	5	3	0	2	78	81	−3	5	6
4	England	5	2	0	3	120	106	+14	12	4
5	Wales	5	1	1	3	80	135	−55	9	3
6	Italy	5	0	1	4	72	125	−53	5	1

Results

Week 1

4 February 2006
13:30 GMT

Ireland	26 – 16	Italy
Tries: Flannery 26' c Bowe 48' c Con: O'Gara (2/2) Pen: O'Gara (4/5) 40+2', 60', 70', 80+4'	Report	Try: Mi. Bergamasco 30' c Con: Pez (1/1) Pen: Pez (2/3) 13', 64' Griffen (1/1) 45'

Lansdowne Road, Dublin
Attendance: 49,500
Referee: Dave Pearson (England)

4 February 2006
15:30 GMT

England	47 – 13	Wales
Tries: Cueto 15' c Moody 31' m Tindall 65' m Dallaglio 75' c Dawson 78' c Voyce 80+7' c Con: Hodgson (2/3) Goode (2/3) Pen: Hodgson (3/4) 28', 45', 55'	Report	Try: M. Williams 35' c Con: S. Jones (1/1) Pen: S. Jones (2/2) 21', 53'

Twickenham, London
Attendance: 81,000
Referee: Paul Honiss (New Zealand)

5 February 2006
15:00 GMT

Scotland	20 – 16	France
Tries: Lamont (2) 11' c, 46' c Con: Paterson (2/2) Pen: Paterson (2/3) 22', 33'	Report	Tries: Bonnaire 50' m Bruno 80+2' m Pen: Élissalde (2/2) 40+2', 62'

Murrayfield, Edinburgh
Attendance: 66,028
Referee: Jonathan Kaplan (South Africa)

Week 2

11 February 2006
13:30 GMT

France	43 – 31	Ireland
Tries: Rougerie 3' m Magne 8' c Marty (2) 18' c, 58' c Heymans (2) 37' c, 45' c Con: Élissalde (5/6) Pen: Élissalde (1/1) 32'	Report	Tries: O'Gara 59' c D'Arcy 63' c O'Callaghan 71' c Trimble 74' c Con: O'Gara (4/4) Pen: O'Gara (1/2) 30'

Stade de France, Saint-Denis
Attendance: 80,000
Referee: Paul Honiss (New Zealand)

11 February 2006
16:00 GMT

Italy	16 – 31	England
Try: Mi. Bergamasco 80+4' c Con: Pez (1/1) Pen: Pez (1/2) 37' Drop: Pez (2/2) 40+1', 42'	Report	Tries: Tindall 30' c Hodgson 57' c Cueto 70' c Simpson-Daniel 80+9' c Con: Hodgson (4/4) Pen: Hodgson (1/2) 51'

Stadio Flaminio, Rome
Attendance: 24,973
Referee: Kelvin Deaker (New Zealand)

12 February 2006
15:00 GMT

Wales	28 – 18	Scotland
Tries: Penalty try 7' c G. Thomas (2) 35' c, 64' c Sidoli 54' c Con: S. Jones (4/4)	Report	Tries: Southwell 80+4' m Paterson 80+7' c Con: Paterson (1/2) Pen: Paterson (2/2) 19', 39'

Millennium Stadium, Cardiff
Attendance: 73,340
Referee: Steve Walsh (New Zealand)

Week 3

25 February 2006
14:00 GMT

France	37 – 12	Italy
Tries: Lièvremont 31' m Nyanga 59' m de Villiers 72' c Rougerie 80+6' c Michalak 80+10' c Con: Yachvili (3/5) Pen: Élissalde (1/2) 5' Yachvili (1/2) 47'	Report	Pen: Pez (3/4) 10', 20', 28' Drop: Pez (1/1) 38'

Stade de France, Saint-Denis
Attendance: 73,978
Referee: Tony Spreadbury (England)

25 February 2006
17:30 GMT

Scotland	18 – 12	England
Pen: Paterson (5/5) 3', 43', 48', 75', 80+1' Drop: Parks (1/1) 58'	Report	Pen: Hodgson (4/5) 8', 41', 64', 78'

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

26 February 2006
15:00 GMT

Ireland	31 – 5	Wales
Tries: Wallace 29' m Horgan 44' c Stringer 80+12' c Con: O'Gara (2/3) Pen: O'Gara (4/5) 18', 40+1', 48', 59'	Report	Try: M. Jones 9' m

Lansdowne Road, Dublin
Attendance: 49,500
Referee: Jonathan Kaplan (South Africa)

Week 4

11 March 2006
13:30 GMT

Wales	18 – 18	Italy
Tries: M. Jones 12' m S. Jones 29' c Con: S. Jones (1/2) Pen: S. Jones (2/2) 4', 63'	Report	Tries: Galon 17' m Canavosio 40+6' c Con: Pez (1/2) Pen: Pez (2/5) 40', 47'

Millennium Stadium, Cardiff
Attendance: 74,000
Referee: Joël Jutge (France)

11 March 2006
15:30 GMT

Ireland	15 – 9	Scotland
Pen: O'Gara (5/7) 3', 10', 24', 38', 58'	Report	Pen: Paterson (3/3) 11', 17', 28'

Lansdowne Road, Dublin
Referee: Stuart Dickinson (Australia)

12 March 2006
15:00 GMT

France	31 – 6	England
Tries: Fritz 1' c Traille 70' m Dominici 80+3' c Con: Yachvili (2/3) Pen: Yachvili (4/6) 7', 11', 34', 77'	Report	Pen: Hodgson 40+4' (1/2) Goode (1/1) 43'

Stade de France, Saint-Denis
Attendance: 74,000
Referee: Alain Rolland (Ireland)

Week 5

18 March 2006
13:30 GMT

Italy	10 – 13	Scotland
Try: Mi. Bergamasco 7' c Con: Pez (1/1) Pen: Pez (1/1) 58'	Report	Try: Paterson 13' c Con: Paterson (1/1) Pen: Paterson (1/1) 78' Drop: Ross (1/1) 40'

Stadio Flaminio, Rome
Attendance: 24,062
Referee: Alain Rolland (Ireland)

18 March 2006
15:30 GMT

Wales	16 – 21	France
Try: Luscombe 34' c Con: S. Jones (1/1) Pen: S. Jones (2/2) 5', 27' Henson (1/1) 60'	Report	Tries: Szarzewski 50' m Fritz 80' c Con: Élissalde (1/2) Pen: Yachvili (2/2) 12', 40+2' Élissalde (1/3) 80+6'

Millennium Stadium, Cardiff
Attendance: 74,500
Referee: Chris White (England)

18 March 2006
17:30 GMT

England	24 – 28	Ireland
Tries: Noon 2' m Borthwick 52' c Con: Goode (1/2) Pen: Goode (4/6) 38', 44', 69', 75'	Report	Tries: Horgan (2) 8' m, 79' c Leamy 59' c Con: O'Gara (2/3) Pen: O'Gara (3/5) 17', 37', 43'

Twickenham, London
Attendance: 81,986
Referee: Nigel Whitehouse (Wales)

Scorers

Leading try scorers
Pos	Name	Tries	Pld	Team
1	Mirco Bergamasco	3	5	Italy
1	Shane Horgan	3	5	Ireland
3	Mark Cueto	2	4	England
	Florian Fritz	2	4	France
	Cédric Heymans	2	4	France
	Mark Jones	2	4	Wales
	Sean Lamont	2	5	Scotland
	David Marty	2	4	France
	Aurélien Rougerie	2	4	France
	Gareth Thomas	2	2	Wales
	Mike Tindall	2	4	England
	Chris Paterson	2	5	Scotland

Leading point scorers (Top 3)
Pos	Name	Points	Pld	Team
1	Ronan O'Gara	72	5	Ireland
2	Chris Paterson	57	5	Scotland
3	Charlie Hodgson	44	4	England
3	Ramiro Pez	44	5	Italy

External links

The Official Six Nations Site
2006 Six Nations Championship Coverage at the Guardian