2007 Six Nations Championship

2007 Six Nations Championship
France, the champions, defending here against Wales; Stade de France, Paris, 24/02/2007.
Date	3 February 2007 - 17 March 2007
Countries	England France Ireland Italy Scotland Wales
Tournament statistics
Champions	France (16th title)
Triple Crown	Ireland (9th title)
Calcutta Cup	England
Millennium Trophy	Ireland
Centenary Quaich	Ireland
Giuseppe Garibaldi Trophy	France
Matches played	15
Tries scored	65 (4.33 per match)
Top point scorer(s)	Ronan O'Gara (82)
Top try scorer(s)	Jason Robinson (4) Ronan O'Gara (4)
Player of the tournament	Brian O'Driscoll
← 2006 (Previous) (Next) 2008 →

Rugby was played for the first time at Croke Park, seen here during the Ireland vs. England match.

The 2007 RBS 6 Nations Championship was the eighth series of the rugby union Six Nations Championship. Including the previous incarnations as the Home Nations and Five Nations, this was the 113th series of the northern hemisphere rugby union championship. 15 matches were played over five weekends from 3 February to 17 March.

In this year, France again won on points difference, after four teams had at least a mathematical chance of topping the table going into the final week. The Italians had their first away win of the tournament beating Scotland in Edinburgh. It was also the first time they won two of their matches as they went on to beat Wales in Rome, finishing in 4th place, their best result so far. Scotland won the wooden spoon and Ireland won the Triple Crown for the second straight year and third time in four years.

Participants

The teams involved were:

Nation	Venue	City	Head coach	Captain
England	Twickenham	London	Brian Ashton	Phil Vickery
France	Stade de France	Saint-Denis	Bernard Laporte	Raphaël Ibañez
Ireland	Croke Park	Dublin	Eddie O'Sullivan	Brian O'Driscoll
Italy	Stadio Flaminio	Rome	Pierre Berbizier	Marco Bortolami
Scotland	Murrayfield	Edinburgh	Frank Hadden	Chris Paterson
Wales	Millennium Stadium	Cardiff	Gareth Jenkins	Stephen Jones

Squads

For each nation's squad for the 2007 Six Nations Championship, see 2007 Six Nations Championship squads.

Final table

Position	Nation	Games				Points				Table points
		Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	For	Against	Difference	Tries
1	France	5	4	0	1	155	86	+69	15	8
2	Ireland	5	4	0	1	149	84	+65	17	8
3	England	5	3	0	2	119	115	+4	10	6
4	Italy	5	2	0	3	94	147	−53	9	4
5	Wales	5	1	0	4	86	113	−27	7	2
6	Scotland	5	1	0	4	95	153	−58	7	2

• After Round 4 of the competition, all of the teams had lost at least one match, and as a result no one could win the Grand Slam.
• Ireland won the Triple Crown for the second straight year and third time in four years.

The first four rounds

In the build-up to the competition, Ireland were being tipped as favourites for the Grand Slam, having played well during the Autumn Tests. However, despite having started strongly with a win against Wales, they lost to France 20-17 in an historic encounter at Croke Park. In turn, Ireland went on to beat England, who subsequently won against France.

Round 3 of the competition saw Italy win their first ever away match in the Six Nations. Scotland conceded three tries (all converted) in the first six minutes, and Italy went on to secure an historic 37-17 victory. In the same round, England's defeat by Ireland at Croke Park 43-13 marked their worst result ever in the history of the tournament, both in number of points conceded and in points difference (30 points).

In round 4, Italy achieved a second victory in the same tournament for the first time, when they defeated Wales 23-20 in Rome in a match that ended in controversy. Trailing by three points, Wales had the chance to equalise in the closing moments of the game when they were awarded a kickable penalty near the Italian 22-metre line. But, having been informed by the referee that 10 seconds remained, they chose to kick for touch, believing that there was time for an attacking line-out and possible try-scoring opportunity, only for the referee to blow his whistle and end the game before the line-out could form. The Welsh players were incensed and the referee later apologised for the misunderstanding that had arisen.

Final day

All three matches in week five of the tournament were played on the same day and four teams — France, Ireland, England and Italy — still had a chance of winning the tournament: France were narrowly ahead of Ireland on points difference, England and Italy could become champions if they won by a large margin and the other results favoured them.

The game between Ireland and Italy was played first. At half-time, Ireland led by a single point, but they extended their lead in the second half. As time ran out, Ireland were in possession and could have kicked the ball into touch, ending the game and leaving France requiring a 30-point margin in their game; instead, they opted to seek another try, to set France a bigger target,^{[citation needed]} only for Italy to regain possession and score a converted try, reducing France's target to 23 points.

The second game was between France and Scotland. After starting slowly, France steadily extended their lead, but were still three points short of their target when, with time running out, Elvis Vermeulen scored a try in injury-time, which was converted, to gave France a 27-point victory and put them in the lead in the tournament. The referee referred the try to the Television Match Official (TMO), an Irishman, asking if there was any reason why the try should not be awarded. The TMO advised that there was no reason, and the referee awarded the try.

In the final match, England needed to beat Wales by 57 points to overtake France, while Wales were trying to avoid the wooden spoon. Wales led 15–0 after 15 minutes and 18–15 at half-time, and though England managed to draw level in the second half, James Hook then kicked two penalties and a drop goal, to give Wales the victory by 27–18. This result confirmed France's position as champions and handed the wooden spoon to Scotland, both on points difference.

Results

Week 1

3 February 2007 13:30 GMT	Italy	3 – 39	France	Stadio Flaminio, Rome Attendance: 24,973 Referee: Wayne Barnes (England)
	Pen: Pez 36'	(Report)	Tries: Dominici 23' c Heymans 30' c Chabal (2) 40' m, 44' c Jauzion 63' c Con: Skrela (4) Pen: Skrela 13' Beauxis 72'

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3 February 2007 16:00 GMT	England	42 – 20	Scotland	Twickenham, London Attendance: 82,000 Referee: Marius Jonker (South Africa)
	Tries: Robinson (2) 37' m, 55' c Wilkinson 59' c Lund 72' m Con: Wilkinson (2) Pen: Wilkinson (5) 11', 29', 31', 49', 53' Drop: Wilkinson 19'	(Report)	Tries: Taylor 25' c Dewey 77' c Con: Paterson (2) Pen: Paterson (2) 18', 43'

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4 February 2007 15:00 GMT	Wales	9 – 19	Ireland	Millennium Stadium, Cardiff Attendance: 74,239 Referee: Kelvin Deaker (New Zealand)
	Pen: S. Jones (3) 9', 19', 25'	(Report)	Tries: R. Best 1' m B. O'Driscoll 33' c O'Gara 71' c Con: O'Gara (2)

Week 2

10 February 2007 13:30 GMT	England	20 – 7	Italy	Twickenham, London Attendance: 82,000 Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)
	Try: Robinson 39' m Pen: Wilkinson (5) 3', 15', 25', 56', 75'	(Report)	Try: Scanavacca 65' c Con: Scanavacca

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10 February 2007 15:30 GMT	Scotland	21 – 9	Wales	Murrayfield, Edinburgh Attendance: 67,500 Referee: Alan Lewis (Ireland)
	Pen: Paterson (7) 6', 19', 37', 48', 52', 58', 79'	(Report)	Pen: S. Jones (3) 24', 40', 54'

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11 February 2007 15:00 GMT	Ireland	17 – 20	France	Croke Park, Dublin Attendance: 81,000 Referee: Steve Walsh (New Zealand)
	Try: O'Gara 31' m Pen: O'Gara (4) 12', 24', 56', 78'	(Report)	Tries: Ibañez 14' c Clerc 79' c Con: Skrela Beauxis Pen: Skrela (2) 4', 9'

Week 3

24 February 2007 15:00 GMT	Scotland	17 – 37	Italy	Murrayfield, Edinburgh Attendance: 50,284 Referee: Donal Courtney (Ireland)
	Tries: Dewey 14' c Paterson 60' c Con: Paterson (2) Pen: Paterson 40'	(Report)	Tries: Ma. Bergamasco 1' c Scanavacca 4' c Robertson 6' c Troncon 75' c Con: Scanavacca (4) Pen: Scanavacca (3) 19', 66', 71'

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24 February 2007 17:30 GMT	Ireland	43 – 13	England	Croke Park, Dublin Attendance: 83,000 Referee: Joël Jutge (France)
	Tries: Dempsey 30' c D. Wallace 37' c Horgan 63' c Boss 78' c Con: O'Gara (3) P. Wallace Pen: O'Gara (5) 6', 20', 26', 43', 57'	(Report)	Try: Strettle 46' c Con: Wilkinson Pen: Wilkinson (2) 2', 56'

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24 February 2007 20:00 GMT	France	32 – 21	Wales	Stade de France, Saint-Denis Attendance: 79,959 Referee: Tony Spreadbury (England)
	Tries: Dominici 28' c Nallet 34' c Con: Skrela (2) Pen: Skrela (5) 11', 18', 38', 46', 52' Beauxis 80'	(Report)	Tries: Popham 13' c Shanklin 15' c Robinson 74' c Con: S. Jones (3)

Week 4

10 March 2007 13:30 GMT	Scotland	18 – 19	Ireland	Murrayfield, Edinburgh Attendance: 67,800 Referee: Dave Pearson (England)
	Pen: Paterson (6) 17', 36', 40', 51', 61', 66'	(Report)	Try: O'Gara 30' c Con: O'Gara Pen: O'Gara (4) 9', 38', 68', 70'

• Ireland won the Triple Crown.

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10 March 2007 15:30 GMT	Italy	23 – 20	Wales	Stadio Flaminio, Rome Attendance: 24,973 Referee: Chris White (England)
	Tries: Robertson 37' c Mauro Bergamasco 78' c Con: Pez (2) Pen: Pez (3) 12', 20', 73'	(Report)	Tries: S. Williams 27' c Rees 45' c Con: S. Jones Hook Pen: Hook (2) 44', 54'

• First time that Italy reach two victories in a 6 Nations Championship (second time in 2013).

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11 March 2007 15:00 GMT	England	26 – 18	France	Twickenham, London Attendance: 82,000 Referee: Jonathan Kaplan (South Africa)
	Tries: Flood 48' c Tindall 73' c Con: Flood Geraghty Pen: Flood (3) 8', 31', 35' Geraghty 68'	(Report)	Pen: Skrela (3) 4', 15', 21' Yachvili (3) 34', 52', 59'

• England's victory meant that no team could now win the Grand Slam.

Week 5

17 March 2007 13:30 GMT	Italy	24 – 51	Ireland	Stadio Flaminio, Rome Attendance: 24,973 Referee: Jonathan Kaplan (South Africa)
	Tries: Bortolami 75' m de Marigny 80' c Con: Scanavacca Pen: Pez (2) 15', 26' Drop: Pez (2) 12', 29'	(Report)	Tries: Dempsey (2) 17' m, 46' c Easterby 21' m D'Arcy 40' c Horgan 51' m Hickie (2) 55' c, 77' m O'Gara 59' c Con: O'Gara (4) Pen: O'Gara 6'

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17 March 2007 15:30 GMT	France	46 – 19	Scotland	Stade de France, Saint-Denis Attendance: 79,959 Referee: Craig Joubert (South Africa)
	Tries: Harinordoquy 29' c Jauzion 33' c Marty 52' c Heymans 59' m Milloud 62' c Vermeulen 80' c Con: Beauxis (5) Pen: Beauxis (2) 19', 37'	(Report)	Tries: Walker 7' c S. Lamont 40' c E. Murray 76' m Con: Paterson (2)

• France needed to win by 24 points to overtake Ireland.

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17 March 2007 17:30 GMT	Wales	27 – 18	England	Millennium Stadium, Cardiff Attendance: 74,500 Referee: Alain Rolland (Ireland)
	Tries: Hook 3' c Horsman 13' m Con: Hook Pen: Hook (4) 11', 39', 64', 74' Drop: Hook 68'	(Report)	Tries: Ellis 32' c Robinson 40' m Con: Flood Pen: Flood 46' Drop: Flood 35'

• England needed to win by 57 points to win the Championship.

Scorers

Leading try scorers

Pos	Name	Tries	Pld	Team
1	Jason Robinson	4	4	England
	Ronan O'Gara	4	5	Ireland
3	Girvan Dempsey	3	3	Ireland

Leading point scorers

Pos	Name	Points	Pld	Team
1	Ronan O'Gara	82	5	Ireland
2	Chris Paterson	65	5	Scotland
3	Jonny Wilkinson	50	3	England

External links

• The official RBS Six Nations Site
• 2007 Six Nations Championship Coverage at the Guardian