Grand Slam (rugby union)

For other uses, see Grand Slam.

In rugby union, a Grand Slam (Welsh: Y Gamp Lawn. French: Le Grand Chelem) occurs when one team in the Six Nations Championship (or its Five Nations predecessor) manages to beat all the others during one year's competition. This has been achieved 37 times in total, for the first time by Wales in 1908, and most recently again by Wales in 2012. The team to have won the most Grand Slams is England with 12.

A Grand Slam is also said to be achieved by a touring side – South Africa, Australia or New Zealand – when it defeats all four home nations (England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales) during a tour. This has been achieved nine times, first by South Africa in 1912–13, and most recently by New Zealand in 2010. A tour that includes fixtures against all four home nations is called a Grand Slam tour.

Five and Six Nations Championship

In the annual Six Nations Championship (between England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, France and Italy), and its predecessor the Five Nations Championship (before Italy joined in 2000), a Grand Slam occurs when one team beats all of the others during one year's competition. 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 an informal honour recognizing an undefeated Championship-winning team.

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

The Grand Slam honour is applied retroactively to teams which won all of their matches in Five Nations tournaments before the term came into use. It is also applied to the 1908 and 1909 seasons, when matches with France took place during, but outside of, the then Home Nations Championships. However the Grand Slam honour is not applied to seasons in which only the four home nations were involved (1883–1907 and 1932–1939) – in that case a team that won all its matches is said to have achieved the Triple Crown. This honour is still competed for between the four home nations within the Six Nations Championship.

A Grand Slam was therefore available in the years 1908–1931 and 1947–1999 (Five Nations) and 2000–2012 (Six Nations), a total of 90 seasons to date. Grand Slams were in fact achieved on 37 of these occasions – 12 by England, 11 by Wales, 9 by France, 3 by Scotland and 2 by Ireland. (Italy, involved in the tournament since 2000, have yet to win a Grand Slam.)

Consecutive Grand Slams have been won by Wales in 1908–1909, by England in 1913–1914, 1923–1924 and 1991–1992, and by France in 1997–1998. No team has yet 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. This was repeated in 2009 with Ireland winning matches away to Italy, Scotland and Wales.

Table of Grand Slam winners

Nation	Grand Slams	Grand Slam winning seasons
England	12	1913, 1914, 1921, 1923, 1924, 1928, 1957, 1980, 1991, 1992, 1995, 2003
Wales	11	1908*, 1909*, 1911, 1950, 1952, 1971, 1976, 1978, 2005, 2008, 2012
France	9	1968, 1977, 1981, 1987, 1997, 1998, 2002, 2004, 2010
Scotland	3	1925, 1984, 1990
Ireland	2	1948, 2009
Italy	0

* In 1908 and 1909 matches with France were played, although they were not part of the Championship.

Chronological list of Grand Slam winners

1882–1907	France did not take part in the championship
1908	Wales (*see note above)
1909	Wales (*see note above)
1911	Wales
1913	England
1914	England
1915–19	No tournament due to World War I
1921	England
1923	England
1924	England
1925	Scotland
1928	England
1932–39	France was suspended from the championship
1940–46	No tournament due to World War II
1948	Ireland
1950	Wales
1952	Wales
1957	England
1968	France
1971	Wales
1976	Wales
1977	France
1978	Wales
1980	England
1981	France
1984	Scotland
1987	France
1990	Scotland
1991	England
1992	England
1995	England
1997	France
1998	France
2000	Tournament expanded to include Italy.
2002	France
2003	England
2004	France
2005	Wales
2008	Wales
2009	Ireland
2010	France
2012	Wales

Grand Slam tours

A Grand Slam tour is one in which a touring national team from New Zealand, South Africa or Australia plays Test matches against all four home nations (England, Wales, Ireland and Scotland). If the tourists win all four of these games, they are said to have achieved a Grand Slam.

Grand Slams by touring teams have been achieved nine times: four times each by South Africa and New Zealand, and once by Australia. The only touring country to have achieved a "Five Nations" Grand Slam (defeating France in addition to the four home countries on the same tour) is South Africa, in its tours of 1912–13 and 1951–52.

Australia is the only country to suffer an unofficial "grand slam of defeats" against the four home nations, on their 1957–58 tour.

After 1984, Southern Hemisphere sides started to tour the British Isles more frequently, but to play fewer Tests on each tour, and thus there were no Grand Slam tours between 1984 and 1998. However, since 1998 Grand Slam tours have become quite common again, as the number of Tests on each tour has again increased, although fewer matches are now played against club or provincial teams than was formerly the case on Grand Slam tours. For example, New Zealand played only Test matches in 2005 and 2010 and played only one non-Test in 2008 (a midweek match against Munster to commemorate Munster's defeat of the All Blacks in 1978, which had been their only loss on that tour). The All Blacks' tours of 2005 and 2008 were originally planned to include only three Test matches; the late inclusion of matches against Wales and England respectively turned these into Grand Slam tours.

Grand Slams achieved by touring sides

South Africa	1912–13, 1931–32, 1951–52, 1960–61
New Zealand	1978, 2005, 2008, 2010
Australia	1984

List of Grand Slam tours

This is a list of all Grand Slam tours (tours which included fixtures with all four home nations). Tours on which the Grand Slam was achieved (wins over all four home nations) are indicated with a green check mark.

Team	Achieved	Year
New Zealand		1905-1906
South Africa		1906
South Africa	Y	1912–1913
Australia		1927–1928
South Africa	Y	1931–1932
New Zealand		1935–1936
Australia		1947–1948
South Africa	Y	1951–1952
New Zealand		1953–1954
Australia		1958
South Africa	Y	1960–1961
New Zealand		1963–1964
Australia		1966–1967
South Africa		1969–1970
New Zealand		1972–1973
Australia		1975–1976
New Zealand	Y	1978
Australia		1981–1982
Australia	Y	1984
South Africa		1998
South Africa		2004
New Zealand	Y	2005
New Zealand	Y	2008
Australia		2009
New Zealand	Y	2010
South Africa		2010

Near Grand Slam tours

The following is a list of near Grand Slam tours, which included fixtures against three out of the four home nations.

Team	Who they missed out playing	Year
New Zealand	Scotland	1924-1925
New Zealand	Ireland	1967
Argentina	Wales	1990
Australia	England	1996
Italy	Wales	1996-1997
New Zealand	Scotland	1997
South Africa	Scotland	2000
Fiji	England	2002
Australia	Scotland	2005
Pacific Islanders	England	2006
Australia	England	2006
South Africa	Ireland	2008
Canada	England	2008
Argentina	Ireland	2009

See also

• Six Nations Championship
• Triple Crown
• Six Nations Wooden Spoon
• Calcutta Cup

External links

• The Official Six Nations Site
• 2008 Six Nations Information and Tournament Guide
• BBC News article on past Grand Slam tours