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. The last team to have won the Six Nations Grand Slam was France in 2010.

Six Nations Championship

In the Six Nations Championship and its Five Nations predecessor, a grand slam occurs when one team beats all its opponents 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 Champion.

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

Three teams — Wales (1908 and 09), England (1913 and 14, 1923 and 24, 1991 and 92), and France (1997 and 98) — have won two consecutive Grand Slams; 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. The Welsh Grand Slam in 2008 saw them become the second team to win two Grand Slams in the Six Nations.

The Grand Slam has been achieved 35 times — England leads, with 12 wins, followed by Wales (10), France (9), Scotland (3) and Ireland (2). Italy has yet to win a Grand Slam, but has also only been in the tournament since it expanded to six nations in 2000.

France is the most successful Grand Slam winners in the time since they entered the competition. Excluding Italy, they have all met 62 times with the following results: Winners: France (24), Wales (21), England (16), Ireland (9), Scotland (6). Outright Winner: France (16), Wales (14), England (12), Ireland (7), Scotland (3). Grand Slam Wins: France (9), Wales (7), England (6), Ireland (2), Scotland (2).

List of Grand Slam Winners

Nation	W	Grand Slam Season
England	12	1913, 1914, 1921, 1923, 1924, 1928, 1957, 1980, 1991, 1992, 1995, 2003
Wales	10	1908, 1909, 1911, 1950, 1952, 1971, 1976, 1978, 2005, 2008
France	9	1968, 1977, 1981, 1987, 1997, 1998, 2002, 2004, 2010
Scotland	3	1925, 1984, 1990
Ireland	2	1948, 2009
Italy	0

List of Winners

1882–1907	France did not take part in the championship
1908	Wales
1909	Wales
1911	Wales
1913	England
1914	England
1915–19	No tournament during 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 during 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

Similar in concept to the Grand Slam is the Triple Crown, which is won if a team from one of the Home Nations of the British Isles (England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland) manages to beat the other three teams. The term Triple Crown originated when these were the only four teams competing in the predecessor Home Nations Championship, thus the Triple Crown — like the present Grand Slam — once signified the undefeated champion of the tournament.

Grand Slam Tour

A Grand Slam tour is one in which a touring national team from New Zealand, South Africa or Australia plays Test matches against the four Home Nations of the British Isles: England, Wales, Ireland, and Scotland. If the tourists win all four games, they are said to have achieved a grand slam.

Wins against all four Home Nations in the same tour have been achieved South Africa (4 times), New Zealand (4) and Australia (1). Australia holds the distinction of being the only team to suffer an unofficial 'grand slam of defeats' against the Home Nations, on their 1957–58 tour).

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

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 (to the detriment of other matches against local club/provincial teams within each nation). The last successful grand slam tour was in 2010, when New Zealand achieved their fourth grand slam. The All Blacks' first Grand Slam tour of the 2000s, in 2005, was originally intended to include only three Test matches; only the late inclusion of the game against Wales made it possible for the All Blacks even to contemplate winning the grand slam. In addition, New Zealand played only test matches in 2005 and 2010 and played only one non-test in 2008, as opposed to frequent midweek and weekend tour games against provincial sides which categorised other Grand Slam tours.

List of Grand Slam tours

Successful tours (in which the national team of all four Home Nations were defeated) are indicated with a green check mark.

Teams	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

See also

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

External links

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