2009 Six Nations Championship
 | This article documents a current rugby union tournament. Information may change rapidly as the event progresses. Initial news reports, scores, or statistics may be unreliable. The last updates to this article may not reflect the most current information. |
The 2009 Six Nations Championship, known as the 2009 RBS 6 Nations due to the tournament's sponsorship by the Royal Bank of Scotland, will be the tenth series of the Six Nations Championship. Including the previous incarnations as the Home Nations and Five Nations, this will be the 115th series of the annual northern hemisphere rugby union championship. The championship is contested by England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales.
The tournament started on 7 February 2009, when England hosted Italy in the earlier of the day's two matches. The current holders of the Six Nations Championship are Wales, who won the Grand Slam and Triple Crown in 2008. As holders, and after beating Australia in the Autumn, Wales started the tournament as favourites with most bookmakers and pundits.[1]
Participants
The teams involved are:
Squads
Table
| Position | Nation | Games | Points | Table points | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | For | Against | Difference | Tries | |||
| 1 | Ireland | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 68 | 30 | +38 | 8 | 4 |
| 2 |  Wales
|
2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 49 | 28 | +21 | 5 | 4 |
| 3 |  England
|
2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 51 | 34 | +17 | 7 | 2 |
| 4 |  France
|
2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 43 | 43 | 0 | 3 | 2 |
| 5 |  Scotland
|
2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 26 | 48 | −22 | 2 | 0 |
| 6 |  Italy
|
2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 20 | 74 | −54 | 1 | 0 |
Fixtures
The fixtures for the 2009 Six Nations were released on 17 April 2008.[6] The France v Wales game on 27 February will be the first Friday night game in the history of the championship, both under the Five and Six Nations format.[7]
Week 1
| 7 February 2009 15:00 GMT |
| England | 36 – 11 | Italy |
| Tries: Goode 2' c Ellis (2) 18' m, 54' c Flutey 28' c Cueto 78' c Con: Goode (4/5) Pen: Goode (1/3) 36' | Report | Try: Mi. Bergamasco 72' m Pen: McLean (2/3) 34', 39' |
| Twickenham, London Attendance: 82,000 Referee: Mark Lawrence (South Africa) |
| 7 February 2009 17:00 GMT |
| Ireland | 30 – 21 | France |
| Tries: Heaslip 34' c B. O'Driscoll 43' c D'Arcy 66' c Con: O'Gara (3/3) Pen: O'Gara (3/5) 3', 17', 78' | Report | Tries: Harinordoquy 15' c Médard 50' m Con: Beauxis (1/2) Pen: Beauxis (1/1) 76' Drop: Beauxis (2/2) 40+1', 53' |
| Croke Park, Dublin Attendance: 82,000 Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales) |
| 8 February 2009 15:00 GMT |
| Scotland | 13 – 26 | Wales |
| Try: M. Evans 69' c Con: Paterson (1/1) Pen: Paterson (2/2) 32', 51' | Report | Tries: Shanklin 22' m A. W. Jones 29' m Halfpenny 41' m S. Williams 58' m Pen: S. Jones (2/3) 13', 40+1' |
| Murrayfield, Edinburgh Attendance: 63,000 Referee: Alain Rolland (Ireland) |
Week 2
| 14 February 2009 15:00 GMT |
| France | 22 – 13 | Scotland |
| Try: Ouedraogo 46' c Con: Beauxis (1/1) Pen: Beauxis (5/7) 23', 38', 53', 60', 73' | Report | Try: T. Evans 69' c Con: Paterson (1/1) Pen: Godman (2/3) 35', 49' |
| Stade de France, Paris Attendance: 65,000 Referee: George Clancy (Ireland) |
| 14 February 2009 17:30 GMT |
| Wales | 23 – 15 | England |
| Try: Halfpenny 44' m Pen: S. Jones (5/6) 4', 16', 43', 54', 72' Halfpenny 22' (1/2) | Report | Tries: Sackey 24' m D. Armitage 57' c Con: Flood (1/1) Drop: Goode (1/1) 30' |
| Millennium Stadium, Cardiff Attendance: 73,000 Referee: Jonathan Kaplan (South Africa) |
| 15 February 2009 14:30 GMT |
| Italy | 9 – 38 | Ireland |
| Pen: McLean (3/4) 5', 16', 24' | Report | Tries: Bowe 19' c Fitzgerald (2) 40' c, 76' c D. Wallace 48' c B. O'Driscoll 78' c Con: O'Gara (4/4) Kearney (1/1) Pen: O'Gara (1/1) 50' |
| Stadio Flaminio, Rome Attendance: 30,000 Referee: Chris White (England) |
Week 3
Week 4
| 14 March 2009 17:00 GMT |
| Scotland | v | Ireland |
| Murrayfield, Edinburgh Referee: Jonathan Kaplan (South Africa) |
Week 5
Scorers
| Tries | Name | Pld | Team |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Harry Ellis | 2 | England
|
| Luke Fitzgerald | 2 | Ireland | |
| Brian O'Driscoll | 2 | Ireland | |
| Leigh Halfpenny | 2 | Wales
| |
| 1 | Thom Evans | 1 | Scotland
|
| Shane Williams | 1 | Wales
| |
| Paul Sackey | 2 | England
| |
| Delon Armitage | 2 | England
| |
| Riki Flutey | 2 | England
| |
| Andy Goode | 2 | England
| |
| Mark Cueto | 2 | England
| |
| Imanol Harinordoquy | 2 | France
| |
| Maxime Médard | 2 | France
| |
| Fulgence Ouedraogo | 2 | France
| |
| Jamie Heaslip | 2 | Ireland | |
| Gordon D'Arcy | 2 | Ireland | |
| Tommy Bowe | 2 | Ireland | |
| David Wallace | 2 | Ireland | |
| Mirco Bergamasco | 2 | Italy
| |
| Max Evans | 2 | Scotland
| |
| Alun Wyn Jones | 2 | Wales
| |
| Tom Shanklin | 2 | Wales
|
References
- ^ Wales will get better - Gatland
- ^ Unlike the other head coaches in the 2009 Six Nations, Martin Johnson holds the position of team manager
- ^ Ireland appoint Kidney as coach
- ^ "Ireland Management Confirm Captain And Season Plan". Irish Rugby Football Union. 2009-01-27. Retrieved 2009-01-27.
- ^ Martyn Williams captained Wales in their opening match against Scotland after Jones failed a fitness test hours before kickoff.
PA Sport (8 February 2009). "Wales make winning start". Six Nations Rugby. Retrieved 8 February 2009. - ^ "2009 RBS 6 Nations Fixtures". rbs6nations.com. Retrieved 19 March 2008.
- ^ "First Friday night game?". sixnationsweb.co.uk. Retrieved 19 March 2008.