1988 Five Nations Championship
| 1988 Five Nations Championship | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date | 16 January 1988 – 19 March 1988 | ||
| Countries |  England Ireland France Scotland Wales | ||
| Tournament statistics | |||
| Champions | France and Wales | ||
| Triple Crown | Wales (17th title) | ||
| Matches played | 10 | ||
| Tries scored | 31 (3.1 per match) | ||
| Top point scorer(s) | Gavin Hastings (41 points) | ||
| Top try scorer(s) | Chris Oti (3 tries) | ||
| |||
The 1988 Five Nations Championship was the fifty–ninth series of the rugby union Five Nations Championship. Including the previous incarnations as the Home Nations and Five Nations, this was the ninety–fourth series of the northern hemisphere rugby union championship. Ten matches were played over five weekends between 16 January and 19 March. It marked the final time the Championship was shared between two nations, with Wales and France being declared joint winners with 6 points each. In future tournaments, overall points difference would be used to separate teams with the same number of points so that the tournament would be more likely to have an outright winner.[1]
The final match of the tournament, England's victory over Ireland, was notable for the crowd bursting into song with "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" as a response to the hat-trick of tries scored by England's Chris Oti (only the second black player, and the first for 80 years, to be capped by England). The song was subsequently to become the unofficial rugby anthem for England.[2]
Participants
The teams involved were:
| Nation | Venue | City | Head coach |
|---|---|---|---|
| England
|
Twickenham | London | Geoff Cooke |
| France
|
Parc des Princes | Paris | Jacques Fouroux |
| Ireland
|
Lansdowne Road | Dublin | Jim Davidson |
| Scotland
|
Murrayfield | Edinburgh | Jim Telfer |
| Wales
|
National Stadium | Cardiff | Tony Gray |
Squads
Table
| Position | Nation | Games | Points | Table points | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | For | Against | Difference | |||
| 1 | Wales
|
4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 57 | 42 | +15 | 6 |
| 1 | France
|
4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 57 | 47 | +10 | 6 |
| 3 | England
|
4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 56 | 30 | +26 | 4 |
| 4 | Scotland
|
4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 67 | 68 | −1 | 2 |
| 4 | Ireland
|
4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 40 | 90 | −50 | 2 |
Results
| 1988-01-16 |
| Ireland | 22–18 | Scotland |
| Tries: Kiernan MacNeill Mullin Con.: Kiernan (2) Pen.: Kiernan Drops Kiernan | Report | Tries: S. Hastings Laidlaw Con.: G. Hastings (2) Pen.: G. Hastings (2) |
| Lansdowne Road, Dublin Referee: R. Quittenton (England) |
| 1988-01-16 |
| France | 10–9 | England |
| Tries: Rodriguez Pen.: Bérot (2) | Report | Pen.: Webb (2) Drops: Cusworth |
| Parc des Princes, Paris Attendance: 45,071 Referee: O. E. Doyle (Ireland) |
| 1988-02-06 |
| Scotland | 23–12 | France |
| Tries: G. Hastings Tukalo Pen.: G. Hastings (4) | Report | Tries: Lagisquet Con.: Bérot Pen.: Bérot Drops: Lescarboura |
| Murrayfield, Edinburgh Attendance: 65,000 Referee: F. Muller (South Africa) |
| 1988-02-06 |
| England | 3–11 | Wales |
| Pen.: Webb | Report | Tries: Hadley (2) Drops: J. Davies |
| Twickenham, London Referee: S. R. Hilditch (Ireland) |
| 1988-02-20 |
| France | 25–6 | Ireland |
| Tries: Blanco Camberabero Carminati Lagisquet Sella Con.: Bérot Drops: Camberabero | Report | Pen.: Kiernan (2) |
| Parc des Princes, Paris Attendance: 49,130 Referee: F. Muller (South Africa) |
| 1988-02-20 |
| Wales | 25–20 | Scotland |
| Tries: J. Davies I. Evans Watkins Con.: Thorburn (2) Pen.: Thorburn Drops: J. Davies | Report | Tries: Calder Duncan Pen.: G. Hastings (4) |
| National Stadium, Cardiff Referee: Y. Bressy (France) |
| 1988-03-05 |
| Ireland | 9–12 | Wales |
| Tries: Kingston Con.: Kiernan Pen.: Kiernan | Report | Tries: Moriarty Con.: Thorburn Pen.: Thorburn Drops: J. Davies |
| Lansdowne Road, Dublin Referee: R. J. Megson (Scotland) |
| 1988-03-05 |
| Scotland | 6–9 | England |
| Pen.: G. Hastings | Report | Pen.: Webb (2) Drops: Andrew |
| Murrayfield, Edinburgh Referee: W. Jones (Wales) |
| 1988-03-19 |
| Wales | 9–10 | France |
| Tries: I. Evans Con.: Thorburn Pen.: Thorburn | Report | Tries: Lescarboura Pen.: Lafond (2) |
| National Stadium, Cardiff Attendance: 63,000 Referee: F. A. Howard (England) |
| 1988-03-19 |
| England | 35–3 | Ireland |
| Tries: Oti (3) Rees R. Underwood (2) Con.: Andrew (2) Webb Pen.: Webb | Report | Drops: Kiernan |
| Twickenham, London Referee: C. Norling (Wales) |
References
- ^ Murray, Scott (2011-02-18). "The Joy of Six: Five Nations memories". Guardian. London. Retrieved 3 July 2013.
- ^ "Oti the man to blame as 'Swing Low Sweet Chariot' continues to roll". Irish Independent. 13 March 2008. Retrieved 3 July 2013.
- ^ a b Stephen Jones, ed. (1988). Rothmans Rugby Union Yearbook 1988-89 (17th ed.). London: Queen Anne Press.