2008 Six Nations Championship

2008 Six Nations Championship
2008 Six Nations Championship
	The Welsh team that won the Grand Slam
Date	2 February – 15 March 2008
Countries	England; France; Ireland; Italy; Scotland; Wales
Tournament statistics
Champions	Wales (24th title)
Grand Slam	Wales (10th title)
Triple Crown	Wales (19th title)
Matches played	15
Tries scored	50 (3.33 per match)
Top point scorer(s)	Jonny Wilkinson (50)
Top try scorer(s)	Shane Williams (6)
Player of the tournament	Shane Williams
← 2007 (Previous)	(Next) 2009 →

The 2008 Six Nations Championship, known as the 2008 RBS 6 Nations because of sponsorship by the Royal Bank of Scotland, was the ninth series of the rugby union Six Nations Championship, the 114th series of the international championship.

Fifteen matches were played over five weekends from 2 February to 15 March, resulting in Wales winning the Grand Slam, their second in the last four championships and tenth overall. In winning the Grand Slam, Wales also won the Triple Crown, for beating each of the other Home Nations, for the 19th time. Wales conceded only two tries in the championship, beating England's previous record of four tries conceded. Wales' Shane Williams was named the Player of the Championship.^[1]

Participants

The teams involved were:

Nation	Venue	City	Head coach	Captain
England	Twickenham Stadium	London	Brian Ashton	Phil Vickery
France	Stade de France	Saint-Denis	Marc Lièvremont	Lionel Nallet
Ireland	Croke Park^[a]	Dublin	Eddie O'Sullivan	Brian O'Driscoll^[b]
Italy	Stadio Flaminio	Rome	Nick Mallett	Sergio Parisse
Scotland	Murrayfield	Edinburgh	Frank Hadden	Jason White^[c]
Wales	Millennium Stadium	Cardiff	Warren Gatland	Ryan Jones

Squads

Table

Position	Nation	Games				Points				Table points
Position	Nation	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	For	Against	Difference	Tries	Table points
1	Wales	5	5	0	0	148	66	+82	13	10
2	England	5	3	0	2	108	83	+25	8	6
3	France	5	3	0	2	103	93	+10	11	6
4	Ireland	5	2	0	3	93	99	−6	9	4
5	Scotland	5	1	0	4	69	123	−54	3	2
6	Italy	5	1	0	4	74	131	−57	6	2

Results

Round 1

2 February 2008
14:00

Ireland	16–11	Italy
Try: Dempsey 18' c Con: O'Gara (1/1) Pen: O'Gara (3/4) 12', 57', 66'	Report	Try: Castrogiovanni 60' m Pen: Bortolussi (2/3) 38', 70'

Croke Park, Dublin
Attendance: 75,387
Referee: Jonathan Kaplan (South Africa)

2 February 2008
16:30

England	19–26	Wales
Try: Flood 23' c Con: Wilkinson (1/1) Pen: Wilkinson (3/4) 1', 11', 45' Drop: Wilkinson (1/1) 17'	Report	Try: Byrne 67' c Phillips 70' c Con: Hook (2/2) Pen: Hook (4/4) 4', 34', 57', 63'

Twickenham Stadium, London
Attendance: 82,000
Referee: Craig Joubert (South Africa)

This was Wales' first win over England at Twickenham Stadium for 20 years.

3 February 2008
15:00

Scotland	6–27	France
Pen: Parks (1/2) 30' Drop: Parks (1/2) 4'	Report	Try: Clerc 12' c, 65' c Malzieu 23' c Con: Élissalde (2/2) Skrela(1/1) Pen: Traille (2/2) 18', 55'

Murrayfield, Edinburgh
Attendance: 67,800
Referee: Alain Rolland (Ireland)^[d]

Round 2

9 February 2008
14:00

Wales	30–15	Scotland
Try: S. Williams 13' c, 68' c Hook 46' c Con: Hook (2/2) S. Jones (1/1) Pen: Hook (1/1) 28' S. Jones (2/2) 63', 71'	Report	Pen: Paterson (5/5) 10', 32', 42', 50', 55

Millennium Stadium, Cardiff
Attendance: 74,576
Referee: Bryce Lawrence (New Zealand)

9 February 2008
16:00

France	26–21	Ireland
Try: Clerc 14' c, 18' m, 35' c Heymans 48' c Con: Élissalde (3/4)	Report	Try: Penalty try 55' c D. Wallace 59' m Con: O'Gara (1/2) Pen: O'Gara (3/3) 17', 28', 74'

Stade de France, Saint-Denis
Attendance: 76,500
Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)

10 February 2008
14:30

Italy	19–23	England
Try: Picone 76' c Con: Bortolussi (1/1) Pen: Bortolussi (4/4) 5', 11', 44', 54'	Report	Try: Sackey 3' c Flood 15' c Con: Wilkinson (2/2) Pen: Wilkinson (3/4) 31', 37', 57'

Stadio Flaminio, Rome
Attendance: 30,625
Referee: Alain Rolland (Ireland)

Round 3

23 February 2008
15:00

Wales	47–8	Italy
Try: Byrne 28' c, 68' c Shanklin 42' c S. Williams 57' c, 74' c Con: S. Jones (3/3) Hook (2/2) Pen: S. Jones (4/4) 4', 11', 47', 50'	Report	Try: Castrogiovanni 12' m Pen: Marcato (1/2) 40+2'

Millennium Stadium, Cardiff
Attendance: 74,305
Referee: Dave Pearson (England)

23 February 2008
17:00

Ireland	34–13	Scotland
Try: D. Wallace 22' c Kearney 26' c Horan 41' m Bowe 62' c, 79' m Con: O'Gara (3/5) Pen: O'Gara (1/1) 50'	Report	Try: Webster 53' c Con: Paterson (1/1) Pen: Paterson (2/2) 24', 31'

Croke Park, Dublin
Attendance: 74,234
Referee: Christophe Berdos (France)

Ireland won the Centenary Quaich.

23 February 2008
20:00

France	13–24	England
Try: Nallet 24' c Con: Traille(1/1) Pen: Parra (1/1) 49' Yachvili (1/1) 74'	Report	Try: Sackey 5' c Wigglesworth 79' m Con: Wilkinson (1/2) Pen: Wilkinson (3/5) 14', 29', 68' Drop: Wilkinson (1/2) 64'

Stade de France, Saint-Denis
Attendance: 79,593
Referee: Steve Walsh (New Zealand)

Jonny Wilkinson drew level with Wales' Neil Jenkins as the all-time leading point scorer in international rugby history with 1,090 career points (including points scored for the British and Irish Lions).
This result left Wales as the only remaining team that could win the Grand Slam.
This was England's first away win over France in the Six Nations since their 15–9 win in 2000.

Round 4

8 March 2008
13:15

Ireland	12–16	Wales
Pen: O'Gara (4/4) 5', 19', 62', 68'	Report	Try: S. Williams 51' c Con: S. Jones (1/1) Pen: S. Jones (2/4) 26', 46' Hook (1/1) 76'

Croke Park, Dublin
Attendance: 75,000
Referee: Wayne Barnes (England)

Shane Williams drew level with Gareth Thomas as the all-time try leader for Wales with his 40th try.
Wales won the Triple Crown.

8 March 2008
15:15

Scotland	15–9	England
Pen: Paterson (4/4) 9', 31', 40+2', 41' Parks (1/1) 48'	Report	Pen: Wilkinson (3/5) 27', 50', 53'

Murrayfield, Edinburgh
Attendance: 67,987
Referee: Jonathan Kaplan (South Africa)

England's Jonny Wilkinson became the all-time scoring leader in international rugby history, surpassing Wales' Neil Jenkins.
Scotland won the Calcutta Cup.

9 March 2008
15:00

France	25–13	Italy
Try: Floch 13' c Jauzion 53' m Rougerie 66' c Con: Yachvili (2/3) Pen: Yachvili (2/2) 27', 37'	Report	Try: Castrogiovanni 58' c Con: Marcato (1/1) Pen: Marcato (2/2) 18', 31'

Stade de France, Saint-Denis
Attendance: 79,000
Referee: Alan Lewis (Ireland)

France won their second consecutive Giuseppe Garibaldi Trophy.

Round 5

15 March 2008
13:00

Italy	23–20	Scotland
Try: Penalty try 13' c Canale 59' c Con: Marcato (2/2) Pen: Marcato (2/4) 36', 68' Drop: Marcato (1/1) 79'	Report	Try: Hogg 21' c Blair 40' c Con: Paterson (2/2) Pen: Parks (1/1) 25' Paterson (1/1) 72'

Stadio Flaminio, Rome
Attendance: 40,000
Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)

Despite victory over the Scots, Italy won the "wooden spoon", having failed to win by the necessary five-point margin required to avoid finishing at the bottom of the table.

15 March 2008
15:00

England	33–10	Ireland
Try: Sackey 19' c Tait 57' c Noon 69' c Con: Cipriani (3/3) Pen: Cipriani (4/4) 12', 30', 44', 73'	Report	Try: Kearney 4' c Con: O'Gara (1/1) Pen: O'Gara (1/2) 7'

Twickenham Stadium, London
Attendance: 82,000
Referee: Stuart Dickinson (Australia)

England won the Millennium Trophy for the first time in five years.

15 March 2008
17:00

Wales	29–12	France
Try: S. Williams 60' c M. Williams 77' c Con: S. Jones (2/2) Pen: Hook (3/5) 5', 18', 21' S. Jones (2/2) 63', 74'	Report	Pen: Élissalde (3/3) 19', 39', 46' Yachvili (1/1) 69'

Millennium Stadium, Cardiff
Attendance: 74,609
Referee: Marius Jonker (South Africa)

Shane Williams took sole possession of the all-time try scoring lead for Wales with his 41st try.
Wales won the Grand Slam for the second time in four championships.
By virtue of Wales beating France by more than three points, England finished second in the table, their best Six Nations finish since 2003.
Wales conceded just two tries all championship, the tightest ever defence in the Six Nations.

Scorers

Leading try scorers
Tries	Name	Pld	Team
6	Shane Williams	5	Wales
5	Vincent Clerc	5	France
3	Lee Byrne	5	Wales
	Martin Castrogiovanni	5	Italy
	Paul Sackey	5	England
2	Tommy Bowe	3	Ireland
	Toby Flood	5	England
	Rob Kearney	5	Ireland
	David Wallace	5	Ireland
1	13 players

Leading point scorers
Points	Name	Pld	Team
50	Jonny Wilkinson	5	England
48	Ronan O'Gara	5	Ireland
44	Stephen Jones	4	Wales
44	James Hook	5	Wales

Notes

^ Lansdowne Road, Ireland's traditional home, is being redeveloped and is expected to be back in use by 2009.
^ Ronan O'Gara captained Ireland in their final match against England, which O'Driscoll missed due to a hamstring tear.
^ White missed Scotland's third game because of concussion and started on the bench in the last two games. He was replaced as captain for these games by Mike Blair.
^ Rolland replaced original referee Paul Honiss, who was forced to return to New Zealand due to a serious family illness.

References

^ "Williams wins RBS player of the Championship". RBS 6 Nations. 19 March 2008. Archived from the original on 24 May 2011. Retrieved 26 March 2008.

[2] Lansdowne Road, Ireland's traditional home, is being redeveloped and is expected to be back in use by 2009.

[3] Ronan O'Gara captained Ireland in their final match against England, which O'Driscoll missed due to a hamstring tear.

[4] White missed Scotland's third game because of concussion and started on the bench in the last two games. He was replaced as captain for these games by Mike Blair.

[5] Rolland replaced original referee Paul Honiss, who was forced to return to New Zealand due to a serious family illness.

[1] "Williams wins RBS player of the Championship". RBS 6 Nations. 19 March 2008. Archived from the original on 24 May 2011. Retrieved 26 March 2008.

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