2003 Six Nations Championship

Date

15 February 2003 - 30 March 2003

Countries

England

France

Ireland

Italy

Scotland

Wales

Tournament statistics

England (25th title)

England (12th title)

England (23rd title)

England

England

Ireland

Matches played

Tries scored

74 (4.93 per match)

Top point scorer(s)

Jonny Wilkinson (77)

Top try scorer(s)

Damien Traille (4)

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(Next) 2004 →

The 2003 Six Nations Championship was the fourth series of the Six Nations Championship. Including the previous incarnations as the Home Nations and Five Nations, this was the hundred-and-ninth series of the northern hemisphere rugby union championship. The annual tournament was won by England, who completed a tournament grand slam, and went on to win the 2003 Rugby World Cup later the same year. Italy won their first match with Wales (30-22), finishing in 5th place for the second time.

This was the sixth time in the Championship's overall history (after 1978, 1984, 1990, 1991 and 1995), but the first time since it became the Six Nations, that two teams met in the final week with undefeated records, both England and Ireland being on a 4-0 record and the final match being a decider for the Grand Slam (and in this case the Triple Crown as well). It was also the first such instance in which Ireland had been involved: and, unfortunately for them, the first such instance that was won by the team playing away from home. Wales were whitewashed, having lost all five of their games, and earned themselves the wooden spoon as a result.

Participants

The teams involved were:

Nation	Venue	City	Head coach
England	Twickenham	London	Clive Woodward
France	Stade de France	Paris	Bernard Laporte
Ireland	Lansdowne Road	Dublin	Eddie O'Sullivan
Italy	Stadio Flaminio	Rome	John Kirwan
Scotland	Murrayfield	Edinburgh	Ian McGeechan
Wales	Millennium Stadium	Cardiff	Steve Hansen

Squads

For each nation's squad for the 2003 Six Nations Championship, see 2003 Six Nations Championship squads.

Table

Position	Nation	Games				Points				Table points
Position	Nation	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	For	Against	Difference	Tries	Table points
1	England	5	5	0	0	173	46	+127	18	10
2	Ireland	5	4	0	1	119	97	+22	10	8
3	France	5	3	0	2	153	75	+78	17	6
4	Scotland	5	2	0	3	81	161	-80	7	4
5	Italy	5	1	0	4	100	185	-85	12	2
6	Wales	5	0	0	5	82	144	-62	10	0

Results

Week 1

2003-02-15
13:30 GMT

Italy	30 – 22	Wales
Tries: de Carli Festuccia Phillips Con: Dominguez (3) Pen: Dominguez (2) Drop: Dominguez	Report	Tries: Shanklin S. Williams Peel Con: Harris (2) Pen: Harris

Stadio Flaminio, Rome
Attendance: 20,000
Referee: Joel Jutge (France)

2003-02-15
16:00 GMT

England	25 – 17	France
Try: Robinson Con: Wilkinson Pen: Wilkinson (5) Drop: Wilkinson	Report	Tries: Magne Poitrenaud Traille Con: Merceron

Twickenham, London
Referee: Paul Honiss (New Zealand)

2003-02-16
15:00 GMT

Scotland	6 – 36	Ireland
Pen: Ross (2)	Report	Tries: Hickie Murphy Humphreys Con: Humphreys (3) Pen: Humphreys (5)

Murrayfield, Edinburgh
Referee: Andrew Cole (Australia)

Week 2

2003-02-22
14:30 GMT

Italy	13 – 37	Ireland
Try: Dallan Con: Pez Pen: Dominguez Pez	Report	Tries: Stringer O'Driscoll Kelly Humphreys Murphy Con: Humphreys (3) Pen: Humphreys (2)

Stadio Flaminio, Rome
Referee: Tony Spreadbury (England)

2003-02-22
17:30 GMT

Wales	9 – 26	England
Pen: Ceri Sweeney (3)	Report	Tries: Greenwood Worsley Con: Wilkinson (2) Pen: Wilkinson (2) Drop: Wilkinson (2)

Millennium Stadium, Cardiff
Referee: Steve Walsh (New Zealand)

2003-02-23
14:00 GMT

France	38 – 3	Scotland
Tries: Pelous Poitrenaud Traille Rougerie Con: Gelez (3) Pen: Gelez (4)	Report	Pen: Paterson

Stade de France, Saint-Denis
Referee: Peter Marshall (Australia)

Week 3

2003-03-08
14:00 GMT

Ireland	15 – 12	France
Pen: Humphreys (4) Drop: Murphy	Report	Pen: Gelez (4)

Lansdowne Road, Dublin
Referee: Andre Watson (South Africa)

2003-03-08
16:00 GMT

Scotland	30 – 22	Wales
Tries: Douglas Taylor Paterson Con: Paterson (3) Pen: Paterson (3)	Report	Tries: Cooper Taylor R. Williams Con: S. Jones (2) Pen: S. Jones

Murrayfield, Edinburgh
Referee: Pablo Deluca (Argentina)

2003-03-09
14:00 GMT

England	40 – 5	Italy
Tries: Lewsey (2) Thompson Simpson-Daniel Tindall Luger Con: Wilkinson (4) Dawson	Report	Try: Mi. Bergamasco

Twickenham, London
Referee: Alain Rolland (Ireland)

Week 4

2003-03-22
14:00 GMT

Wales	24 – 25	Ireland
Tries: S. Jones M. Williams Thomas Con: S. Jones (3) Drop: S. Jones	Report	Tries: Gleeson (2) Pen: Humphreys (4) Drop: O'Gara

Millennium Stadium, Cardiff
Referee: Steve Lander (England)

2003-03-22
16:00 GMT

England	40 – 9	Scotland
Tries: Robinson (2) Cohen Lewsey Con: Wilkinson (3) Paul Grayson Pen: Wilkinson (4)	Report	Pen: Paterson (3)

Twickenham, London
Referee: Alan Lewis (Ireland)

2003-03-23
14:00 GMT

Italy	27 – 53	France
Tries: Pez Mi. Bergamasco Persico Phillips Con: Pez (2) Pen: Pez	Report	Tries: Traille (2) Rougerie (2) Betsen Michalak Castaignède Con: Yachvili (6) Pen: Yachvili (2)

Stadio Flaminio, Rome
Referee: Nigel Williams (Wales)

Week 5

2003-03-29
13:00 GMT

France	33 – 5	Wales
Tries: Castaginède Clerc Michalak Con: Yachvili (3) Pen: Yachvili (4)	Report	Try: Gareth Thomas

Stade de France, Saint-Denis
Referee: Paddy O'Brien (New Zealand)

2003-03-29
15:00 GMT

Scotland	33 – 25	Italy
Tries: White McLaren Logan Paterson Con: Paterson (2) Pen: Paterson (3)	Report	Tries: Mi. Bergamasco Pez Palmer Con: Pez (2) Pen: Pez (2)

Murrayfield, Edinburgh

2003-03-30
14:00 GMT

Ireland	6 – 42	England
Pen: Humphreys (2)	Report	Tries: Greenwood (2) Dallaglio Tindall Luger Con: Wilkinson (3) Grayson Pen: Wilkinson Drop: Wilkinson (2)

Lansdowne Road, Dublin

Red carpet incident

The deciding game between Ireland and England was overshadowed by an incident in the pre-game ceremonies in which the Irish President Mary McAleese had to walk on the grass instead of the red carpet to meet the Irish team. England had lined up on the left hand side when facing the tunnel, which was said to be Ireland's lucky side. When asked to move his team, England captain Martin Johnson refused, so Ireland lined up to the left of them, with no team now on the right hand side, leaving insufficient red carpet on that side. A day after the game the Irish Rugby Football Union sent a written apology to the president for the England team's failure to "follow established and communicated protocol", while their English counterparts the Rugby Football Union also sent her a "full and unreserved apology".^[1] Having dismissed it at the time as "a fuss about nothing", Johnson later explained ahead of meeting the president again in Ireland for the 2011 Championship that he had lined up on that side as it was customary to line up on the side you warmed up on, that he had no prior knowledge of the protocol, and his subsequent refusal to move was because the request came from some "random guy", rather than the match referee.^[2]

References

↑ "RUGBY: Rugby apology for McAleese". UTV. 31 March 2003. Retrieved 19 March 2011.
↑ "18 March 2011". Irish Examiner. 19 March 2011. Retrieved 19 March 2011.

External links

Six Nations - Official website
2003 Six Nations Championship Coverage at the Guardian
2003 Six Nations Championship Coverage at ESPN

Six Nations Championship

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Honours

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