2010 Six Nations Championship

Summary

The reigning champions on entering the tournament were Ireland, who won the Grand Slam and Triple Crown in 2009.

Ireland did not win the Triple Crown in 2010 due to a surprise 23–20 loss to Scotland in the final Six Nations match at Croke Park on 20 March, with Scotland avoiding their third "wooden spoon" since 2004 in the process. Brian O'Driscoll had opened the scoring in the 11th minute and Ireland were level with Scotland in the 64th minute after Tommy Bowe scored a try, with substitute Ronan O'Gara converting. Scotland's Johnnie Beattie scored his team's first try since they played Wales in their second game and Dan Parks scored a penalty in the final minute to prevent Ireland winning the Triple Crown. Ireland coach Declan Kidney described it as "not our greatest day".

Ireland's previous match – a 27–12 victory over Wales on 13 March – had seen O'Driscoll achieve 100 caps for his country. Ireland's previous match against England had seen John Hayes achieve 100 caps for his country, the first player to do so for Ireland.

Ireland's loss to Scotland meant France had won the Championship but could still achieve the Grand Slam by beating England in their final game at the Stade de France on 20 March. The Grand Slam was achieved by France following a 12–10 victory in this game. It was France's first Grand Slam since 2004. England scored the only try of the game. Jonny Wilkinson was not included in the England starting team for only the third time in his career. Bryce Lawrence from New Zealand refereed the game.

The nominations for "Player of the Championship" were announced on 17 March; these were Tommy Bowe (Ireland), Mathieu Bastareaud, Morgan Parra, Thierry Dusautoir, Imanol Harinordoquy (all France) and Shane Williams (Wales). Ireland captain Brian O'Driscoll, who had won the award in three of the four previous seasons, was not included this time. Tommy Bowe was named as the player of the championship on 25 March, having polled nearly 50% of the fan votes.

Participants

Squads

Table

Results

The schedule for the 2010 Championship was released on 2 April 2009. Following the success of the tournament's first Friday night game, between France and Wales in the 2009 Championship, the organisers scheduled the reverse fixture to also be played on a Friday night.

'c' and 'm' following a try denote 'converted' and 'missed conversion' respectively.

Round 1

O'Leary 35' c P. Wallace (1/1) 67' Mi. Bergamasco (1/1) 44'

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Care 44' c Hook 71' c

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• England wore a special kit to celebrate the centenary of the first international match – England vs Wales – at Twickenham Stadium.
• Dan Cole (England) made his international debut.

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• Luc Ducalcon (France) made his international debut.

Round 2

Halfpenny 77' c S. Williams 80+1' c M. Evans 20' m

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• Chris Paterson became the 13th player in history with at least 100 international appearances. His missed conversion ended a personal streak of 35 consecutive successful kicks at goal in the Six Nations, dating back to 2007.

Jauzion 31' c Poitrenaud 59' c Michalak (1/1) 78'

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• Jonny Wilkinson's two missed penalties ended a personal streak of consecutive successful penalty kicks in any international which he has started, dating back to 2003.
• Matt Mullan (England) made his international debut.

Round 3

S. Williams 79' c Trinh-Duc 40' c Michalak (1/1) 71'

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• Marc Andreu (France) made his international debut.

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Earls 56' m

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• John Hayes became the first Irish player to earn 100 international caps.

Round 4

O'Leary 31' m

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• Brian O'Driscoll became the second Irishman to reach 100 caps for his country.

Flood (2/4) 49', 64'

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• Ben Youngs (England) made his international debut.

Marty (2) 17' c, 25' m Andreu 51' c Jauzion 56' c Lapandry 65' c Canavosio 72' c

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Round 5

S. Williams 68' c

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• Tom Prydie became the youngest test cap in Welsh rugby history, at the age of .

Bowe 64' c O'Gara (1/1) O'Gara (1/1) 76'

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• Chris Ashton (England) made his international debut.

Top scorers

Try scorers

Points scorers

References

References

1. Ackford, Paul. (20 March 2010). "France 12 England 10: match report". The Telegraph.
2. Jones }}{{dead link, Stephen. (20 March 2010). "France 12 England 10". The Times.
3. O'Reilly }}{{dead link, Peter. (20 March 2010). "Ireland 20 Scotland 23". The Times.
4. (20 March 2010). "Scots dash Ireland's Triple Crown dream". [[RTÉ Sport]].
5. (20 March 2010). "'Not our greatest day' – Declan Kidney". [[RTÉ Sport]].
6. (13 March 2010). "Ireland 27–12 Wales". [[RTÉ Sport]].
7. (25 February 2010). "John Hayes expects huge English challenge". [[RTÉ Sport]].
8. Mairs, Gavin. (25 February 2010). "Six Nations 2010: John Hayes looks beyond century of Ireland caps to World Cup". [[The Daily Telegraph]].
9. Bolton, Paul. (21 March 2010). "Six Nations 2010: England's Martin Johnson questions referee after defeat to France". [[The Daily Telegraph]].
10. (20 March 2010). "France crowned Six Nations champions". [[RTÉ Sport]].
11. Jones, Stephen. (21 March 2010). "Pressure grows on Rob Andrew despite improved display". [[The Sunday Times]].
12. (17 March 2010). "Jonny Wilkinson dropped by England". [[RTÉ Sport]].
13. Kitson, Robert. (18 March 2010). "Martin Johnson drops Jonny Wilkinson from England team to play France". [[The Guardian]].
14. Davis, Toby. (20 March 2010). "UPDATE 1-Rugby-Nations-France 12 England 10 – result". [[Reuters]].
15. (17 March 2010). "Tommy Bowe nominated for player of 6 Nations". [[RTÉ Sport]].
16. (25 March 2010). "Ireland's Tommy Bowe is named player of Six Nations". British Broadcasting Corporation.
17. (27 November 2009). "Sergio Parisse ruled out of Italy's Six Nations campaign after injury". Guardian News and Media.
18. "RBS Six Nations Fixtures and Results". Six Nations Rugby.
19. (2 April 2009). "Wales host France in Friday clash". British Broadcasting Corporation.
20. "Guinness Six Nations Rugby News".
21. "Haskell double steers England past Wales".
22. Evans, Jonathan. (3 February 2010). "England strip back to good old days (when they won)". Media Wales.
23. "Bastareaud helps France ease past Scotland".
24. "Williams breaks Scottish hearts at the death".
25. "Wales claim a stunning triumph".
26. "Irresistible France end Ireland's unbeaten run".
27. "Unconvincing England stutter past Italy".
28. (14 February 2010). "Six Nations – Italy v England as it happened". British Broadcasting Corporation.
29. "France hold off Wales fightback to keep Grand Slam on track".
30. "Canavosio strikes late as Scotland come up short in Rome".
31. "Ireland dig deep for England victory".
32. (27 February 2010). "Ireland players and coaches dedicate win to John Hayes". British Broadcasting Corporation.
33. "O'Leary inspires Ireland victory over Wales".
34. (13 March 2010). "O'Leary inspires Ireland victory over Wales". RBS 6 Nations.
35. "England keep Calcutta Cup in dour draw".
36. "Inspirational France move closer to Grand Slam".
37. "Hook crosses twice in Wales romp over Italy".
38. (16 March 2010). "Tom Prydie to become Wales' youngest Test player". British Broadcasting Corporation.
39. "Parks' penalty denies Ireland Triple Crown".
40. "England can't deny French Grand Slam".