2009_Six_Nations_Championship

2009 Six Nations Championship
2009 Six Nations Championship
	Ireland win over Scotland on 14 March 2009
Date	7 February – 21 March 2009
Countries	England; France; Ireland; Italy; Scotland; Wales
Tournament statistics
Champions	Ireland (11th title)
Grand Slam	Ireland (2nd title)
Triple Crown	Ireland (10th title)
Matches played	15
Attendance	981,963 (65,464 per match)
Tries scored	56 (3.73 per match)
Top point scorer(s)	Ronan O'Gara (51)
Top try scorer(s)	Brian O'Driscoll (4); Riki Flutey (4)
Player of the tournament	Brian O'Driscoll
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2009 Six Nations Championship

Rugby union tournament

The 2009 Six Nations Championship, known as the RBS 6 Nations for sponsorship reasons, was the 10th Six Nations Championship, and the 115th international championship, an annual rugby union competition contested by the six major European national teams: England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. The tournament was held between 7 February and 21 March 2009.

Quick Facts Date, Countries ...

Ireland won the Grand Slam and Triple Crown, only their second Grand Slam, and first since 1948, and first Triple Crown since 2007.^[1]

England finished as runners-up, and also won the Calcutta Cup. The tournament featured the first Friday night game in its history, played between France and Wales at the Stade de France.^[2]

Summary

The tournament began on 7 February 2009, when England hosted Italy in the earlier of the day's two matches. Ireland played France later that evening, with Scotland versus Wales the following day.

The reigning champions on entering the 2009 tournament were Wales, who won the Grand Slam and Triple Crown in 2008. The winners of both accolades in 2009 were Ireland, with Ronan O'Gara's dropped goal leaving the score in the final match against Wales in Cardiff on 21 March at 17–15.^[3] Wales's Stephen Jones then missed a late penalty from just inside the Ireland half to leave Wales in fourth position.^[4] Ireland's two tries in that match came when captain Brian O'Driscoll and Tommy Bowe scored in quick succession in the 44th and 46th minutes respectively.^[4]^[5] Paul O'Connell received the Triple Crown and Ireland's captain Brian O'Driscoll lifted the trophy. It was Ireland's first Grand Slam since 1948, 61 years earlier.^[4]^[6] This was achieved in the first Six Nations Championship since Declan Kidney was appointed as manager of the Ireland team, succeeding Eddie O'Sullivan who resigned after the previous tournament.^[7]

Brian O'Driscoll lifting the Six Nations cup

Twelve tries were scored by Ireland throughout the tournament, and five wins left the team on top of the table at the end of the Championship with ten points. They opened with a 30–21 win over France at home stadium Croke Park on 7 February.^[8] On 15 February, Ireland's second match was a 38–9 victory over Italy at the Stadio Flaminio in Rome.^[9] On 28 February, Ireland beat England 14–13 at Croke Park and on 14 March, Ireland beat Scotland 22–15 at Murrayfield Stadium.^[10]^[11] Then followed the Grand Slam against Wales on 21 March 2009. That game was attended by the President of Ireland Mary McAleese, who presented the trophy, and Taoiseach Brian Cowen.^[12] Following the game there were tributes from politicians.^[12] A civic reception for the team took place outside Dublin's Mansion House on 22 March at 16:30,^[12] with 18,000 fans attending alongside Taoiseach Brian Cowen and Dublin's Deputy Lord Mayor Emer Costelloe.^[13] 2,000 fans had earlier greeted the team upon their arrival at Dublin Airport.^[13] Brian O'Driscoll described 21 March as a "sweet, sweet day".^[5] The game was watched by 945,000 people in Ireland, the highest rating television programme in the country by that stage of 2009.^[14] Former coach Eddie O'Sullivan was said to be "delighted" for the team.^[15] Brian O'Driscoll was named player of the tournament, beating Italy's Sergio Parisse and Ireland teammate Paul O'Connell.^[16] O'Connell was later named captain of the British and Irish Lions team to tour South Africa and containing fourteen members of the Grand Slam winning Irish team on 21 April 2009, describing it as "a great honour".^[17]^[18]

Italy were the only side to not win a match in the tournament, suffering defeats by twenty points or more against, in addition to Ireland, France (50–8), England (36–11) and Scotland (26–6), while losing 20–15 to Wales. Scotland managed a solitary victory against Italy to finish on 2 points. England, France and Wales all managed to win three of their matches to finish level on six points but England's points difference of +54 granted them second place in the table. Their points tally was boosted by a 36–10 defeat of France and a 26–12 win against Scotland which sealed the Calcutta Cup. Wales' early loss to France and narrow loss to Ireland in the last game of the tournament denied them a second consecutive championship. Although Wales needed to beat Ireland by more than 13 points to win the championship, they could have won the game and the Triple Crown in the last minute of the tournament (as well as denying Ireland the Grand Slam) if Stephen Jones' 50-yard penalty kick had not fallen short.

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This article uses material from the Wikipedia article 2009_Six_Nations_Championship, and is written by contributors. Text is available under a CC BY-SA 4.0 International License; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[Ireland_beat_Wales_to_take_first_Grand_Slam_since_1948-1] [1]
"Ireland beat Wales to take first Grand Slam since 1948". The Irish Times. 21 March 2009. Retrieved 21 March 2009.

[2] [2]
"France 21-16 Wales". BBC Sport. 27 February 2009. Archived from the original on 11 March 2009. Retrieved 23 March 2009.

[Wales_15-17_Ireland_-_Matchtracker-3] [3]
"Wales 15-17 Ireland - Matchtracker". RTÉ. 21 March 2009. Archived from the original on 22 March 2009. Retrieved 21 March 2009.

[RBS_6_Nations:_Wales_v.Ireland-4] [4]
"RBS 6 Nations: Wales v. Ireland". BBC. 21 March 2009. Archived from the original on 21 March 2009. Retrieved 21 March 2009.

[O’Driscoll_basks_in_Grand_Slam_glory-5] [5]
"O'Driscoll basks in Grand Slam glory". The Irish Times. 21 March 2009. Retrieved 21 March 2009.

[RBS_6_Nations:_Expert_Analysis-6] [6]
"RBS 6 Nations: Expert Analysis: George Hook". RTÉ. 21 March 2009. Archived from the original on 22 March 2009. Retrieved 21 March 2009.

[Ireland_appoint_Kidney_as_coach-7] [7]
"Ireland appoint Kidney as coach". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 7 May 2008. Retrieved 21 March 2009.

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"Ireland make the running" Archived 15 October 2009 at the Wayback Machine. Six Nations. Accessed 21 March 2009.

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"Victory margin flatters erratic Ireland" Archived October 15, 2009, at the Wayback Machine. Six Nations. Accessed 21 March 2009.

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"Heaslip and Stringer inspire Ireland". Six Nations. Accessed 21 March 2009. Archived 14 August 2009.

[Taoiseach_leads_tributes_to_Irish_rugby_team-12] [12]
"Taoiseach leads tributes to Irish rugby team". RTÉ. 21 March 2009. Archived from the original on 23 March 2009. Retrieved 21 March 2009.

[Thousands_welcome_grand_slam_squad-13] [13]
"Thousands welcome grand slam squad". RTÉ. 22 March 2009. Archived from the original on 23 March 2009. Retrieved 22 March 2009.

[Huge_viewership_for_Grand_Slam_decider-14] [14]
"Huge viewership for Grand Slam decider". RTÉ. 23 March 2009. Archived from the original on 26 March 2009. Retrieved 23 March 2009.

[O'Sullivan_delighted_for_Ireland_players-15] [15]
"O'Sullivan delighted for Ireland players". RTÉ. 23 March 2009. Archived from the original on 25 March 2009. Retrieved 23 March 2009.

[O'Driscoll_Six_Nations_player_of_tournament-16] [16]
"O'Driscoll Six Nations player of tournament". The Irish Times. 27 March 2009. Retrieved 27 March 2009.

[O'Connell_to_lead_14_Irish_Lions-17] [17]
"O'Connell to lead 14 Irish Lions". RTÉ. 21 April 2009. Archived from the original on 22 April 2009. Retrieved 21 April 2009.

[O'Connell:_'It's_a_great_honour'-18] [18]
"O'Connell: 'It's a great honour'". RTÉ. 21 April 2009. Archived from the original on 22 April 2009. Retrieved 21 April 2009.

[19] [19]
Unlike the other head coaches in the 2009 Six Nations, Martin Johnson holds the position of team manager

[20] [20]
"Ireland Management Confirm Captain And Season Plan". Irish Rugby Football Union. 27 January 2009. Archived from the original on January 30, 2009. Retrieved 27 January 2009.

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[22] [22]
Alun Wyn Jones captained Wales in their Round 4 match against Italy, as coach Warren Gatland chose to move Ryan Jones to the bench for that match only.
Rimmer, Simon (5 March 2009). "Jones named Wales' 127th captain". Welsh Rugby Union. Archived from the original on 17 March 2009. Retrieved 10 March 2009.

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Nation	Home stadium	City	Head coach	Captain
England	Twickenham	London	Martin Johnson^[19]	Steve Borthwick
France	Stade de France	Saint-Denis	Marc Lièvremont	Lionel Nallet
Ireland	Croke Park	Dublin	Declan Kidney^[7]	Brian O'Driscoll^[20]
Italy	Stadio Flaminio	Rome	Nick Mallett	Sergio Parisse
Scotland	Murrayfield	Edinburgh	Frank Hadden	Mike Blair
Wales	Millennium Stadium	Cardiff	Warren Gatland	Ryan Jones^[21]^[22]

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	PD	T	Pts
1	Ireland	5	5	0	121	73	+48	12	10
2	England	5	3	2	124	70	+54	16	6
3	France	5	3	2	124	101	+23	14	6
4	Wales	5	3	2	100	81	+19	8	6
5	Scotland	5	1	4	79	102	−23	4	2
6	Italy	5	0	5	49	170	−121	2	0

Scotland	13–26	Wales
Try: M. Evans 69' c Con: Paterson (1/1) Pen: Paterson (2/2) 32', 51'	Report	Try: Shanklin 22' m A. W. Jones 29' m Halfpenny 41' m S. Williams 58' m Pen: S. Jones (2/3) 13', 40+1'

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'

Wales	23–15	England
Try: Halfpenny 44' m Pen: S. Jones (5/5) 4', 16', 43', 54', 72' Halfpenny 22' (1/2)	Report	Try: Sackey 24' m D. Armitage 57' c Con: Flood (1/1) Drop: Goode (1/1) 30'

2009_Six_Nations_Championship

2009 Six Nations Championship

Summary

Participants

Squads

Table

Fixtures

Round 1

Round 2

Round 3

Round 4

Round 5

Scorers

References

External links

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England	36–11	Italy
Try: 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'

Ireland	30–21	France
Try: Heaslip 34' c O'Driscoll 43' c D'Arcy 66' c Con: O'Gara (3/3) Pen: O'Gara (3/5) 3', 17', 78'	Report	Try: Harinordoquy 15' c Médard 50' m Con: Beauxis (1/2) Pen: Beauxis (1/1) 76' Drop: Beauxis (2/2) 40+1', 53'

Italy	9–38	Ireland
Pen: McLean (3/4) 5', 16', 24'	Report	Try: Bowe 19' c Fitzgerald (2) 40' c, 76' c D. Wallace 48' c O'Driscoll 78' c Con: O'Gara (4/4) Kearney (1/1) Pen: O'Gara (1/1) 50'

France	21–16	Wales
Try: Dusautoir 40' c Heymans 53' m Con: Parra (1/2) Pen: Parra (3/5) 6', 35', 70'	Report	Try: Byrne 24' c Con: S. Jones (1/1) Pen: S. Jones (2/2) 3', 9' Hook (1/1) 73'

Scotland	26–6	Italy
Try: Danielli 35' c Gray 64' c Con: Godman (1/1) Paterson (1/1) Pen: Paterson (3/3) 5', 13', 68' Godman (1/2) 31'	Report	Pen: McLean (1/1) 55' Drop: Parisse (1/1) 22'

Ireland	14–13	England
Try: O'Driscoll 57' m Pen: O'Gara (2/5) 27', 71' Drop: O'Driscoll (1/2) 46'	Report	Try: D. Armitage 78' c Con: Goode (1/1) Pen: Flood (1/1) 38' D. Armitage (1/1) 64'

Italy	15–20	Wales
Pen: Marcato (5/5) 5', 31', 34', 57', 70'	Report	Try: S. Williams 25' c Shanklin 71' c Con: Hook (2/2) Pen: Hook (2/3) 59', 63'

Scotland	15–22	Ireland
Pen: Paterson (5/5) 5', 13', 21', 31', 60'	Report	Try: Heaslip 51' c Con: O'Gara (1/1) Pen: O'Gara (4/5) 11', 27', 33', 70' Drop: O'Gara (1/1) 57'

England	34–10	France
Try: Cueto 1' c Flutey (2) 22' c, 41' m D. Armitage 37' c Worsley 39' m Con: Flood (3/3) Pen: Flood (1/1) 18'	Report	Try: Szarzewski 56' m Malzieu 64' m

Italy	8–50	France
Try: Parisse 57' m Pen: Marcato (1/2) 23'	Report	Try: Chabal 25' c Trinh-Duc 29' m Médard (2) 31' c, 70' m Heymans 42' c Domingo 55' m Malzieu 76' m Con: Parra (3/4) Pen: Parra (3/3) 7', 15', 48'

England	26–12	Scotland
Try: Monye 22' m Flutey 28' c Tait 77' m Con: Flood (1/2) Pen: Flood (2/2) 40', 41' Drop: Care 72'	Report	Pen: Paterson (3/3) 9', 44', 66' Godman (1/2) 51'

Wales	15–17	Ireland
Pen: S. Jones (4/5) 33', 39', 51', 56' Drop: S. Jones (1/1) 76'	Report	Try: O'Driscoll 44' c Bowe 46' c Con: O'Gara (2/2) Drop: O'Gara (1/1) 78'