The 2016 Six Nations Championship, known as the 2016 RBS 6 Nations due to the tournament's sponsorship by The Royal Bank of Scotland, was the 17th series of the Six Nations Championship, the annual northern hemisphere rugby union championship.
It was contested by England, France, defending champions Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. Including the competition's previous incarnations as the Home Nations Championship and Five Nations Championship, it was the 122nd edition of the tournament.
England won the Championship on 13 March with a game to play, winning their first Championship since 2011. On 19 March, they earned the Grand Slam for the 13th time, their first since 2003.
The 2016 Championship was the first time in the Six Nations era that both the champions and the wooden spoon "winners" had been decided before the final day, as Italy were confirmed to finish in sixth place for the 11th time on 13 March with Scotland's victory over France. Italy went on to lose their final match, and were thus whitewashed for the seventh time. The 29 tries conceded by Italy was also a Championship record, exceeding the 25 tries they conceded in 2000 and 2003.
Participants NationStadiumHead coachCaptainHome stadiumCapacityLocationTwickenham Stadium82,000London Eddie JonesDylan HartleyStade de France81,338Saint-Denis Guy NovèsGuilhem GuiradoAviva Stadium51,700Dublin Joe SchmidtRory BestStadio Olimpico73,261Rome Jacques BrunelSergio ParisseMurrayfield Stadium67,144Edinburgh Vern CotterGreig LaidlawMillennium Stadium74,500Cardiff Warren GatlandSam Warburton*
* Except the final match at home against Italy, when Warburton was ruled out due to concussion protocol. Dan Lydiate took his place as captain, with championship vice-captain Alun Wyn Jones also ruled out injured.
Squads
Story of the tournament
Round 1 (6–7 February) The tournament started with a surprisingly narrow 23–21 win for France over Italy. At one point, Italy had led 18–10 and then 21–20, but a late penalty from Jules Plisson gave France the points. The same day, another tight game saw England retain the Calcutta Cup in a narrow 15–9 win over Scotland, with tries from George Kruis and Jack Nowell. The following day, two of the three tournament favourites, Ireland and Wales, drew 16–16 in Dublin. Ireland had led 13–0 before Wales battled back to lead 16–13. Johnny Sexton's late penalty gave Ireland a share of the spoils.
Round 2 (13–14 February) Ireland's defence of the title was damaged further in Week 2 when they were beaten 10–9 in a second successive narrow victory for France. Ireland had led 9–3 from before half-time, but Maxime Médard's 69th minute converted try proved to be the winner. Another comeback later that day saw Wales beat Scotland 27–23 in Cardiff. Scotland had led 13–10 at half time, but tries from Jamie Roberts and George North gave Wales a 27–16 lead before a late Scotland score. On Sunday, England easily beat Italy 40–9 after a tight first half, with Jonathan Joseph scoring a hat-trick of tries.
Round 3 (26–27 February) In the Friday evening kick-off, Wales maintained their title hopes with a 19–10 win over France. Another George North try helped them to a comfortable 19–3 lead before a France try in the last minute. On Saturday, Scotland won their first Six Nations game in 10 attempts, winning 36–20 in Rome with Greig Laidlaw kicking 21 points. Ireland's title hopes were extinguished when they were beaten 21–10 by England at Twickenham; Ireland had led 10–6 early in the second half, but conceded 15 unanswered points in 13 minutes with tries by Anthony Watson and Mike Brown.
Round 4 (12–13 March) Entering the fourth round of matches, the England-Wales game was touted as a Championship decider, although France – a point behind Wales and two behind England – still had an outside chance of winning it. The first match of the weekend saw Ireland trounce Italy 58–15, running in nine tries. England then beat Wales 25–21 in a thrilling encounter at Twickenham; England had led 25–7 with less than 10 minutes remaining before two converted Wales tries made it a tense ending. England thus won the Triple Crown, and the next day won the Championship outright, as France, needing to win to take the tournament to a final week, lost 29–18 to Scotland in Edinburgh, the Scots' first win over the French in 10 years. In addition to guaranteeing that England would win the tournament, Scotland's victory over France also guaranteed that Italy would finish last and "win" the wooden spoon as a result.
Round 5 (19 March) All three matches were played on the same day in the last round, with England needing to win in Paris to complete the Grand Slam for the first time since 2003. In the first match, Wales scored nine tries to easily beat Italy 67–14 in Cardiff, effectively whitewashing Italy; they had lost all five of their matches. Ireland then beat Scotland 35–25 in Dublin in an open game where the sides shared seven tries. In the final game in Paris, England scored two early tries through Danny Care and Dan Cole but the excellent kicking of Maxime Machenaud – who scored all of his side's points with seven penalties – kept France in the game until two late Owen Farrell penalties stretched England's lead to 31–21, enough to win the game and the Grand Slam, and to leave Farrell the leading points scorer in the Championship.
Table
Fixtures
Round 1
FB 15Maxime Médard RW 14Hugo BonnevalOC 13Gaël Fickou IC 12Jonathan DantyLW 11Virimi VakatawaFH 10Jules PlissonSH 9 Sébastien Bézy N8 8 Louis Picamoles OF 7 Damien ChoulyBF 6 Wenceslas LauretRL 5 Yoann MaestriLL 4 Paul Jedrasiak TP 3 Rabah Slimani HK 2 Guilhem Guirado (c)LP 1 Eddy Ben Arous Replacements:HK 16Camille ChatPR 17Uini Atonio PR 18Jefferson Poirot LK 19Alexandre Flanquart FL 20Yacouba Camara SH 21Maxime Machenaud FH 22Jean-Marc Doussain CE 23Maxime Mermoz Coach: Guy Novès FB 15David Odiete RW 14Leonardo SartoOC 13Michele CampagnaroIC 12Gonzalo Garcia LW 11Mattia BelliniFH 10Carlo Canna SH 9 Edoardo GoriN8 8 Sergio Parisse (c)OF 7 Alessandro Zanni BF 6 Francesco Minto RL 5 Marco FuserLL 4 George Biagi TP 3 Lorenzo Cittadini HK 2 Ornel Gega LP 1 Andrea Lovotti Replacements:HK 16Davide Giazzon PR 17Matteo Zanusso PR 18Martin Castrogiovanni LK 19Valerio Bernabò N8 20Dries Van Schalkwyk SH 21Guglielmo Palazzani CE 22Kelly Haimona FB 23Luke McLean Coach: Jacques Brunel Man of the Match: Virimi Vakatawa (France)
Touch judges: George Clancy (Ireland) Federico Anselmi (Argentina) Television match official: Graham Hughes (England) Notes: Sébastien Bezy, Yacouba Camara, Jonathan Danty, Paul Jedrasiak, Jefferson Poirot, Virimi Vakatawa (all France), Mattia Bellini, Ornel Gega, Andrea Lovotti, David Odiete, Dries van Schalkwyk and Matteo Zanusso (all Italy) made their international debuts. France retained the Giuseppe Garibaldi Trophy for the third consecutive year.
FB 15Stuart HoggRW 14Sean MaitlandOC 13Mark BennettIC 12Matt ScottLW 11Tommy Seymour FH 10Finn RussellSH 9 Greig Laidlaw (c)N8 8 David DentonOF 7 John HardieBF 6 John Barclay RL 5 Jonny Gray LL 4 Richie GrayTP 3 WP Nel HK 2 Ross Ford LP 1 Alasdair Dickinson Replacements:HK 16Stuart McInally PR 17Gordon Reid PR 18Zander Fagerson LK 19Tim Swinson FL 20Blair Cowan FH 21Sam Hidalgo-ClyneFH 22Duncan WeirCE 23Duncan Taylor Coach: Vern Cotter FB 15Mike BrownRW 14Anthony WatsonOC 13Jonathan JosephIC 12Owen FarrellLW 11Jack NowellFH 10George FordSH 9 Danny Care N8 8 Billy VunipolaOF 7 James HaskellBF 6 Chris Robshaw RL 5 George KruisLL 4 Joe Launchbury TP 3 Dan ColeHK 2 Dylan Hartley (c) LP 1 Joe Marler Replacements:HK 16Jamie George PR 17Mako Vunipola PR 18Paul HillLK 19Courtney Lawes FL 20Jack Clifford SH 21Ben Youngs CE 22Ollie DevotoFB 23Alex GoodeCoach: Eddie Jones Man of the Match: Billy Vunipola (England)
Touch judges: Romain Poite (France) Stuart Berry (South Africa) Television match official: George Ayoub (Australia) Notes: Zander Fagerson (Scotland) and Jack Clifford (England) made their international debuts. England retained the Calcutta Cup.
FB 15Simon ZeboRW 14Andrew TrimbleOC 13Jared PayneIC 12Robbie HenshawLW 11Keith Earls FH 10Johnny Sexton SH 9 Conor MurrayN8 8 Jamie HeaslipOF 7 Tommy O'Donnell BF 6 CJ StanderRL 5 Devin TonerLL 4 Mike McCarthy TP 3 Nathan White HK 2 Rory Best (c) LP 1 Jack McGrathReplacements:HK 16Seán Cronin PR 17James CroninPR 18Tadhg Furlong LK 19Donnacha Ryan FL 20Rhys Ruddock SH 21Kieran MarmionFH 22Ian Madigan WG 23Dave Kearney Coach: Joe Schmidt FB 15Liam WilliamsRW 14George NorthOC 13Jonathan DaviesIC 12Jamie RobertsLW 11Tom JamesFH 10Dan Biggar SH 9 Gareth Davies N8 8 Taulupe FaletauOF 7 Justin TipuricBF 6 Sam Warburton (c) RL 5 Alun Wyn JonesLL 4 Luke Charteris TP 3 Samson Lee HK 2 Scott Baldwin LP 1 Rob Evans Replacements:HK 16Ken Owens PR 17Gethin Jenkins PR 18Tomas Francis LK 19Bradley Davies FL 20Dan Lydiate SH 21Lloyd Williams FH 22Rhys Priestland WG 23Alex CuthbertCoach: Warren Gatland Man of the Match: CJ Stander (Ireland)
Touch judges: Glen Jackson (New Zealand) Ben O’Keeffe (New Zealand) Television match official: Graham Hughes (England) Notes: CJ Stander (Ireland) made his international debut. Bradley Davies (Wales) earned his 50th test cap. This was the first time that Ireland and Wales had drawn since the 21–21 draw in Cardiff during the 1991 Five Nations Championship.
Round 2
FB 15Maxime MédardRW 14Teddy Thomas OC 13Maxime MermozIC 12Jonathan Danty LW 11Virimi VakatawaFH 10Jules PlissonSH 9 Sébastien Bézy N8 8 Damien ChoulyOF 7 Yacouba Camara BF 6 Wenceslas LauretRL 5 Yoann Maestri LL 4 Alexandre FlanquartTP 3 Uini Atonio HK 2 Guilhem Guirado (c) LP 1 Jefferson Poirot Replacements:HK 16Camille Chat PR 17Rabah Slimani PR 18Eddy Ben Arous LK 19Paul Jedrasiak N8 20Loann Goujon SH 21Maxime Machenaud FH 22Jean-Marc Doussain WG 23Hugo Bonneval Coach: Guy Novès FB 15Rob KearneyRW 14Andrew TrimbleOC 13Jared PayneIC 12Robbie Henshaw LW 11Dave Kearney FH 10Johnny Sexton SH 9 Conor MurrayN8 8 Jamie HeaslipOF 7 Seán O'Brien BF 6 CJ StanderRL 5 Devin TonerLL 4 Mike McCarthy TP 3 Nathan White HK 2 Rory Best (c) LP 1 Jack McGrath Replacements:HK 16Richardt Strauss PR 17James Cronin PR 18Tadhg Furlong LK 19Donnacha Ryan FL 20Tommy O'Donnell SH 21Eoin ReddanFH 22Ian Madigan WG 23Fergus McFadden Coach: Joe Schmidt Man of the Match: Guilhem Guirado (France)
Touch judges: Nigel Owens (Wales) Stuart Berry (South Africa) Television match official: George Ayoub (Australia) Notes: Camille Chat (France) made his international debut. This was France's first victory over Ireland since their 26–22 win during the 2011 Rugby World Cup warm-up matches.
FB 15Liam WilliamsRW 14George NorthOC 13Jonathan DaviesIC 12Jamie RobertsLW 11Tom James FH 10Dan Biggar SH 9 Gareth DaviesN8 8 Taulupe FaletauOF 7 Justin Tipuric BF 6 Sam Warburton (c)RL 5 Alun Wyn JonesLL 4 Luke Charteris TP 3 Samson Lee HK 2 Scott Baldwin LP 1 Rob Evans Replacements:HK 16Ken Owens PR 17Gethin Jenkins PR 18Tomas Francis LK 19Bradley Davies FL 20Dan Lydiate SH 21Lloyd WilliamsFH 22Rhys Priestland FB 23Gareth Anscombe Coach: Warren Gatland FB 15Stuart Hogg RW 14Tommy SeymourOC 13Mark BennettIC 12Duncan TaylorLW 11Sean LamontFH 10Finn Russell SH 9 Greig Laidlaw (c) N8 8 David DentonOF 7 John HardieBF 6 John Barclay RL 5 Jonny Gray LL 4 Richie GrayTP 3 WP NelHK 2 Ross Ford LP 1 Alasdair Dickinson Replacements:HK 16Stuart McInally PR 17Gordon Reid PR 18Zander FagersonLK 19Tim Swinson FL 20Blair Cowan SH 21Sam Hidalgo-Clyne FH 22Duncan Weir FB 23Ruaridh Jackson Coach: Vern Cotter Man of the Match: Jamie Roberts (Wales)
Touch judges: John Lacey (Ireland) Federico Anselmi (Argentina) Television match official: Graham Hughes (England) Notes: Jonathan Davies (Wales) earned his 50th test cap. This was Scotland's ninth consecutive loss in the competition, their worst run of losses ever in the six-team format.