MASTERCARD SIX NATIONS RUGBY REPORT
MASTERCARD SIX NATIONS RUGBY REPORT
MASTERCARD SIX NATIONS RUGBY REPORT
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MasterCard Worldwide – Page 4<br />
MasterCard Six Nations Championship Rugby Report<br />
SECTION 2: HISTORY OF THE <strong>SIX</strong> <strong>NATIONS</strong> CHAMPIONSHIP<br />
The Six Nations Championship is the oldest and most high profile rugby union<br />
tournament in the Northern hemisphere. Contested annually by six of Europe’s rugby<br />
playing nations (England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales), the tournament<br />
consists of 15 matches, with each nation playing the others once. Home advantage<br />
alternates year by year. In the 2010 edition, England, Scotland and Italy played two ties<br />
at home, while Ireland, France and Wales played three 1 .<br />
England and Scotland contested the first official rugby union international in 1871 and<br />
following occasional friendly matches between the two over the next 12 years, the<br />
Home International Championship was introduced in 1883. This was a tournament held<br />
between the four home nations of England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Though France<br />
played in the tournament four times previously, it was not until 1910 that they officially<br />
joined and it became known as the Five Nations Championship.<br />
The tournament reverted back to the Home Nations in 1932 after French teams were<br />
found to have been illegally paying their amateur players 2 and this remained the case<br />
until 1939. The competition had breaks for the two world wars, then the Five Nations<br />
resumed in 1947. The competition grew in popularity, and by the 1970s matches were<br />
all ticket events and coverage on television was becoming increasingly popular. The<br />
tournament was again renamed in 2000 when the addition of Italy made it the Six<br />
Nations Championship.<br />
In its first decade of existence, France has been the Six Nations winner most frequently,<br />
with Scotland and Italy never having been Champions.<br />
Table 1: Past Six Nations Winners<br />
Year<br />
Winning nation<br />
2000 England<br />
2001 England<br />
2002 France<br />
2003 England<br />
2004 France<br />
2005 Wales<br />
2006 France<br />
2007 France<br />
2008 Wales<br />
2009 Ireland<br />
2010 France<br />
1 This scenario will be reversed in the 2011 edition.<br />
2 Rugby Union turned professional on 27 th August 1995.<br />
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