The 2018 Six Nations Championship (known as the Natwest 6 Nations for sponsorship reasons) was the 19th Six Nations Championship, the annual international rugby union tournament for the six major European rugby union nations.
The championship was contested by France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland, Wales and defending champions England. Including the competition's previous iterations as the Home Nations Championship and Five Nations Championship, it was the 124th edition of the tournament.[3]
The Championship was won by Ireland on 10 March 2018, with their four wins (three with try bonus points) from the first four matches sufficient to place them out of reach of the other participants ahead of the final round.[4][5] This was the third tournament running where the championship and Wooden Spoon had been decided by the end of round four. After a 24–15 victory against England on the final day, Ireland secured a Grand Slam, their third ever, alongside a Triple Crown.[6][7][8]
1 Dylan Hartley was ruled out of round 4 due to injury, and Owen Farrell captained England in his absence.[9] 2 Guilhem Guirado was ruled out of round 5 due to injury, and Mathieu Bastareaud captained France in his absence.[10]3 Alun Wyn Jones was dropped from the match-day team to play Italy in round 4, and Taulupe Faletau captained Wales in his absence.[11]
A bonus match point is awarded to a team that scores four or more tries in a match or loses a match by seven points or fewer. If a team scores four tries in a match and loses by seven points or fewer, they are awarded both bonus points.
Three bonus match points are awarded to a team that wins all five of their matches (known as a Grand Slam). This ensures that a Grand Slam winning team always ranks over a team who won four matches in which they also were awarded four try bonus points and were also awarded two bonus points in the match that they lost.
Tiebreakers –
If two or more teams be tied on match points, the team with the better points difference (points scored less points conceded) is ranked higher.
If the above tiebreaker fails to separate tied teams, the team that scored the higher number of total tries in their matches is ranked higher.
If two or more teams remain tied for first place at the end of the championship after applying the above tiebreakers, the title is shared between them.
With this win, England won their 15th consecutive Six Nations home game, breaking their previous record of 14 between 1998 and 2003.[17]
Leigh Halfpenny was originally named in the starting XV but fell ill the night before the match. Gareth Anscombe replaced him in the starting XV, and centre Owen Watkin came onto the bench.
This was the lowest aggregate score in a Six Nations match since England beat Ireland 12–6 in 2013.
Scotland extended their home winning record in the Six Nations to 6 games, their best ever run in the Six Nations.
This was Scotland's largest victory over England in the Six Nations, and their biggest since they won 33–6 in 1986. That match was also the last time that Scotland had scored three tries against England at Murrayfield.
England's defeat was their first loss at Twickenham in the Six Nations since 2012 (a run of 15 matches), their first loss at home overall since 2015 (a run of 14 games), and Ireland's first win against England at Twickenham since 2010.[20]
Ireland retained the Millennium Trophy for the first time since their three consecutive victories over England between 2009 and 2011.[21]
Ireland won their third Grand Slam and their eleventh Triple Crown; the first time they had won either since 2009.[22]
With this win, Ireland became the first team to earn the three-point bonus for completing a Grand Slam.
^ abThis is a record for the most tries scored in a single Championship in the Six Nations era.[1] The overall record is 8 by Cyril Lowe in 1914 and Ian Smith in 1925.
