The 2019 Six Nations Championship (known as the Guinness Six Nations for sponsorship reasons) was the 20th Six Nations Championship, the annual rugby union competition contested by the national teams of England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland, and Wales, and the 125th edition of the competition (including all the tournament's previous versions as the Home Nations Championship and Five Nations Championship).
Wales won the championship for the first time since 2013, beating defending champions Ireland at the Millennium Stadium on the final day to claim their first Grand Slam since 2012.[2]
A bonus point was awarded to a team that scored four or more tries in a match or loses a match by seven points or fewer. If a team scored four tries in a match and loses by seven points or fewer, they were awarded both bonus points.
Three bonus points were awarded to a team that wins all five of their matches (a Grand Slam). This ensured that a Grand Slam winning team would top the table with at least 23 points – a team could lose a match but still win two bonus points and win the other four matches with four try bonus points for a maximum of 22 points.
Tiebreakers
If two or more teams were tied on match points, the team with the better points difference (points scored less points conceded) were ranked higher.
If the above tiebreaker failed to separate tied teams, the team that scored the higher number of total tries in their matches were ranked higher.
If two or more teams remained tied for first place at the end of the championship after applying the above tiebreakers, the title would be shared between them.
Fixtures
The fixtures were announced on 16 May 2017. The first game of the championship was a Friday night game between France and Wales.[3]
This was Ireland's first home loss in the Six Nations with Joe Schmidt as coach.[8]
This was England's first win against Ireland at the Aviva Stadium since their 12–6 victory in 2013, which was also Ireland's last Six Nations loss there (a run of 14 games unbeaten).[9]
D'Arcy Rae (Scotland) made his international debut.
This was Scotland's first loss at Murrayfield in the Six Nations since the opening round of the 2016 tournament, bringing an end to a run of seven consecutive home wins in the championship, their longest run of home wins in the Six Nations era.[10]
The nine-point margin was Scotland's biggest defeat in any international at Murrayfield since Ireland won 40–10 on the final day of the 2015 Six Nations tournament.
Jonny May's hat-trick was the first by an England player against France since Jake Jacob in 1924.[12]
This was France's biggest defeat to England since they lost 37–0 in 1911, as well as their biggest loss to any team in the Five/Six Nations since that date.
This was Wales' 12th consecutive win, their best run, beating the previous record of 11, set between 1907 and 1910.[14]
This was Wales' first victory against England since winning 28–25 at the 2015 Rugby World Cup, and their first in the Six Nations since a 30–3 win in 2013.
Rob Kearney was originally named at fullback for Ireland, but withdrew due to a calf injury and was replaced by Jordan Larmour; Andrew Conway replaced Larmour on the bench.[19]
Ireland's half-time lead of 19–0 is their largest against France.
Hadleigh Parkes' try was Wales' fastest against Ireland.[citation needed]
This was Wales' biggest margin of victory over Ireland since 1976.[citation needed]
Wales won their 12th Grand Slam, their fourth since the expansion of the tournament in 2000 (a record) and also their third under Warren Gatland, a record for a coach.[20]
This was the last Six Nations match for Gatland and Joe Schmidt as coaches of Wales and Ireland, respectively, having both announced prior to the tournament their resignations following the 2019 Rugby World Cup;[21][22] however, Gatland returned to coach Wales in the 2023 tournament.[23]
This was the highest-scoring draw in international rugby history at 76 total points scored.
This was the first time England had conceded a try bonus point in the Six Nations; they became the final team to do so since bonus points were introduced in 2017.
Scotland retained the Calcutta Cup; this was the first time since 1984 they had done so, and the first time since 1989 they had not lost to England at Twickenham (the 1989 match was also a draw).
The 24-point half-time deficit (and 31-point deficit after 30 minutes) Scotland turned around, was the largest comeback for a draw in international rugby history, beating their own previous record against Wales in 2001.
With Jonny May's try in the 31st minute, England earned the fastest bonus point try in the Six Nations, beating the previous record they set against Italy the previous week.
Scotland's six tries were the most they had scored in a match at Twickenham.