The 2015 Six Nations Championship, known as the 2015 RBS 6 Nations because of the tournament's sponsorship by the Royal Bank of Scotland, was the 16th series of the Six Nations Championship, the annual

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

tournament. It was contested by

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

and

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

. Including the competition's previous incarnations as the Home Nations Championship and Five Nations Championship, it was the 121st edition of the tournament. Ireland retained their title from the previous year, their 13th triumph in the competition. This was the first time that Ireland had retained their title outright since 1949, having shared the 1983 championship with France after winning in 1982. They were the first team to be awarded the redesigned Six Nations trophy introduced for 2015, which featured six sides as opposed to five.

Participants

* Parisse did not play in Italy's final match at home against Wales after an injury sustained in their round four match against France. Leonardo Ghiraldini took his place as captain.

Squads

Table

Fixtures

The 2015 Six Nations Championship commenced with a Friday night fixture, once again held at the

Millennium Stadium The Millennium Stadium ( cy, Stadiwm y Mileniwm), known since 2016 as the Principality Stadium ( cy, Stadiwm Principality) for sponsorship reasons, is the national stadium of Wales. Located in Cardiff, it is the home of the Wales national rug ...

in Cardiff, this time between

and

Round 1

Notes: * Welsh captain Sam Warburton earned his 50th cap for Wales. ---- Notes: *

Marco Barbini Marco Barbini (born 16 October 1990) is a retired Italian rugby union player. His usual position was in the back-row. From 2014 to 2021, Barbini played with Italian Pro14 team Benetton. From 2009 to 2012 Barbini was named in the Italy Under ...

made his international debut for Italy. * Seán O'Brien was set to return to the Irish line-up after injury, but was replaced by Tommy O'Donnell in the starting XV following injury in the pre-game warm-up. ---- Notes: * Loann Goujon made his international debut for France. * Sam Hidalgo-Clyne made his international debut for Scotland.

Round 2

Notes: * Giulio Bisegni made his international debut for Italy. *

Nick Easter Nicholas James Easter (born 15 August 1978) is an English rugby union coach and former player. He played as a Number 8 for Orrell, Harlequins and the England national team. He began his career in 2001, playing for Orrell, before moving t ...

, aged 36, became the oldest English player to score a try in a test match. ---- ----

Round 3

Notes: * Enrico Bacchin and

Michele Visentin Michele Visentin (born 13 December 1991) is an Italian rugby union player. His usual position is as a winger, and he currently plays for Zebre. In January 2015, Visentin was named in the Italian squad for the 2015 Six Nations Championship The ...

made their international debuts for Italy. *

Ben Toolis Ben Toolis (born 31 March 1992) is a Scottish rugby union player who last played for Edinburgh Rugby in the United Rugby Championship. Toolis represented Scotland at an international level. Early life Born in Brisbane, Australia, he played for ...

and Hamish Watson made their international debuts for Scotland. * Italy got its first Six Nations win since beating Ireland 22–15 in

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

, and its second away win since beating Scotland 37–17 in 2007. ---- Notes: * Brice Dulin's try was France's first try against Wales since their

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

Six Nations fixture. * Wales captain Sam Warburton equalled

Ryan Jones Ryan Paul Jones (born 13 March 1981) is a Wales former international rugby union player who played at number eight, blindside flanker or second row. He was involved in three Grand Slam wins, in 2005, as captain in 2008, and 2012. He is one ...

' record of 33 Tests as captain. *

George North George Philip North (born 13 April 1992) is a Welsh professional rugby union player who plays for the Ospreys in the United Rugby Championship and the Wales national team. He has also represented the British & Irish Lions and currently has th ...

became the youngest player to earn 50 international caps (47 for Wales, 3 for the

British and Irish Lions The British & Irish Lions is a rugby union team selected from players eligible for the national teams of England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. The Lions are a test side and most often select players who have already played for their national ...

) at the age of 22, surpassing

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

Joe Roff Joe Roff (born 20 September 1975) is a retired Australian rugby union footballer and a product of the Tuggeranong Vikings Rugby Union Club in Canberra, who played on the wing or at fullback for ACT Brumbies and Australia and played 5 tests as ...

, who was 24. ---- Notes: *

earned his 50th cap for England. * Ireland reclaim the

Millennium Trophy The Millennium Trophy () is a rugby union award contested annually by England and Ireland as part of the Six Nations Championship. It was initiated in 1988 as part of Dublin's millennial celebrations. The trophy has the shape of a horned Viking ...

for the first time since 2011.

Round 4

Notes: * With this Welsh win, no team could win the

Grand Slam Grand Slam most often refers to: * Grand Slam (tennis), one player or pair winning all four major annual tournaments, or the tournaments themselves Grand Slam or Grand slam may also refer to: Games and sports * Grand slam, winning category te ...

or the

Triple Crown Triple Crown may refer to: Sports Horse racing * Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing * Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing (United States) ** Triple Crown Trophy ** Triple Crown Productions * Canadian Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing * Tri ...

. * Rob Evans made his international debut for Wales. * Wales captain Sam Warburton captained his country for a record 34th time, surpassing

' record of 33 Tests as captain. *

Paul O'Connell Paul Jeremiah O'Connell (born 20 October 1979) is an Irish former rugby union player and coach. When he stopped playing, he was Ireland's third most-capped player (108) and the eighteenth most-capped international player in rugby union histo ...

became the fourth player to earn 100 test caps for Ireland. *

Johnny Sexton Jonathan Jeremiah Sexton (born 11 July 1985) is an Irish rugby union player who plays as a fly-half for Leinster Rugby and Ireland, and he also captains both teams. He represented the British & Irish Lions in both 2013 and 2017 and has scored o ...

and

Cian Healy Cian Healy (born 7 October 1987) is an Irish rugby union rugby player. He plays for Leinster, and has also won over 100 caps for the Ireland national team. He was named as part of the Lions squad for the 2013 British & Irish Lions tour to Austra ...

earned their 50th caps for Ireland. ---- Notes: * England retained the

Calcutta Cup The Calcutta Cup is the trophy awarded to the winner of the rugby match between England and Scotland played annually in the Six Nations Championship. Like the match itself (England–Scotland), the Calcutta Cup is the oldest trophy contested be ...

. * With this win, and Wales' win against Ireland,

dropped to sixth in the

World Rugby Rankings The World Rugby Rankings (formerly the IRB Rankings) is a ranking system for national teams in rugby union, managed by World Rugby, the sport's governing body. There are separate men's and women's rankings. The teams of World Rugby's member nation ...

, their lowest ever position. ---- Notes: *

Sergio Parisse Sergio Francesco Parisse (; born 12 September 1983) is an Italian rugby union player. He currently plays for French club Toulon and played for the Italy national team from 2002 until the 2019 Rugby World Cup. Parisse is Italy's most-capped player ...

won his 112th cap for Italy, a new national record. * Noa Nakaitaci made his international debut for France. * This was the first time that Italy failed to score any points in the Six Nations since their 25–0 loss to France in 2004.

Round 5

Notes: * Wales' 41-point margin of victory was their biggest winning margin over Italy, surpassing the previous record of 39 they set in 1999. ---- Notes: *

Euan Murray Euan Murray (born 7 August 1980) is a retired Scottish rugby union footballer, whose last club was Pau in the French Top 14. He started his career with Glasgow Warriors before playing for a number of clubs including Northampton Saints, Newc ...

earned his 66th test cap to become Scotland's most-capped prop, surpassing Allan Jacobsen's previous record of 65. *Ireland required a win of at least 21 points in order to remain capable of winning the championship. * Ireland retain the

Centenary Quaich The Centenary Quaich (; Scottish Gaelic: ''Cuach nan Ceud Bliadhna''; Irish: ''Corn na Céad Bliain'') is an international rugby union award contested annually by Ireland and Scotland as part of the Six Nations Championship. A "Quaich" is a Gae ...

. * With this loss, Scotland are effectively whitewashed, and finish at the bottom of the table for the fourth time in the Six Nations era, and the first time since

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

, and are awarded the

wooden spoon Wooden Spoon may refer to: * Wooden spoon, implement * Wooden spoon (award) A wooden spoon is an award that is given to an individual or team that has come last in a competition. Examples range from the academic to sporting and more frivolous e ...

as a result. ---- Notes: * Dan Cole earned his 50th cap for England. * This is the greatest number of points England has ever scored against France. *England had to win this game by 26 points or more to claim the Championship. They only won by 20, meaning that

won the Championship instead.

Statistics

Points scorers

Try scorers

Broadcasting

In the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, p ...

televised all the matches live, although for viewers in Scotland the week 4 match between Italy and France was shown on

BBC Two Scotland BBC Two Scotland ( gd, BBC Dhà Alba) was the national variation of BBC Two for BBC Scotland. It was broadcast via digital television and was the sister Scottish channel of BBC One Scotland and Gaelic-language BBC Alba. Unlike BBC One Scotland, ...

. BBC Two also televised live the buildup of the opening match between Wales and England and after the match, an extra between the two sides on BBC Two but only for viewers in Wales. There was also a special Six Nations special looking ahead to the final week match on BBC Two but only for viewers in Northern Ireland. On the morning of the final week of matches, BBC Two televised classic Five Nations matches including Scotland vs Ireland in 1991 and France vs England in 1992. The final match of the tournament between England and France was watched live on BBC One by 9.63 million people, beating the previous record for that fixture of 9.56 million, set in

. This followed audiences of 4.1 million for the match between Italy and Wales and 5.1 million for the match between Scotland and Ireland earlier in the day. The BBC website also received 8.22 million unique browser hits during the day, breaking the previous record of 8.03 million set during the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

in London. S4C simulcasted Wales matches in the

Welsh language Welsh ( or ) is a Celtic language family, Celtic language of the Brittonic languages, Brittonic subgroup that is native to the Welsh people. Welsh is spoken natively in Wales, by some in England, and in Y Wladfa (the Welsh colony in Chubut P ...

Notes

References

External links

Official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Six Nations 2015 rugby union tournaments for national teams 2015 2014–15 in European rugby union 2014–15 in Irish rugby union 2014–15 in English rugby union 2014–15 in Welsh rugby union 2014–15 in Scottish rugby union 2014–15 in French rugby union 2014–15 in Italian rugby union February 2015 sports events in Europe March 2015 sports events in Europe Royal Bank of Scotland