The 2014 Six Nations Championship, known as the 2014 RBS 6 Nations because of the tournament's sponsorship by the Royal Bank of Scotland, was the 15th series of the Six Nations Championship, the annual northern hemisphere

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 it ...

championship. 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 regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

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 ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

and

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

. Including the competition's previous incarnations as the Home Nations Championship and Five Nations Championship, it was the 120th edition of the tournament. Going into the final day, three teams could have still won the championship – Ireland, England and France. In the final game, Ireland hung on to win against France by just two points and secure the championship, on points difference over England. This was their first championship since 2009, and the 12th title they have won, including predecessor championships. The final game also saw the retirement of

Brian O'Driscoll Brian Gerard O'Driscoll (born 21 January 1979) is an Irish former professional rugby union player. He played at outside centre for the Irish provincial team Leinster and for Ireland. He captained Ireland from 2003 until 2012, and captained the ...

from international rugby, with a record number of 141 international caps – 133 for Ireland (83 as captain), and 8 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 ...

.Irish Rugby: Ireland – Profile: Brian O'Driscoll
Retrieved 21 March 2011
''

ESPN Scrum ESPNscrum was an online news site based in United Kingdom dedicate to providing the latest news in Rugby union. It provided live minute-by-minute updates on major international and club games and kept an in-depth statistics on every international ...

'' Retrieved 21 March 2011 England won 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 ...

by beating Wales, Scotland and Ireland – they became the first team to win the Triple Crown while another of the

Home Nations Home Nations is a collective term with one of two meanings depending on context. Politically it means the nations of the constituent countries of the United Kingdom (England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales). In sport, if a sport is g ...

won the championship outright. The 2014 tournament saw 12 players earn their first cap – three English, four French, two Scottish, one Irish, one Italian and one Welsh.

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 ...

and

Martin Castrogiovanni Martin may refer to: Places * Martin City (disambiguation) * Martin County (disambiguation) * Martin Township (disambiguation) Antarctica * Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land * Port Martin, Adelie Land * Point Martin, South Orkney Islands Austr ...

became the most-capped Italian players with 105 caps, with

Gethin Jenkins Gethin Jenkins (born 17 November 1980) is a Welsh former rugby union player. He won 129 international caps for Wales and five for the British & Irish Lions. Jenkins was the record cap holder for Wales until he was overtaken by Alun Wyn Jones o ...

earning the same number to become the most-capped Welsh player. In their match against Wales on 1 February, Italy broke the world record for the most-capped starting pack with 587 caps, surpassing the previous record of 546 caps as held by New Zealand.

Participants

¹ Replaced original captain

Thierry Dusautoir Thierry Dusautoir (; born 18 November 1981) is a French former rugby union player who last played for France at international level and Toulouse in the French Top 14 club competition. Dusautoir was considered a strong ball carrier and possessed i ...

who was ruled out of the Six Nations ahead of the tournament due to tearing a tendon in his right biceps.
² Except the opening week fixture against Scotland as he was ruled out as he suffered from a chest infection.

Jamie Heaslip James Peter Richard Heaslip (born 15 December 1983) is an Irish rugby union former player who played for Leinster and Ireland. He played as a number 8. Heaslip earned 95 caps for Ireland during his international career from 2006 to 2017, makin ...

was captain of the fixture.
³ Except the round 4 match against Ireland as he was injured.

Marco Bortolami Marco Bortolami (; born 12 June 1980) is a rugby union coach and retired Italian international player, whose career includes experience playing in the national top-level Italian ( Petrarca Padova), French (RC Narbonne), and English (Gloucester Ru ...

was captain for that match.
⁴ Except for the round 2 match against England and the round 3 match against Italy as he was dropped.

Greig Laidlaw Greig Laidlaw (born 12 October 1985) is a Scottish professional rugby union player. He plays as a scrum-half and as a fly-half for Shining Arcs. Laidlaw holds the record for most caps as captain, 39, of the Scottish national team. He also rep ...

was captain of those matches. Brown returned as captain for the last two matches against France and Wales.
⁵ Except for the opening match against Italy as he did not captain as he had not recovered from a shoulder injury.

Alun Wyn Jones Alun Wyn Jones (born 19 September 1985) is a Welsh professional rugby union player who plays as a Rugby union/lock, lock for the Ospreys (rugby union), Ospreys and the Wales national rugby union team, Wales national team. He is List of rugby u ...

was captain for that match.

Squads

Table

Fixtures

The 2014 Six Nations Championship saw the return of a Friday night fixture, last seen during the

2011 Six Nations Championship The 2011 Six Nations Championship, known as the 2011 RBS 6 Nations due to sponsorship by the Royal Bank of Scotland, was the 12th series of the Six Nations Championship, and the 117th edition of the international championship. The annual rugby unio ...

, where

faced

in the third week of the championship at the Millennium Stadium in

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

Round 1

Notes: *

became the fifth Italian player to earn 100 test caps. *

Angelo Esposito Angelo Esposito (born February 20, 1989) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who last played for České Budějovice Motor of the 1st Czech Republic Hockey League. Esposito was drafted in the first round (20th overall) by the Pi ...

made his international debut for Italy. * Italy's starting pack set a new record as the most-capped of all time. The pack entered the match with 587 caps, surpassing the previous record of 546 by

New Zealand's New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island country b ...

pack against

on 16 November 2013. ---- Notes: * French captain Pascal Papé earned his 50th test cap. *

Antoine Burban Antoine Burban (born 22 July 1987) is a French rugby union footballer. He currently plays for Stade Français in the Top 14. His usual position is at Flanker. He made his debut in 2006 and became one of the principal Flankers, he took the pla ...

and

Jules Plisson Jules Plisson (born 20 August 1991) is a French rugby union player. His position is Fly-half and he currently plays for Clermont in the Top 14 The Top 14 () is a professional rugby union club competition that is played in France. Created i ...

made their international debuts for France. *

Luther Burrell Luther Burrell (born 6 December 1989) is a professional rugby union footballer who last played as a for the Newcastle Falcons in the Premiership Rugby. He played rugby union for Leeds Carnegie (2006–2011), Sale Sharks (2011–2012) and Nor ...

and Jack Nowell made their international debuts for England. ---- Notes: * Paul O'Connell was named at lock for this match, but was ruled out with a chest infection hours before kick-off. He was replaced by Dan Tuohy. * Ireland reclaimed 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 ...

after losing it in 2013. * Martin Moore made his international debut for Ireland. *

made his 129th appearance for Ireland to surpass

Ronan O'Gara Ronan John Ross O'Gara ( ga, Rónán Ó Gadhra; born 7 March 1977) is an Irish former rugby union player and current coach. O'Gara played as a fly-half and is Ireland's second most-capped player and highest ever points scorer. He is currently ...

as Ireland's most-capped player. *

Rob Kearney Robert Kearney (born 26 March 1986) is an Irish rugby union former player. He played for 15 years for Leinster followed by a 6 month stint in Australia, playing for Perth based side Western Force. He also played over a decade for the Ireland n ...

earned his 50th test cap. ----

Round 2

Notes: * Paul James and

Leigh Halfpenny Stephen Leigh Halfpenny (born 22 December 1988) is a Welsh rugby union player who plays as a fullback or wing for the Scarlets, Wales and the British & Irish Lions. Halfpenny is the third highest points scorer for Wales after Neil Jenkins and ...

earned their 50th test caps, with Halfpenny becoming the youngest Welsh player to reach the landmark. * Jake Ball made his international debut for Wales. * This was Wales' first Six Nations fixture that they have failed to score a try in since their 28–9 loss to France in 2011. ---- 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 ...

. *

Chris Fusaro Chris Fusaro (born 21 July 1989 in Kirkcaldy, Scotland) is a Scotland international rugby union player. He plays for Glasgow Warriors as a flanker. Rugby Union career Amateur career Early in 2007 he was among a group of boys who achieved a ...

made his international debut for Scotland. * This was the first match in which Scotland failed to score any points against England since their 15–0 loss in 1978. ---- Notes: * Hugo Bonneval made his international debut for France. * France reclaimed the

Giuseppe Garibaldi Trophy The Giuseppe Garibaldi Trophy ( it, Trofeo Garibaldi; french: Trophée Garibaldi) is a rugby union trophy awarded to the winner of the annual Six Nations Championship match between France and Italy. The trophy, designed by former French internati ...

after losing it 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 fa ...

. * This was the first Six Nations fixture in which a red card was issued since Scott Murray was sent off when playing for Scotland against Wales in 2006. ----

Round 3

Notes: *

Brice Mach Brice Mach (born 2 April 1986) is a French rugby union player who normally plays as a hooker, for French club Castres Olympique in the Top 14 and Heineken Cup. He made his debut for the national side on 21 February 2014, coming off the bench again ...

made his international debut for France. *

was named in the Wales starting XV, but was ruled out hours before kick-off due to an injury to his foot. Jake Ball was promoted from the bench, with Andrew Coombs taking his place. ---- Notes: *

and

earned their 104th caps for Italy, surpassing Andrea Lo Cicero on 103 as Italy's most-capped players. ---- Notes: * Jordi Murphy (Ireland) made his international debut. * Ireland's

drew level with

Australia's Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by a ...

George Gregan George Musarurwa Gregan AM (born 19 April 1973) is a retired Australian rugby union player, and is currently Australia's most capped international player. Gregan was born in Lusaka, Zambia. He played Super 12 (now Super Rugby) for the Brumbies ...

for the most caps in international rugby history, with 139. O'Driscoll has 131 caps with Ireland and eight with the

. * England retained 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 ...

. ----

Round 4

Notes: *

surpassed Australia's

for the most caps in international rugby history with 140 – 132 for Ireland, eight for the

. *With

unselected for this match,

became Italy's most capped player with 105 caps. ---- ---- Notes: * George Ford made his international debut for England. * Wales'

drew level with Stephen Jones as the most-capped Welsh player with 104 caps. * England won the

for the first time since 2003. ----

Round 5

Notes: * George Biagi made his international debut for Italy. * With

unselected for this match,

joined Castrogiovanni as the most capped Italian rugby player with 105 caps. ---- Notes * This was Scott Johnson's final match in charge of Scotland, before being replaced by

Vern Cotter Vern is a masculine given name, often a short form (hypocorism) of Vernon, Lavern or other names. People named Vern include: * Vernon Vern Bakalich (1929–2015), New Zealand rugby league player * Verdi Vern Barberis (1928–2005), Australian ...

. *

surpassed Stephen Jones as the most-capped Welsh player with 105 caps. * This was Wales' biggest winning margin over Scotland. It was previously the 46–22 victory at

Murrayfield Murrayfield is an affluent area to the west of Edinburgh city centre in Scotland. It is to the east of Corstorphine and north of Balgreen and Roseburn. The A8 road runs east–west through the south of the area. Murrayfield is often con ...

during the

2005 Six Nations Championship The 2005 Six Nations Championship was the sixth Six Nations Championship played since the competition expanded in 2000 to include Italy. Including the Home Nations and Five Nations Championships, this was the 111th season of the tournament. Wales ...

. * Stuart Hogg's red card was the third of the 2014 tournament, but only the third since Scott Murray was sent off when playing for Scotland against Wales in 2006. ---- Notes: * This was the final

Test match Test match in some sports refers to a sporting contest between national representative teams and may refer to: * Test cricket * Test match (indoor cricket) * Test match (rugby union) * Test match (rugby league) * Test match (association football) ...

for

, who had previously announced his retirement effective at the end of the 2013–14 season. *This game was the deciding game of the 2014 Six Nations Championship: *If Ireland won, they would win the championship. *If the game were drawn, or if France won by less than 70 points, England would win the Championship. *If France won by 71 points or more, they would win the Championship. If they won by exactly 70, it would be decided on whichever team (France or England) had score more tries.

Statistics

Points scorers

Try scorers

Media coverage

In the United Kingdom,

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, ...

televised all the matches live. There was a forum show on the

BBC Red Button BBC Red Button is a brand used for digital interactive television services provided by the BBC, and broadcast in the United Kingdom. The services replaced Ceefax, the BBC's analogue teletext service. BBC Red Button's text services were due to c ...

for satellite and cable viewers after several matches. Wales matches were televised live in

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

on S4C. Elsewhere, the tournament's matches were televised live by

France Télévisions France Télévisions (; stylized since 2018 as ) is the French national public television broadcaster. It is a state-owned company formed from the integration of the public television channels France 2 (formerly Antenne 2) and France 3 (form ...

in France, RTÉ in Ireland and DMAX in Italy in the first year of a four-year contract.

References

External links

Official Site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Six Nations 2014 rugby union tournaments for national teams

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