Re-examine the Six Nations 2016 right here at RugbyPass. On this page, you’ll find all of the details about the tournament, including the Championship-deciding matches from round four and England’s Super Saturday Grand Slam victory.
Ready to jump in? Keep scrolling to read the tournament’s stats, review the Championship table and revisit all fifteen of the Six Nations matches of 2016.
2016 Six Nations Stats: Who Won the Six Nations 2016?
Six Nations 2016 Winner: England
The Six Nations Championship 2016 was a record-setting tournament. For the first time since 2000, first and last place were decided during the fourth round. Ultimately, France’s loss against Scotland guaranteed England the Championship and Italy their 11th wooden spoon.
Although the winners were decided on 13 March, the Six Nations schedule for 2016 ran from 6 February to 19 March. This was the date of the final round of fixtures, when England hammered France and won their first Grand Slam since 2003.
As the 2016 Six Nations winners, England achieved their 27th outright Championship title, 13th Grand Slam and 25th Triple Crown. In comparison, this was Italy’s seventh whitewashed Championship. They also set a new record by conceding 29 tries.
When the 17th Six Nations and 122nd edition of the Championship drew to a close, three players topped the tournament’s stats. Owen Farrell was the top point scorer with 69 points; George North was the top try scorer with four tries; and Stuart Hogg was named as the Player of the Tournament.
Round One Review
Match one: France 23-21 Italy (Stade de France, Saint-Denis)
Match two: Scotland 9-15 England (Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh)
Match three: Ireland 16-16 Wales (Aviva Stadium, Dublin)
Italy’s 2016 Six Nations campaign got off to a promising start. In a shocking opener, the Azzurri lost to France by just two points. Fortunately, France were spared an embarrassing at-home defeat thanks to Jules Plisson’s 75th minute penalty.
The second match was another tense encounter. Much to Scotland’s dismay, England won their first game of the tournament with a 15-9 victory at Murrayfield.
The third game was another dramatic clash. Although Ireland secured an impressive 13-0 lead, a determined Wales fought back and eventually took the lead 16-13. But, much to Wales’ displeasure, Johnny Sexton slotted a 74th minute penalty and the match concluded in a 16-16 draw – this was the first Championship draw between Ireland and Wales since 1991.
Round Two Review
Match one: France 10-9 Ireland (Stade de France, Saint-Denis)
Match two: Wales 27-23 Scotland (Millennium Stadium, Cardiff)
Match three: Italy 9-40 England (Stadio Olimpico, Rome)
Continuing the theme of tight matches, round two started with another disaster for Ireland. The defending champions were dealt a narrow 10-9 defeat, a score that marked France’s first triumph over Ireland since 2011.
Next, Wales served Scotland with their ninth Six Nations loss in a row. The Welsh side produced a 27-23 victory, and sealed Scotland’s worst Six Nations losing streak of all time.
Match three was the first decisive win of the Rugby union Six Nations 2016. After a close first half, a hat trick from Jonathan Joseph secured England’s 40-9 win.
Round Three Review
Match one: Wales 19-10 France (Millennium Stadium, Cardiff)
Match two: Italy 20-36 Scotland (Stadio Olimpico, Rome)
Match three: England 21-10 Ireland (Twickenham Stadium, London)
Round three of the Six Nations 2016 saw Wales edge closer to the title. Despite a last-gasp try from Guilhem Guirado, Wales orchestrated a comfortable 19-10 win against France.
The following day, Scotland ended their losing streak by defeating Italy. With five penalties and three conversions, Greig Laidlow contributed 21 points to Scotland’s 36-20 victory. This score made the win even sweeter; it set the record for the most points scored by Scotland in a Six Nations match.
In the final match of the round, England beat Ireland 21-10. Continuing their winning campaign, England scored 15 second half points with no reply. This was a doubly disappointing result for Ireland, who lost the Millennium Trophy along with their hopes of retaining the Championship.
Round Four Review
Match one: Ireland 58-15 Italy (Aviva Stadium, Dublin)
Match two: England 25-21 Wales (Twickenham Stadium, London)
Match three: Scotland 29-18 France (Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh)
Onto the deciding round of the 2016 Six Nations Championship. First up, Ireland ran circles around Italy. The Irish side scored nine tries – the most Ireland have ever scored in a Six Nations match – and defeated the visitors 58-15.
Next came the decisive match: England v Wales. The two teams met at Twickenham and for the first 70 minutes, it looked like a done deal. In a spectacular effort, however, Wales sparked fear by scoring 14 points. Unrattled, England clung on and won their 25th Triple Crown.
The last game featured France losing to Scotland. This result not only ensured England’s win (and Italy’s wooden spoon), it was also poignant for Scotland. It ended Scotland’s seven-match losing streak at Murrayfield and secured their first at-home win against France since the 2006 tournament.
Round Five Review
Match one: Wales 67-14 Italy (Millennium Stadium, Cardiff)
Match two: Ireland 35-25 Scotland (Aviva Stadium, Dublin)
Match three: France 21-31 England (Stade de France, Saint-Denis)
The first Super Saturday clash was a one-sided game, with Wales thrashing Italy 67-14. This 53-point margin was Wales’ largest winning margin against the Azzurri and their biggest winning margin in Championship history.
In match two, the defending champions produced a win at home. While Ross Ford made his 100th appearance for Scotland, the Scots lost to Ireland 35-25.
Although first and last place were decided in round four, England had everything to play for going into their final match. After two early tries and two last-gasp penalties, England seized their first Grand Slam since 2003.
Six Nations Table 2016
Here are the Six Nations results from 2016:
Team | Won | Lost | Drawn | Points Difference | Tries For | Total Points |
England | 5 | 0 | 0 | +62 | 13 | 10 |
Wales | 3 | 1 | 1 | +62 | 17 | 7 |
Ireland | 2 | 2 | 1 | +41 | 15 | 5 |
Scotland | 2 | 3 | 0 | +7 | 11 | 4 |
France | 2 | 3 | 0 | -27 | 7 | 4 |
Italy | 0 | 5 | 0 | -145 | 8 | 0 |
As one of the favourites, Ireland entered the tournament hoping to retain their Six Nations title. Alas, with two losses and one draw, their hopes of a successive Championship win slipped through their fingers.
Instead, England rose to the challenge. Their near-perfect Six Nations 2016 campaign led to a first in the current Six Nations era. Thanks to their victory against Wales and France’s loss against Scotland, the winning and losing nations were decided with one round to spare.
Finally, on Super Saturday, England defeated France and claimed their first Grand Slam in 13 years.
