1973 Five Nations Championship

1973 Five Nations Championship
Date 13 January 1973 - 14 April 1973
Countries  England
 Ireland
 France
 Scotland
 Wales
Tournament statistics
Champions  England,  Ireland,  France,
 Scotland and  Wales
Calcutta Cup  England
Matches played 10
Tries scored 28 (2.8 per match)
Top point scorer(s) France Jean-Pierre Romeu (26)
Top try scorer(s) Scotland Billy Steele (3)
1972 (Previous) (Next) 1974

The 1973 Five Nations Championship was the forty-fourth series of the rugby union Five Nations Championship. Including the previous incarnations as the Home Nations and Five Nations, this was the seventy-ninth series of the northern hemisphere rugby union championship. Ten matches were played between 13 January and 14 April.It was contested by England, France, Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

As each nation won their two home matches (and therefore lost their two away matches), the championship was shared between all five teams; no further tie-break was applied to separate teams finishing level on match points. This was the only time that the Five Nations championship finished in a five-way tie.

Due to the Troubles occurring in Ireland, which had resulted in the loss of over 100 British soldiers in 1972 and the potential risks both Scotland and Wales refused to play Ireland in Dublin. Defying expectations to the contrary, England agreed to travel. Despite a poor performance, resulting in an 18-9 loss, England received great credit for their attendance coupled with captain John Pullin's post-match quip "Well we might not be any good but at least we turned up".[1]

Participants

The teams involved were:

Nation Venue City Head coach
 England Twickenham London John Elders
 France Parc des Princes Paris Jean Desclaux
 Ireland Lansdowne Road Dublin Syd Millar
 Scotland Murrayfield Edinburgh Bill Dickinson
 Wales National Stadium Cardiff Clive Rowlands

Table

Position Nation Games Points Table
points
Played Won Drawn Lost For Against Difference
1 Wales 42025343+104
1 Ireland 42025048+24
1 France 42023836+24
1 Scotland 4202555944
1 England 42025262104

Squads

For each nation's squad for the 1973 Five Nations Championship, see 1973 Five Nations Championship squads.

Results

1973-01-13
France  1613  Scotland
Tries: Dourthe
Pen.: Romeu (3)
Drops: Romeu
Tries: Lawson
Pen.: Brown (2)
Drops: McGeechan
Parc des Princes, Paris
Attendance: 37,232
Referee: K. Pattinson (England)
F. Palmade (France)

1973-01-20
Wales  259  England
Tries: Bevan (2)
Davies
Edwards
Lewis
Con.: Bennett
Pen.: Taylor
Pen.: Doble (2)
Drops: Cowman
National Stadium, Cardiff
Referee: G. Domercq (France)

1973-02-03
Scotland  109  Wales
Tries: Steele
Telfer
Con.: Morgan
Pen.: Bennett (2)
Taylor
Murrayfield, Edinburgh
Referee: F. Palmade (France)

1973-02-10
Ireland  189  England
Tries: Grace
Milliken
Con.: McGann (2)
Pen.: McGann
Drops: McGann
Tries: Neary
Con.: Jorden
Pen.: Jorden
Lansdowne Road, Dublin
Attendance: 50,000
Referee: A. M. Hosie (Scotland)

1973-02-24
Scotland  1914  Ireland
Tries: Forsyth
Pen.: Morgan (2)
Drops: McGeechan
Morgan (2)
Tries: Kiernan
McMaster
Pen.: McGann (2)
Murrayfield, Edinburgh
Referee: A. R. Lewis (Wales)
1973-02-24
England  146  France
Tries: Duckham (2)
Pen.: Jorden (2)
Tries: Bertranne
Con.: Romeu
Twickenham, London
Attendance: 70,000
Referee: K. H. Clark (Ireland)

1973-03-10
Wales  1612  Ireland
Tries: Edwards
Shanklin
Con.: Bennett
Pen.: Bennett (2)
Tries: Gibson
Con.: McGann
Pen.: McGann (2)
National Stadium, Cardiff
Referee: T. F. E. Grierson (Scotland)

1973-03-17
England  2013  Scotland
Tries: Dixon (2)
Evans
Squires
Con.: Jorden (2)
Tries: Steele (2)
Con.: Irvine
Pen.: Morgan
Twickenham, London
Referee: J. C. Kelleher (Wales)

1973-03-24
France  123  Wales
Pen.: Romeu (3)
Drops: Romeu
Drops: Bennett
Parc des Princes, Paris
Attendance: 50,000
Referee: D. P. d'Arcy (Ireland)

1973-04-14
Ireland  64  France
Pen.: Ensor
Gibson
Tries: Phliponeau
Lansdowne Road, Dublin
Attendance: 50,000
Referee: R. F. Johnson (England)

References

  1. "Memory of England Rugby's Travel to Dublin in Troubles". The Telegraph. 8 February 2013. Retrieved 20 August 2015.

External links

Preceded by
1972 Five Nations
Five Nations Championship
1973
Succeeded by
1974 Five Nations
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