1996 Five Nations Championship

1996 Five Nations Championship
Date	20 January - 16 March 1996
Countries	England  Ireland  France  Scotland  Wales
Tournament statistics
Champions	England (22nd title)
Triple Crown	England (19th title)
Matches played	10
Tries scored	30 (3 per match)
Top point scorer(s)	Paul Grayson (64 points)
Top try scorer(s)	Michael Dods Émile Ntamack (3 tries)
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The 1996 Five Nations Championship was the sixty-seventh series of the rugby union Five Nations Championship, and the first in the sport's professional era, which officially began in August 1995. Including the previous incarnations as the Home Nations and Five Nations, this was the hundred-and-second series of the northern hemisphere rugby union championship. Ten matches were played over five weekends from 20 January to 16 March. England were the winners, losing only the first game with France, thus missing the Grand Slam, but winning the Triple Crown. France went into the final week needing a victory to clinch the championship themselves thanks to superior points difference, but lost by a single point to Wales, who not only avoided a whitewash but climbed above Ireland on points difference in doing so.

Scotland missed out on a fourth Grand Slam after losing to England at Murrayfield, this was the second successive season Scotland lost out on a Grand Slam.

The teams involved were:

Nation	Venue	City	Head coach	Captain
England	Twickenham	London	Jack Rowell	Will Carling
France	Parc des Princes	Paris	Jean-Claude Skrela	Philippe Saint-André
Ireland	Lansdowne Road	Dublin	Murray Kidd	Jim Staples/Niall Hogan
Scotland	Murrayfield	Edinburgh	Jim Telfer	Rob Wainwright
Wales	National Stadium	Cardiff	Kevin Bowring	Jonathan Humphreys

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts
1	England	4	3	0	1	79	54	+25	6
2	Scotland	4	3	0	1	60	56	+4	6
3	France	4	2	0	2	89	57	+32	4
4	Wales	4	1	0	3	62	82	−20	2
5	Ireland	4	1	0	3	65	106	−41	2

20 January 1996 15:00

France	15–12	England
Pen: Lacroix (3) Drops:: Castaignède Lacroix		Pen: Grayson (2) Drops: Grayson (2)

Parc des Princes, Paris Attendance: 45,000 Referee: David McHugh (Ireland)

20 January 1996 15:00

Ireland	10–16	Scotland
Tries: Clohessy Con: Elwood Pen: Elwood		Tries: Dods McKenzie Pen: Dods Drops: Townsend

Lansdowne Road, Dublin Referee: Brian Campsall (England)

3 February 1996 15:00

England	21–15	Wales
Tries: Guscott R. Underwood Con: Grayson Pen: Grayson (3)		Tries: Howley Taylor Con: A. Thomas Pen: A. Thomas

Twickenham, London Referee: Ken McCartney (Scotland)

3 February 1996 15:00

Scotland	19–14	France
Tries: Dods (2) Pen: Dods (3)		Tries: Benazzi Pen: Castaignède Lacroix (2)

Murrayfield, Edinburgh Attendance: 65,000 Referee: Clayton Thomas (Wales)

17 February 1996 15:00

France	45–10	Ireland
Tries: Accoceberry Campan Castel (2) Ntamack (2) Saint-André Con: Castaignède (5)		Tries: Penalty try Con: Humphreys Pen: Humphreys

Parc des Princes, Paris Referee: Ed Morrison (England)

17 February 1996 15:00

Wales	14–16	Scotland
Tries: Proctor Pen: A. Thomas (3)		Tries: Townsend Con: Dods Pen: Dods (3)

National Stadium, Cardiff Attendance: 47,000 Referee: Joel Dume (France)

2 March 1996 15:00

Ireland	30–17	Wales
Tries: Corkery Fulcher Geoghegan Woods Con: Mason (2) Pen: Mason (2)		Tries: I. Evans (2) Con: A. Thomas (2) Pen: A. Thomas

Lansdowne Road, Dublin Referee: Didier Mene (France)

2 March 1996 15:00

Scotland	9–18	England
Pen: Dods (3)		Pen: Grayson (6)

Murrayfield, Edinburgh Attendance: 67,000 Referee: Derek Bevan (Wales)

16 March 1996 15:00

England	28–15	Ireland
Tries: Sleightholme Con: Grayson Pen: Grayson (6) Drops: Grayson		Pen: Mason (4) Drops: Humphreys

Twickenham, London Attendance: 75,000 Referee: Edward Murray (Scotland)

16 March 1996 15:00

Wales	16–15	France
Tries: Howley Con: Jenkins Pen: Jenkins (3)		Tries: Castaignède Ntamack Con: Castaignède Pen: Castaignède

National Stadium, Cardiff Attendance: 52,000 Referee: Brian Stirling (Ireland)

• 1996 Five Nations Championship at ESPN