1999 Five Nations Championship

1999 Five Nations Championship
Date	6 February – 11 April 1999
Countries	England  Ireland  France  Scotland  Wales
Tournament statistics
Champions	Scotland (14th title)
Matches played	10
Tries scored	45 (4.5 per match)
Top point scorer(s)	Neil Jenkins (64 points)
Top try scorer(s)	Émile Ntamack Alan Tait (5 tries)
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The 1999 Five Nations Championship (sponsored by Lloyds TSB) was the 70th series of the rugby union Five Nations Championship. Including the previous incarnations as the Home Nations and Five Nations, this was the 105th series of the northern hemisphere rugby union championship. Ten matches were played over five weekends from 6 February to 11 April. The tournament was won by Scotland, who beat England on points difference.

It was notable for the dramatic climax to the tournament, which was decided in the dying minutes of the final match. England were heavy favourites to beat Wales and claim both the tournament title and Grand Slam. With England leading the match by six points as the clock passed 80 minutes, Wales centre Scott Gibbs evaded a number of tackles to score a try from approximately 20 metres. Neil Jenkins successfully converted to claim victory for Wales by a single point and hand the Championship to Scotland in one of the most memorable matches in the tournament's history. Scotland had staged their own remarkable upset the previous day, scoring five first-half tries to beat France in Paris for only the second time in 30 years.

Scotland's Gregor Townsend became only the fifth player in history to score a try against each other country in a single Five Nations tournament. He also became the second Scotsman to do so, following on from Johnnie Wallace in 1925. The others to achieve the feat were Carston Catcheside (England, 1924), Patrick Estève (France, 1983) and Phillipe Sella (France, 1986).

This was the last Five Nations Championship; in 2000, Italy joined the tournament, which became the Six Nations Championship. Italy played all of the Five Nations sides during the 1998–99 season, partly in preparation for joining the tournament the following year, albeit the game against England (at Huddersfield) was a World Cup qualifier. Italy lost all five of these games.

Nation	Venue	City	Head coach	Captain
England	Twickenham Stadium	London	Clive Woodward	Lawrence Dallaglio
France	Stade de France	Saint-Denis	Jean-Claude Skrela	Raphaël Ibañez
Ireland	Lansdowne Road	Dublin	Warren Gatland	Keith Wood
Scotland	Murrayfield Stadium	Edinburgh	Jim Telfer	Gary Armstrong
Wales	Wembley Stadium[1]	London	Graham Henry	Rob Howley

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	T	Pts
1	Scotland	4	3	0	1	120	79	+41	16	6
2	England	4	3	0	1	103	78	+25	8	6
3	Wales	4	2	0	2	109	126	−17	9	4
4	Ireland	4	1	0	3	66	90	−24	3	2
5	France	4	1	0	3	75	100	−25	0	2

6 February 1999 14:15

Ireland	9–10	France
Pen: Humphreys (3)	Report	Try: Dourthe Con: Castaignède Pen: Castaignède

Lansdowne Road, Dublin Attendance: 49,000 Referee: Peter Marshall (Australia)

6 February 1999 16:15

Scotland	33–20	Wales
Try: Townsend Leslie S. Murray Tait Con: Logan (2) Pen: Logan (2) Hodge	report	Try: James Gibbs Con: Jenkins (2) Pen: Jenkins (2)

Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh Attendance: 67,500 Referee: Ed Morrison (England)

20 February 1999 15:00

England	24–21	Scotland
Try: Beal Luger Rodber Con: Wilkinson (3) Pen: Wilkinson	Report	Try: Tait (2) Townsend Con: Logan (3)

Twickenham Stadium, London Attendance: 75,000 Referee: David McHugh (Ireland)

20 February 1999 15:00

Wales	23–29	Ireland
Try: Howarth C. Quinnell Con: Jenkins (2) Pen: Jenkins (3)	Report	Try: Maggs Wood Con: Humphreys (2) Pen: Humphreys (3) Drop: Humphreys (2)

Wembley Stadium, London Attendance: 76,000 Referee: Scott Young (Australia)

6 March 1999 14:00

France	33–34	Wales
Try: Ntamack (3) Castaignède Con: Castaignède (2) Pen: Castaignède (3)	Report	Try: James C. Quinnell Charvis Con: Jenkins (2) Pen: Jenkins (5)

Stade de France, Saint-Denis Attendance: 78,724 Referee: Jim Fleming (Scotland)

6 March 1999 16:00

Ireland	15–27	England
Pen: Humphreys (5)	Report	Try: Perry Rodber Con: Wilkinson Pen: Wilkinson (4) Drop: Grayson

Lansdowne Road, Dublin Attendance: 49,000 Referee: Paddy O'Brien (New Zealand)

20 March 1999 15:00

England	21–10	France
Pen: Wilkinson (7)	Report	Try: Comba Con: Castaignède Pen: Castaignède

Twickenham Stadium, London Attendance: 75,000 Referee: C. J. Hawke (New Zealand)[2]

20 March 1999 15:00

Scotland	30–13	Ireland
Try: C. Murray (2) Townsend Grimes Con: Logan (2) Pen: Logan (2)	Report	Try: Penalty try Con: Humphreys Pen: Humphreys (2)

Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh Attendance: 67,500 Referee: Derek Bevan (Wales)

10 April 1999 14:00

France	22–36	Scotland
Try: Ntamack Dominici Juillet Con: Aucagne (2) Pen: Aucagne	Report	Try: Tait (2) Townsend Leslie (2) Con: Logan (4) Pen: Logan

Stade de France, Saint-Denis Attendance: 78,500 Referee: Clayton Thomas (Wales)

11 April 1999 16:00

Wales	32–31	England
Try: Howarth Gibbs Con: Jenkins (2) Pen: Jenkins (6)	Report	Try: Luger Hanley Hill Con: Wilkinson (2) Pen: Wilkinson (4)

Wembley Stadium, London Attendance: 76,000 Referee: André Watson (South Africa)

• 1999 championship results on ESPN Scrum