1973 Five Nations Championship
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.
| 1973 Five Nations Championship | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date | 13 January - 14 April 1973 | ||
| Countries |     .svg.png){kind=small} | ||
| Tournament statistics | |||
| Champions | | ||
| Calcutta Cup | | ||
| Matches played | 10 | ||
| Tries scored | 28 (2.8 per match) | ||
| Top point scorer(s) | | ||
| Top try scorer(s) | | ||
| |||
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 security risks, both Scotland and Wales had refused to play Ireland in Dublin in 1972. Defying expectations to the contrary, England agreed to travel in 1973. Despite a poor performance, resulting in an 18-9 loss, the crowd in the Lansdowne Road stadium gave a standing ovation to the England team. England captain John Pullin delivered a quip at a post-match dinner - "Well we might not be any good but at least we turned up" - to great applause.[1]
Participants
The teams involved were:
Table
| Position | Nation | Games | Points | Table points | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | For | Against | Difference | |||
| 1 | |
4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 53 | 43 | +10 | 4 |
| 1 | |
4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 50 | 48 | +2 | 4 |
| 1 | |
4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 38 | 36 | +2 | 4 |
| 1 | |
4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 55 | 59 | −4 | 4 |
| 1 | |
4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 52 | 62 | −10 | 4 |
Squads
Results
1973-01-13 |
| France |
16–13 | |
|---|---|---|
| Tries: Dourthe Pen.: Romeu (3) Drops: Romeu |
Tries: Lawson Pen.: Brown (2) Drops: McGeechan |
1973-01-20 |
| Wales |
25–9 | |
|---|---|---|
| Tries: Bevan (2) Davies Edwards Lewis Con.: Bennett Pen.: Taylor |
Pen.: Doble (2) Drops: Cowman |
1973-02-10 |
| Ireland |
18–9 | |
|---|---|---|
| Tries: Grace Milliken Con.: McGann (2) Pen.: McGann Drops: McGann |
Tries: Neary Con.: Jorden Pen.: Jorden |
1973-02-24 |
| Scotland |
19–14 | |
|---|---|---|
| Tries: Forsyth Pen.: Morgan (2) Drops: McGeechan Morgan (2) |
Tries: Kiernan McMaster Pen.: McGann (2) |
1973-03-10 |
| Wales |
16–12 | |
|---|---|---|
| Tries: Edwards Shanklin Con.: Bennett Pen.: Bennett (2) |
Tries: Gibson Con.: McGann Pen.: McGann (2) |
1973-03-17 |
| England |
20–13 | |
|---|---|---|
| Tries: Dixon (2) Evans Squires Con.: Jorden (2) |
Tries: Steele (2) Con.: Irvine Pen.: Morgan |
References
- "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 |