The 2008 Six Nations Championship, known as the 2008 RBS 6 Nations because of sponsorship by the

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, was the ninth series of the

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the Comparison of rugby league and rugby union, two codes of ru ...

Six Nations Championship The Six Nations Championship (known as the Guinness Six Nations for sponsorship reasons) is an annual international men's rugby union competition between the teams of England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. The current champions ar ...

, the 114th series of the international championship. Fifteen matches were played over five weekends from 2 February to 15 March, resulting in

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

winning the

Grand Slam Grand Slam most often refers to: * Grand Slam (tennis), one player or pair winning all four major annual tournaments, or the tournaments themselves Grand Slam or Grand slam may also refer to: Games and sports * Grand slam, winning category te ...

, their second in the last four championships and tenth overall. In winning the Grand Slam, Wales also won the

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, for beating each of the other

Home Nations Home Nations is a collective term with one of two meanings depending on context. Politically it means the nations of the constituent countries of the United Kingdom (England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales). In sport, if a sport is g ...

, for the 19th time. Wales conceded only two tries in the championship, beating England's previous record of four tries conceded. Wales'

Shane Williams Shane Mark Williams, (born 26 February 1977) is a Welsh rugby union player most famous for his long and successful tenure as a wing for the Ospreys and the Wales national team. He also played scrum-half on occasion. Williams is the record tr ...

was named the Player of the Championship.

Participants

The teams involved were:

Squads

Table

Results

Round 1

---- *This was

' first win over

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

Twickenham Stadium Twickenham Stadium () in Twickenham, south-west London, England, is a rugby union stadium owned by the Rugby Football Union ( RFU), English rugby union governing body, which has its headquarters there. The England national rugby union team pl ...

for 20 years. ----

Round 2

---- ----

Round 3

---- * Ireland won the Centenary Quaich. ---- *

Jonny Wilkinson Jonathan Peter Wilkinson, CBE (born 25 May 1979) is an English former rugby union player. A fly-half, he played for Newcastle Falcons and Toulon and represented England and the British & Irish Lions. He is particularly known for scoring the ...

drew level with Wales'

Neil Jenkins Neil Jenkins, (born 8 July 1971) is a Welsh former rugby union player and current coach. He played fly-half, centre, or full back for Pontypridd, Cardiff, Celtic Warriors, Wales and the British & Irish Lions. Jenkins is Wales' highest ever p ...

as the all-time leading point scorer in international rugby history with 1,090 career points (including points scored for the

British and Irish Lions The British & Irish Lions is a rugby union team selected from players eligible for the national teams of England national rugby union team, England, Ireland national rugby union team, Ireland, Scotland national rugby union team, Scotland, and ...

). *This result left Wales as the only remaining team that could win the

. *This was England's first away win over France in the Six Nations since their 15–9 win in

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Round 4

drew level with Gareth Thomas as the all-time try leader for Wales with his 40th try. * Wales won the

. ---- * England's

became the all-time scoring leader in international rugby history, surpassing Wales'

. * Scotland won the

Calcutta Cup The Calcutta Cup is the trophy awarded to the winner of the rugby match between England and Scotland played annually in the Six Nations Championship. Like the match itself (England–Scotland), the Calcutta Cup is the oldest trophy contested ...

. ---- * France won their second consecutive Giuseppe Garibaldi Trophy.

Round 5

*Despite victory over the Scots, Italy won the "

wooden spoon Wooden Spoon may refer to: * Wooden spoon, implement * Wooden spoon (award) ** Australian rugby league wooden spooners ** County Championship Wooden Spoons ** List of Australian Football League wooden spoons The wooden spoon is the imaginar ...

", having failed to win by the necessary five-point margin required to avoid finishing at the bottom of the table. ---- * England won the

Millennium Trophy The Millennium Trophy () is a rugby union award contested annually by England and Ireland as part of the Six Nations Championship. It was initiated in 1988 as part of Dublin's millennial celebrations. The trophy has the shape of a horned Vi ...

for the first time in five years. ---- *

took sole possession of the all-time try scoring lead for Wales with his 41st try. *Wales won the

for the second time in four championships. *By virtue of Wales beating France by more than three points, England finished second in the table, their best Six Nations finish since 2003. *Wales conceded just two tries all championship, the tightest ever defence in the Six Nations.

Scorers

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Six Nations 2008 rugby union tournaments for national teams

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