rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

, a Grand Slam (Irish: ''Caithréim Mhór''. Welsh: ''Y Gamp Lawn''. French: ''Grand Chelem'') occurs when one team in the

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 ...

(or its Five Nations predecessor) beats all the others during one year's competition. This has been achieved 40 times in total, for the first time by

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

in 1908, and most recently by the French team in 2022. The team with the most Grand Slams is

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 ...

with 13. It can also apply to the U20 and Women's Six Nations Championships. In another context, a Grand Slam tour refers to a touring side –

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring coun ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island coun ...

– which plays fixtures against all four home nations (

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...

and

) during their tour. If the tourists win all of those matches, they are said to have achieved a Grand Slam. This has been done nine times, first by South Africa in 1912–13, and most recently by New Zealand in

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Five and Six Nations Grand Slams

In the annual

(among

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

and

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

), and its predecessor the Five Nations Championship (before Italy joined in 2000), a Grand Slam occurs when one team beats all of the others during one year's competition. The Grand Slam winners are awarded the Six Nations trophy (as tournament winners), but there is no special grand slam trophy – the Grand Slam is an informal honour recognising a Championship-winning team which has won all their games. A Grand Slam was therefore available in a total of 97 seasons to date. Grand Slams have been achieved 40 times – 13 by England, 12 by Wales, 10 by France, 3 by Scotland and 3 by Ireland. (Italy, involved in the tournament since 2000, have yet to win a Grand Slam.) Two consecutive Grand Slams have been won by Wales in 1908– 1909, by England in 1913– 1914, 1923–

1924 Events January * January 12 – Gopinath Saha shoots Ernest Day, whom he has mistaken for Sir Charles Tegart, the police commissioner of Calcutta, and is arrested soon after. * January 20– 30 – Kuomintang in China hold ...

and 1991–

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment building in Amsterdam after two of its engin ...

, and by France in

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– 1998. No team has yet achieved three consecutive Grand Slams. Prior to 2000, each team played four matches, two at home and two away from home. Following the inclusion of Italy in 2000, each team plays five matches, two at home and three away in one year, and the opposite in the following season. When

won the Grand Slam in 2005, it was the first time that the feat had been achieved by a team that had played more matches away than at home. This was repeated by Ireland in 2009, by England in 2016, and by Wales in 2019. Since 2017, the

has used bonus points. A team that wins the Grand Slam will get three bonus points. This eliminates the possibility of a Grand Slam winner losing the championship on bonus points.

Table of Grand Slam winners

''* In 1908 and 1909 matches with France were played, although they were not part of the Championship.''

Chronological list of Grand Slam winners

Grand Slam tours

A Grand Slam tour is one in which a touring national team from , , or plays

Test Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film), ...

matches against all four home nations (, , and ). If the tourists win all four of these games, they are said to have achieved a Grand Slam. Some Grand Slam tours also include a Test match against ; South Africa achieved a "Five Nations Grand Slam" in 1912–13 and 1951–52. Grand Slams by touring teams have been achieved nine times: four times each by South Africa and New Zealand, and once by Australia. Australia is the only country to have lost against all four home nations during a Grand Slam tour, on their 1957–58 tour. Australia also lost to France on that tour. After 1984, Southern Hemisphere sides started to tour the British Isles more frequently, but to play fewer Tests on each tour, and thus there were no Grand Slam tours between 1984 and 1998. However, since 1998 Grand Slam tours have again become quite common, as the number of Tests on each tour has increased. The All Blacks' tours of 2005 and 2008 were originally planned to include only three Test matches; the late inclusion of matches against Wales and England respectively turned these into Grand Slam tours.

Grand Slams achieved by touring sides

Grand Slam tours

The Rugby Championship

Rugby Europe Championship

References

External links

The Official Six Nations Site

2008 Six Nations Information and Tournament Guide

BBC News article on past Grand Slam tours

Pathe News coverage of 1924 England Grand Slam

Six Nations Information and Ticket Guide
{{Wales national rugby union team

Five and Six Nations Grand Slams

Table of Grand Slam winners

Chronological list of Grand Slam winners

Grand Slam tours

Grand Slams achieved by touring sides

Grand Slam tours

The Rugby Championship

Rugby Europe Championship

See also

References

External links