1979 Five Nations Championship

The 1979 Five Nations Championship was the fiftieth series of the rugby union Five Nations Championship. Including the previous incarnations as the Home Nations and Five Nations, this was the eighty-fifth series of the northern hemisphere rugby union championship. Ten matches were played between 20 January and 17 March.

1979 Five Nations Championship
Date20 January - 17 March 1979
Countries England
 Ireland
 France
 Scotland
 Wales
Tournament statistics
Champions Wales (21st title)
Triple Crown Wales (16th title)
Matches played10
Tries scored32 (3.2 per match)
Top point scorer(s)Wales Steve Fenwick (38)
Top try scorer(s)Ireland Colin Patterson (3) Scotland Andy Irvine (3)
1978 (Previous) (Next) 1980

Wales were the champions for the second consecutive season, winning a record twenty-first outright title. They had also shared the championship on nine other occasions. In beating Scotland, Ireland and England they also won the Triple Crown for a record fourth successive season and extended their record number of Triple Crown wins to sixteen. This would be the last time that Wales won back-to-back championships until 2013.

Participants

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The teams involved were:

Nation Venue City Head coach Captain
  England Twickenham London Peter Colston Roger Uttley
  France Parc des Princes Paris Jean Desclaux Jean-Pierre Rives
  Ireland Lansdowne Road Dublin Noel Murphy Fergus Slattery
  Scotland Murrayfield Edinburgh Nairn McEwan Ian McGeechan
  Wales National Stadium Cardiff John Dawes J.P.R. Williams

Table

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Pos Team Pld W D L PF PA PD Pts
1   Wales 4 3 0 1 83 51 +32 6
2   France 4 2 1 1 50 46 +4 5
3   Ireland 4 1 2 1 53 51 +2 4
4   England 4 1 1 2 24 52 −28 3
5   Scotland 4 0 2 2 48 58 −10 2
Source: [citation needed]

Squads

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Results

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1979-01-20
Ireland  9–9  France
Pen.: Ward (3)Tries: Caussade
Con.: Aguirre
Pen.: Aguirre
Lansdowne Road, Dublin
Attendance: 51,000
Referee: R. C. Quittenton (England)
1979-01-20
Scotland  13–19  Wales
Tries: Irvine
Pen.: Irvine (3)
Tries: Holmes
Rees
Con.: Fenwick
Pen.: Fenwick (3)
Murrayfield, Edinburgh
Referee: F. Palmade (France)

1979-02-03
Wales  24–21  Ireland
Tries: Martin
Ringer
Con.: Fenwick (2)
Pen.: Fenwick (4)
Tries: McLennan
Patterson
Con.: Ward (2)
Pen.: Ward (3)
National Stadium, Cardiff
Referee: Alan Hosie (Scotland)
1979-02-03
England  7–7  Scotland
Tries: Slemen
Pen.: Bennett
Tries: Rutherford
Pen.: Irvine
Twickenham, London
Referee: C. Norling (Wales)

1979-02-17
France  14–13  Wales
Tries: Gourdon (2)
Pen.: Aguirre (2)
Tries: Holmes
Pen.: Fenwick (3)
Parc des Princes, Paris
Attendance: 45,259
Referee: D. I. H. Burnett (Ireland)
1979-02-17
Ireland  12–7  England
Tries: McLennan
Con.: Ward
Pen.: Ward
Drops: Ward
Tries: Bennett
Pen.: Bennett
Lansdowne Road, Dublin
Referee: Alan Hosie (Scotland)

1979-03-03
England  7–6  France
Tries: Bennett
Pen.: Bennett
Tries: Costes
Con.: Aguirre
Twickenham, London
Attendance: 67,800
Referee: J. R. West (Ireland)
1979-03-03
Scotland  11–11  Ireland
Tries: Irvine
Robertson
Pen.: Irvine
Tries: Patterson (2)
Pen.: Ward
Murrayfield, Edinburgh
Referee: C. Thomas (Wales)

1979-03-17
France  21–17  Scotland
Tries: Bélascain
Malquier (2)
Pen.: Aguerre
Aguirre
Drops: Aguerre
Tries: Dickson
Irvine
Robertson
Con.: Irvine
Pen.: Irvine
Parc des Princes, Paris
Attendance: 45,000
Referee: R. C. Quittenton (England)
1979-03-17
Wales  27–3  England
Tries: Rees
Richards
Ringer
Roberts
Williams
Con.: Fenwick
Martin
Drops: G. Davies
Pen.: Bennett
National Stadium, Cardiff
Referee: J. P. Bonnet (France)
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