1974 Five Nations Championship

Last updated
1974 Five Nations Championship
Date19 January - 16 March 1974
CountriesFlag of England.svg  England
IRFU flag.svg  Ireland
Flag of France.svg  France
Flag of Scotland.svg  Scotland
Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg  Wales
Tournament statistics
Champions IRFU flag.svg  Ireland (8th title)
Matches played10
Tries scored22 (2.2 per match)
Top point scorer(s) Flag of England.svg Alan Old (33)
Top try scorer(s) IRFU flag.svg Mike Gibson (2)
Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg J.J. Williams (2) Flag of England.svg David Duckham (2)
1973 (Previous)(Next) 1975

The 1974 Five Nations Championship was the forty-fifth series of the rugby union Five Nations Championship. Including the previous incarnations as the Home Nations and Five Nations, this was the eightieth series of the northern hemisphere rugby union championship. Ten matches were played between 19 January and 16 March. It was contested by England, France, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. The championship was won by Ireland, the team's eighth outright title (seven other titles had been shared with other teams).

Contents

This was the first time ever that two games were played on the same weekend. This was brought in after the request from some teams, who complained that they had to always play early on in the year when bad weather prevailed, but others played in March, when the weather was better.

To get round this problem, the new format saw each team play each other's fixtures in a rotational period of scheduling. As an example, Scotland played England last in 1975, 1980, 1985. In 1976, 1981, 1986, 1991, the Scotland v England fixture was on the second weekend.

The 1974 tournament was closely contested with three of the matches ending in draws. Ireland topped the table after four rounds but had to sit out the final round of matches. Both France and Wales had chances to win the title, but both lost their last games. Welsh winger J. J. Williams appeared to score a winning try late in their game against England, but it was disallowed by referee John West, an Irishman, leading singer and Welsh rugby fan Max Boyce to compose a song about "blind Irish referees". [1]

Participants

The teams involved were:

NationVenueCityHead coachCaptain
Flag of England.svg  England Twickenham London John Elders John Pullin
Flag of France.svg  France Parc des Princes Paris Jean Desclaux Max Barrau/Elie Cester
IRFU flag.svg  Ireland Lansdowne Road Dublin Syd Millar Willie John McBride
Flag of Scotland.svg  Scotland Murrayfield Edinburgh Bill Dickinson Ian McLauchlan
Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg  Wales National Stadium Cardiff Clive Rowlands Gareth Edwards

Table

PosTeamPldWDLPFPAPDPts
1IRFU flag.svg  Ireland 42115045+55
2Flag of Scotland.svg  Scotland 42024135+64
2Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg  Wales 41214341+24
2Flag of France.svg  France 41214353104
5Flag of England.svg  England 4112636633
Source: [ citation needed ]

Squads

Results

19 January 1974
France  Flag of France.svg96IRFU flag.svg  Ireland
Tries: Boffelli
Con.: Aguirre
Pen.: Bérot
Pen.: Ensor (2)
Parc des Princes, Paris
Attendance: 43,694
Referee: Alan Hosie (Scotland)
19 January 1974
Wales  Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg60Flag of Scotland.svg  Scotland
Tries: Cobner
Con.: Bennett
National Stadium, Cardiff
Referee: R. F. Johnson (England)

2 February 1974
Ireland  IRFU flag.svg99Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg  Wales
Pen.: Ensor (3)Tries: J.J. Williams
Con.: Bennett
Pen.: Bennett
Lansdowne Road, Dublin
Referee: K. A. Pattinson (England)
2 February 1974
Scotland  Flag of Scotland.svg1614Flag of England.svg  England
Tries: Irvine
Lauder
Con.: Irvine
Pen.: Irvine (2)
Tries: Cotton
Neary
Pen.: Old
Drops: Rossborough
Murrayfield, Edinburgh
Referee: J. Saint-Guilhem (France)

16 February 1974
Wales  Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg1616Flag of France.svg  France
Tries: J.J. Williams
Pen.: Bennett (3)
Drops: Edwards
Tries: Lux
Pen.: Romeu (3)
Drops: Romeu
National Stadium, Cardiff
Attendance: 60,000
Referee: N. Sanson (Scotland)
16 February 1974
England  Flag of England.svg2126IRFU flag.svg  Ireland
Tries: Squires
Con.: Old
Pen.: Old (5)
Tries: Gibson (2)
Moloney
Moore
Con.: Gibson (2)
Pen.: Ensor
Drops: Quinn
Twickenham, London
Referee: M. Joseph (Wales)

2 March 1974
Ireland  IRFU flag.svg96Flag of Scotland.svg  Scotland
Tries: Milliken
Con.: Gibson
Pen.: McKinney
Pen.: Irvine (2)
Lansdowne Road, Dublin
Referee: F. Palmade (France)
2 March 1974
France  Flag of France.svg1212Flag of England.svg  England
Tries: Romeu
Con.: Romeu
Pen.: Romeu
Drops: Romeu
Tries: Duckham
Con.: Old
Pen.: Old
Drops: Evans
Parc des Princes, Paris
Attendance: 43,964
Referee: J. C. Kelleher (Wales)

16 March 1974
Scotland  Flag of Scotland.svg196Flag of France.svg  France
Tries: Dick
McHarg
Con.: Irvine
Pen.: Irvine (2)
Morgan
Pen.: Romeu
Drops: Romeu
Murrayfield, Edinburgh
Attendance: 60,000
Referee: K. H. Clark (Ireland)
16 March 1974
England  Flag of England.svg1612Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg  Wales
Tries: Duckham
Ripley
Con.: Old
Pen.: Old (2)
Tries: Davies
Con.: Bennett
Pen.: Bennett (2)
Twickenham, London
Referee: J. R. West (Ireland)

References

  1. "The Sporting 'Wests'". 14 February 2007. Archived from the original on 11 November 2013. Retrieved 4 February 2017.