1997 Five Nations Championship

1997 Five Nations Championship
Date	18 January – 15 March 1997
Countries	England France Ireland Scotland Wales
Tournament statistics
Champions	France (11th title)
Grand Slam	France (5th title)
Triple Crown	England (20th title)
Matches played	10
Tries scored	50 (5 per match)
Top point scorer	Paul Grayson (52 points)
Top try scorers	David Venditti Laurent Leflamand (4 tries)
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The 1997 Five Nations Championship was the sixty-eighth series of the rugby union Five Nations Championship. Including the previous incarnations as the Home Nations and Five Nations, this was the hundred-and-third series of the northern hemisphere rugby union championship. Ten matches were played over five weekends from 18 January to 15 March, the crucial match being in Weekend 4 where England inexplicably threw away a 20–6 lead at Twickenham with quarter of the match to go and were pipped by France. France went on to win their first Grand Slam in ten years; England defeated the other Home Nations by large margins to win the Triple Crown. It was the last time that France played at the Parc des Princes, in Paris. Since then, the French team has been playing in the Stade de France, also in Paris.

Participants

The teams involved were:

Nation	Venue	City	Head coach	Captain
England	Twickenham Stadium	London	Jack Rowell	Phil de Glanville
France	Parc des Princes	Paris	Jean-Claude Skrela	Abdelatif Benazzi
Ireland	Lansdowne Road	Dublin	Brian Ashton	Keith Wood/Jim Staples
Scotland	Murrayfield Stadium	Edinburgh	Jim Telfer	Rob Wainwright
Wales	National Stadium	Cardiff	Kevin Bowring	Jonathan Humphreys

Squads

For each nation's squad for the 1997 Five Nations Championship, see 1997 Five Nations Championship squads.

Table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts
1	France	4	4	0	0	129	77	+52	8
2	England	4	3	0	1	141	55	+86	6
3	Wales	4	1	0	3	94	106	−12	2
4	Scotland	4	1	0	3	90	132	−42	2
5	Ireland	4	1	0	3	57	141	−84	2

Source:

Results

Week 1

18 January 1997 15:00

Ireland	15–32	France
Pen: Elwood (5)	Report	Try: Galthié Venditti (3) Con: Castaignède (3) Pen: Castaignède (2)

Lansdowne Road, Dublin Attendance: 53,000 Referee: Andre Watson (South Africa)

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18 January 1997 15:00

Scotland	19–34	Wales
Try: S. Hastings Con: Shepherd Pen: Shepherd (3) Drop: Chalmers	Report	Try: Evans N. Jenkins S. Quinnell A. Thomas Con: N. Jenkins (4) Pen: N. Jenkins (2)

Murrayfield, Edinburgh Attendance: 67,500 Referee: Bertie Smith (Ireland)

Week 2

1 February 1997 15:00

England	41–13	Scotland
Try: Penalty try Carling De Glanville Gomarsall Con: Grayson (3) Pen: Grayson (5)	Report	Try: Eriksson Con: Shepherd Pen: Shepherd (2)

Twickenham, London Attendance: 75,000 Referee: Paddy O'Brien (New Zealand)

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1 February 1997 15:00

Wales	25–26	Ireland
Try: Evans (2) S. Quinnell Con: N. Jenkins (2) Pen: N. Jenkins (2)	Report	Try: Bell Hickie Miller Con: Elwood (1) Pen: Elwood (3)

National Stadium, Cardiff Attendance: 53,000 Referee: Wayne Erickson (Australia)

Week 3

15 February 1997 15:00

France	27–22	Wales
Try: Leflamand (2) Merle Venditti Con: Aucagne (1) Dourthe (1) Pen: Aucagne	Report	Try: Bateman Howley G. Thomas Con: N. Jenkins (2) Pen: N. Jenkins

Parc des Princes, Paris Attendance: 46,000 Referee: Peter Marshall (Australia)

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15 February 1997 15:00

Ireland	6–46	England
Pen: Elwood (2)	Report	Try: Gomarsall Hill Sleightholme (2) T. Underwood (2) Con: Grayson (2) Pen: Grayson (4)

Lansdowne Road, Dublin Attendance: 51,898 Referee: Colin Hawke (New Zealand)

Week 4

1 March 1997 15:00

England	20–23	France
Try: Dallaglio Pen: Grayson (4) Drop: Grayson	Report	Try: Lamaison Leflamand Con: Lamaison (2) Pen: Lamaison (2) Drop: Lamaison

Twickenham, London Attendance: 75,000 Referee: Jim Fleming (Scotland)

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1 March 1997 15:00

Scotland	38–10	Ireland
Try: Stanger Tait Townsend Walton Weir Con: Shepherd (5) Pen: Shepherd	Report	Try: Hickie Con: Humphreys Pen: Humphreys

Murrayfield, Edinburgh Attendance: 67,500 Referee: Gareth Simmonds (Wales)

Week 5

15 March 1997 15:00

France	47–20	Scotland
Try: Benazzi Leflamand Magne Tournaire Con: Lamaison (3) Pen: Lamaison (6) Drop: Sadourny	Report	Try: Tait (2) Con: Shepherd (2) Pen: Shepherd (2)

Parc des Princes, Paris Attendance: 49,000 Referee: Ed Morrison (England)

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15 March 1997 15:00

Wales	13–34	England
Try: Howley Con: J. Davies Pen: J. Davies (2)	Report	Try: De Glanville Hill Stimpson T. Underwood Con: Catt (4) Pen: Catt (2)

National Stadium, Cardiff Attendance: 53,000 Referee: Joel Dume (France)

External links

• 1997 Five Nations Championship at ESPN