1976 Five Nations Championship
The 1976 Five Nations Championship was the forty-seventh series of the rugby union Five Nations Championship. Including the previous incarnations as the Home Nations and Five Nations, this was the eighty-second series of the northern hemisphere rugby union championship. Ten matches were played between 10 January and 20 March.
| 1976 Five Nations Championship | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date | 10 January - 20 March 1976 | ||
| Countries |  England Ireland France Scotland.svg.png.webp){kind=small} Wales | ||
| Tournament statistics | |||
| Champions | Wales (19th title) | ||
| Grand Slam | Wales (7th title) | ||
| Triple Crown | Wales (13th title) | ||
| Calcutta Cup | Scotland | ||
| Matches played | 10 | ||
| Tries scored | 30 (3 per match) | ||
| Top point scorer(s) | Jean-Pierre Romeu (30) | ||
| Top try scorer(s) | Gareth Edwards (3) | ||
| |||
Wales won their 7th title, with a Grand Slam, and the Triple Crown.
The Scotland vs France game was played one week earlier than the England vs Wales game, to allow the BBC to cover both the latter game, and the Ireland v. Australia game in Dublin on the same day. Bill Mclaren thus, unusually, commentated on the opening two games of a Five Nations Championship for the first time since the two games per weekend format was introduced in 1974.
Participants
The teams involved were:
| Nation | Venue | City | Head coach | Captain |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| England |
Twickenham | London | Peter Colston | Tony Neary |
| France |
Parc des Princes | Paris | Jean Desclaux | Jacques Fouroux |
| Ireland |
Lansdowne Road | Dublin | Roly Meates | Mike Gibson |
| Scotland |
Murrayfield | Edinburgh | Bill Dickinson | Ian McLauchlan |
| Wales |
National Stadium | Cardiff | John Dawes | Mervyn Davies |
Table
| Position | Nation | Games | Points | Table points | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | For | Against | Difference | |||
| 1 | Wales |
4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 102 | 37 | +65 | 8 |
| 2 | France |
4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 82 | 37 | +45 | 6 |
| 3 | Scotland |
4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 49 | 59 | −10 | 4 |
| 4 | Ireland |
4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 31 | 87 | −56 | 2 |
| 5 | England |
4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 42 | 86 | −44 | 0 |
Squads
Results
1976-01-17 |
| England |
9–21 | Wales |
|---|---|---|
| Pen.: Hignell (3) | Tries: Edwards J.P.R. Williams (2) Con.: Fenwick (3) Pen.: Martin |
1976-02-07 |
| France |
26–3 | Ireland |
|---|---|---|
| Tries: Cholley Fouroux Pecune Rives Con.: Bastiat Romeu Pen.: Bastiat Romeu |
Pen.: Robbie |
1976-02-07 |
| Wales |
28–6 | Scotland |
|---|---|---|
| Tries: Edwards Evans J.J. Williams Con.: Bennett (2) Pen.: Bennett (3) Drops: Fenwick |
Tries: Irvine Con.: Morgan |
1976-02-21 |
| Ireland |
9–34 | Wales |
|---|---|---|
| Pen.: McGann (3) | Tries: Bennett Davies (2) Edwards Con.: Bennett (3) Pen.: Bennett (3) Martin |
1976-02-21 |
| Scotland |
22–12 | England |
|---|---|---|
| Tries: Lawson (2) Leslie Con.: Irvine (2) Pen.: Irvine (2) |
Tries: Maxwell Con.: Old Pen.: Old (2) |
1976-03-06 |
| Wales |
19–13 | France |
|---|---|---|
| Tries: J.J. Williams Pen.: Bennett (2) Fenwick (2) Martin |
Tries: Averous Gourdon Con.: Romeu Pen.: Romeu |
1976-03-20 |
| France |
30–9 | England |
|---|---|---|
| Tries: Bastiat Fouroux Gourdon Paparemborde (2) Romeu Con.: Romeu (3) |
Tries: Dixon Con.: Butler Pen.: Butler |
External links
| Preceded by 1975 Five Nations |
Five Nations Championship 1976 |
Succeeded by 1977 Five Nations |