1976 Five Nations Championship

1976 Five Nations Championship
Date10 January - 20 March 1976
Countries England
 Ireland
 France
 Scotland
 Wales
Tournament statistics
Champions Wales (19th title)
Grand Slam Wales (7th title)
Triple Crown Wales (13th title)
Matches played10
Tries scored30 (3 per match)
Top point scorer(s)Wales Phil Bennett (38)
Top try scorer(s)Wales Gareth Edwards (3)
1975 (Previous) (Next) 1977

The 1976 Five Nations Championship was the 47th series of the rugby union Five Nations Championship. Including the previous incarnations as the Home Nations and Five Nations, this was the 82nd series of the northern hemisphere rugby union championship. Ten matches were played between 10 January and 20 March.

Wales won their 19th 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

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

Pos Team Pld W D L PF PA PD Pts
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
Source: [citation needed]

Squads

Results

10 January 1976
Scotland 6–13 France
Pen: Renwick
Drop: Morgan
Try: Dubertrand
Pen: Romeu (3)
Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh
Attendance: 55,000
Referee: K. A. Pattinson (England)

17 January 1976
England 9–21 Wales
Pen: Hignell (3)Try: Edwards
J. P. R. Williams (2)
Con: Fenwick (3)
Pen: Martin
Twickenham Stadium, London
Referee: G. Domercq (France)

7 February 1976
France 26–3 Ireland
Try: Cholley
Fouroux
Pécune
Rives
Con: Bastiat
Romeu
Pen: Bastiat
Romeu
Pen: Robbie
Parc des Princes, Paris
Attendance: 42,585
Referee: A. Welsby (England)
7 February 1976
Wales 28–6 Scotland
Try: Edwards
Evans
J. J. Williams
Con: Bennett (2)
Pen: Bennett (3)
Drop: Fenwick
Try: Irvine
Con: Morgan
National Stadium, Cardiff
Referee: A. Cuny (France)

21 February 1976
Ireland 9–34 Wales
Pen: McGann (3)Try: Bennett
Davies (2)
Edwards
Con: Bennett (3)
Pen: Bennett (3)
Martin
Lansdowne Road, Dublin
Referee: N. Sanson (Scotland)
21 February 1976
Scotland 22–12 England
Try: Lawson (2)
Leslie
Con: Irvine (2)
Pen: Irvine (2)
Try: Maxwell
Con: Old
Pen: Old (2)
Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh
Attendance: 70,000
Referee: D. M. M. Lloyd (Wales)

6 March 1976
Wales 19–13 France
Try: J. J. Williams
Pen: Bennett (2)
Fenwick (2)
Martin
Try: Averous
Gourdon
Con: Romeu
Pen: Romeu
National Stadium, Cardiff
Attendance: 55,000
Referee: J. R. West (Ireland)
6 March 1976
England 12–13 Ireland
Pen: Old (4)Try: Grace
Pen: McGann (2)
Drop: McGann
Twickenham Stadium, London
Referee: Alan Hosie (Scotland)

20 March 1976
France 30–9 England
Try: Bastiat
Fouroux
Gourdon
Paparemborde (2)
Romeu
Con: Romeu (3)
Try: Dixon
Con: Butler
Pen: Butler
Parc des Princes, Paris
Attendance: 43,611
Referee: K. H. Clark (Ireland)
20 March 1976
Ireland 6–15 Scotland
Pen: McGann (2)Pen: Irvine (4)
Drop: Wilson
Lansdowne Road, Dublin
Referee: M. S. Lewis (Wales)