List of Six Nations Championship hat-tricks

Charles Wade, former England Rugby Union player
Charles Wade, of England, scored the Championship's first hat-trick.

A hat-trick in rugby union, the scoring of three tries or three drop goals in a single match, has been achieved 55 times in the history of the Six Nations Championship. The annual competition, established in 1882, was originally known as the Home Nations Championship and contested between England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. It was expanded to the Five Nations when France joined in 1910,[A] and then to the Six Nations with the addition of Italy in 2000.[2]

The first player to achieve the feat was Charles Wade, who was an Australian student at Oxford University when he was called up as a travelling reserve for England's match against Wales. When Philip Newton got lost on his way to the match, Wade was instated in his place.[3] He scored three tries in England's 2–0 victory, which was the first match of the championship.[4] At that time, a try by itself was not worth any points but allowed the team to try and kick a goal.[5] George Lindsay scored five tries in Scotland's 4–0 win over Wales in 1887, the most tries scored by a single player in a Championship match.[6]

Besides Lindsay, six players have scored more than three tries in a Championship match; of these Ian Smith is the only player to achieve the feat twice. He scored four tries in successive matches during the 1925 Five Nations Championship.[7] Wales' Jehoida Hodges normally played as a forward, but after an injury to winger Tom Pearson during a match against England, Hodges was moved to the wing. Despite playing out of position, he scored a hat-trick in a 21–5 victory for Wales.[8] As of 2017, the only forwards to score a Championship hat-trick while actually playing in the forwards are Michel Crauste; he scored three tries for France in their 13–0 victory over England in 1962 and CJ Stander; he scored three tries for Ireland in a 63–10 win over Italy in 2017.[9][10]

Four players have scored a hat-trick of drop goals: Pierre Albaladejo, Jean-Patrick Lescarboura, Diego Dominguez and Neil Jenkins.[11] No Italian has scored a hat-trick of tries in the competition, with Dominguez's hat-trick of drop goals the only one by an Italian player. English players have scored the most hat-tricks with 18, while France, Ireland and Scotland have conceded the most, with 12 each. Three players have scored a hat-trick and been on the losing side; Robert Montgomery in Ireland's 0–1 loss to Wales in 1887,[12] Howard Marshall in England's 11–12 defeat to Wales in 1893,[13] and Émile Ntamack in France's 33–34 loss to Wales in 1999.[14] Lescarboura's hat-trick against England in 1985 and Jenkins' against Scotland in 2001, are the only times the feat has been achieved with the match ending in a draw.[15][16] The most recent hat-trick was achieved by Duhan van der Merwe (Scotland) against England on 25 February 2024.[17]

Hat-tricks

Reggie Gibbs
Reggie Gibbs of Wales scored a hat-trick in both the 1910 and 1911 tournaments.
Former Irish rugby union player, Brain O'Driscoll
Brian O'Driscoll is the only Irishman to have scored two hat-tricks in the tournament's history.
Chris Ashton's four tries in 2011 against Italy is the most by one player in a single Championship match since 1969.
  • All statistics are correct as of 25 November 2024.
Key
4 Player scored four tries
5 Player scored five tries

Tries

Six Nations Championship try hat-tricks
No. Player For Against Result Venue Date
1 Charles Wade  England  Wales 2–0 St. Helen's, Swansea 16 December 1882
2 George Lindsay5  Scotland  Wales 4–0 Raeburn Place, Edinburgh 26 February 1887
3 Robert Montgomery  Ireland  Wales 0–1 Birkenhead Park 12 March 1887
4 William Wotherspoon  Scotland  Ireland 14–0 Ballynafeigh, Belfast 21 February 1891
5 Howard Marshall  England  Wales 11–12 Cardiff Arms Park, Cardiff 7 January 1893
6 Willie Llewellyn4  Wales  England 26–3 St. Helen's, Swansea 7 January 1899
7 Jehoida Hodges  Wales  England 21–5 St. Helen's, Swansea 10 January 1903
8 Johnny Williams  Wales  Ireland 29–0 Cardiff Arms Park, Cardiff 9 March 1907
9 Reggie Gibbs  Wales  France 49–14 St. Helen's, Swansea 1 January 1910
10 James Tennent  Scotland  France 27–0 Inverleith, Edinburgh 22 January 1910
11 Johnny Williams  Wales  Ireland 19–3 Lansdowne Road, Dublin 12 March 1910
12 Reggie Gibbs  Wales  Scotland 32–10 Inverleith, Edinburgh 4 February 1911
13 Bill Stewart  Scotland  France 21–3 Parc des Princes, Paris 1 January 1913
14 Vincent Coates  England  France 20–0 Twickenham, London 25 January 1913
15 Bill Stewart4  Scotland  Ireland 29–14 Inverleith, Edinburgh 22 February 1913
16 Joseph Quinn  Ireland  France 24–0 Mardyke, Cork 24 March 1913
17 Cyril Lowe  England  Scotland 16–15 Inverleith, Edinburgh 21 March 1914
18 Cyril Lowe  England  France 39–13 Stade Olympique de Colombes 13 April 1914
19 Ronald Poulton-Palmer4  England  France 39–13 Stade Olympique de Colombes 13 April 1914
20 Brinley Williams  Wales  Ireland 28–4 Cardiff Arms Park, Cardiff 13 March 1920
21 Ian Smith  Scotland  Wales 35–10 Inverleith, Edinburgh 2 February 1924
22 Jake Jacob  England  France 19–7 Twickenham, London 23 February 1924
23 Ian Smith4  Scotland  France 25–4 Inverleith, Edinburgh 24 January 1925
24 Ian Smith4  Scotland  Wales 24–14 St. Helen's, Swansea 7 February 1925
25 Johnnie Wallace  Scotland  France 20–6 Stade Olympique de Colombes 2 January 1926
26 Eugene Davy  Ireland  Scotland 14–11 Murrayfield, Edinburgh 22 February 1930
27 Seamus Byrne  Ireland  Scotland 26–8 Murrayfield, Edinburgh 28 February 1953
28 Michel Crauste  France  England 13–0 Stade Olympique de Colombes 24 February 1962
29 Christian Darrouy  France  Ireland 24–5 Lansdowne Road, Dublin 26 January 1963
30 Maurice Richards4  Wales  England 30–9 Cardiff Arms Park, Cardiff 12 April 1969
31 John Carleton  England  Scotland 30–18 Murrayfield, Edinburgh 15 March 1980
32 Éric Bonneval  France  Scotland 28–22 Parc des Princes, Paris 7 March 1987
33 Chris Oti  England  Ireland 35–3 Twickenham, London 19 March 1988
34 Iwan Tukalo  Scotland  Ireland 37–21 Murrayfield, Edinburgh 4 March 1989
35 David Venditti  France  Ireland 32–15 Lansdowne Road, Dublin 18 January 1997
36 Émile Ntamack  France  Wales 33–34 Stade de France, Saint-Denis 6 March 1999
37 Austin Healey  England  Italy 59–12 Stadio Flaminio, Rome 18 March 2000
38 Brian O'Driscoll  Ireland  France 27–25 Stade de France, Saint-Denis 19 March 2000
39 Rob Henderson  Ireland  Italy 41–22 Stadio Flaminio, Rome 3 February 2001
40 Will Greenwood  England  Wales 44–15 Millennium Stadium, Cardiff 3 February 2001
41 Brian O'Driscoll  Ireland  Scotland 43–22 Lansdowne Road, Dublin 2 March 2002
42 Jason Robinson  England  Italy 50–9 Stadio Flaminio, Rome 15 February 2004
43 Mark Cueto  England  Italy 39–7 Twickenham, London 12 March 2005
44 Jamie Noon  England  Scotland 43–22 Twickenham, London 19 March 2005
45 Vincent Clerc  France  Ireland 26–21 Stade de France, Saint-Denis 9 February 2008
46 Chris Ashton4  England  Italy 59–13 Twickenham, London 12 February 2011
47 George North  Wales  Italy 61–20 Stadio Olimpico, Rome 21 March 2015
48 Jonathan Joseph  England  Italy 40–9 Stadio Olimpico, Rome 14 February 2016
49 CJ Stander  Ireland  Italy 63–10 Stadio Olimpico, Rome 11 February 2017
50 Craig Gilroy  Ireland  Italy 63–10 Stadio Olimpico, Rome 11 February 2017
51 Jonathan Joseph  England  Scotland 61–21 Twickenham, London 11 March 2017
52 Blair Kinghorn  Scotland  Italy 33–20 Murrayfield, Edinburgh 2 February 2019
53 Jonny May  England  France 44–8 Twickenham, London 10 February 2019
54 Josh Adams  Wales  Italy 42–0 Millennium Stadium, Cardiff 1 February 2020
55 Gabin Villière  France  Italy 37–10 Stade de France, Saint-Denis 6 February 2022
56 Blair Kinghorn  Scotland  Italy 26–14 Murrayfield, Edinburgh 18 March 2023
57 Duhan van der Merwe  Scotland  England 30–21 Murrayfield, Edinburgh 25 February 2024

Multiple hat-tricks

Multiple hat-tricks
Player No. Years
Scotland Ian Smith 3 1924, 1925
Wales Johnny Williams 2 1907, 1910
Wales Reggie Gibbs 2 1910, 1911
Scotland Bill Stewart 2 1913
England Cyril Lowe 2 1914
Brian O'Driscoll 2 2000, 2002
England Jonathan Joseph 2 2016, 2017
Scotland Blair Kinghorn 2 2019, 2023

Drop goals

Six Nations Championship drop goal hat-tricks
No. Player For Against Result Venue Date
1 Pierre Albaladejo  France  Ireland 23–6 Stade Olympique de Colombes 9 April 1960
2 Jean-Patrick Lescarboura  France  England 9–9 Twickenham, London 2 February 1985
3 Diego Domínguez  Italy  Scotland 34–20 Stadio Flaminio, Rome 5 February 2000
4 Neil Jenkins  Wales  Scotland 28–28 Murrayfield, Edinburgh 17 February 2001

Player hat-tricks by their national team

Player's hat-tricks by their national team
Team Tries for Tries against Drop goals for Drop goals against Total for Total against
 England 18 4 0 1 18 5
 Scotland 12 9 0 2 12 11
 Wales 10 8 1 0 11 8
 Ireland 9 10 0 1 9 11
 France 7 12 2 0 9 12
 Italy 0 13 1 0 1 14

See also

Footnotes

  1. ^ France were ejected from the competition in 1931 over allegations of professionalism, which was not sanctioned at the time. They were re-admitted in 1939.[1]

Bibliography

  • Smith, David; Williams, Gareth (1980). Fields of Praise: The Official History of The Welsh Rugby Union. Cardiff: University of Wales Press. ISBN 0-7083-0766-3.

References

General

Specific

  1. ^ Richards, Huw (24 February 2010). "Wooller inspires British Army triumph". ESPN. Retrieved 10 May 2015.
  2. ^ "Six Nations history". BBC Sport. 28 January 2002. Retrieved 29 April 2016.
  3. ^ Richards, Huw (22 January 2013). "England's early great three-quarter". ESPN. Retrieved 7 May 2016.
  4. ^ "Wales 0G – 2G England (FT)". ESPN. Retrieved 6 July 2014.
  5. ^ "Why a try?". England Rugby. Retrieved 10 May 2015.
  6. ^ "Five/Six Nations Records". Belfast Telegraph. 24 January 2014. Retrieved 10 May 2015.
  7. ^ Reed, Alasdair (1 March 2011). "Ian Smith's record safe as Scotland try hard but fail to cross line at Murrayfield". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 18 November 2015.
  8. ^ Smith & Williams 1980, p. 143.
  9. ^ Griffiths, John (8 February 2004). "The International Championship 1883 to 2003". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 7 May 2016.
  10. ^ "VIDEO: Stander and Gilroy make history with hat-tricks". rbs6nations.com. 11 February 2017. Retrieved 12 February 2017.
  11. ^ "Six nations facts and figures". BBC Sport. 25 January 2007. Retrieved 18 November 2015.
  12. ^ "Ireland 0G–1G Wales". ESPN. Retrieved 11 May 2016.
  13. ^ "Elements leave their mark in Cardiff". ESPN. 13 February 2009. Retrieved 11 May 2016.
  14. ^ Glover, Tim (8 March 1999). "The day Wales painted Paris red". The Independent. Retrieved 18 November 2015.
  15. ^ Proome, Jeremy (31 January 2014). "The day Andrew rescued England". SA Rugby Magazine. Retrieved 18 November 2015.
  16. ^ "Late Scottish surge frustrates Wales". BBC News. 17 February 2001. Retrieved 11 May 2016.
  17. ^ Moffat, Colin (24 February 2024). "Six Nations: Scotland 30–21 England — Duhan van der Merwe hat-trick sinks visitors at Murrayfield". BBC Sport. Retrieved 25 November 2024.