Previous winners of the Three/Four/Five/Six Nations

It was not always six. Originally it was just two, then it was three, then four, then three, then four, then five, then four, then five and then six. Six is neat – three matches a weekend for five weekends.

Tests started in 1871 when England went up to Edinburgh and played Scotland. Ireland played its first Test in 1875 and Wales in 1881. This led to the start of the International Championship with four teams – England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales. This became three teams in 1888 and 1889 when England refused to be a part of the International Rugby Board because they feared loss of their domination of their rugby empire. But in 1890 it was back to being four teams after Ireland had played peacemakers.

It stayed Four Nations till France joined in 1910 and then the Five Nations shrunk back to four teams in 1932 when France were kicked out on the grounds that their rugby was brutal and their amateurism dubious. This lasted till World War II when the Four Nations ceased activities. After the war France were back and it remained five teams till 2000 when Italy joined in, making it a neat three matches for each Six Nations match weekend.

Italy has not won the Six Nations but then it took France 50 years to win for the first time!

For years and years the only tangible trophy amongst these teams was the Calcutta Cup, for matches between England and Scotland since 1875. But in recent times trophies have proliferated. The winner of the championship was just that with no silverware to prove it. There was also the winner of a Triple Crown for the team from the Four Home unions who beat the other three. It was also an idea rather than a tangible trophy. Those victories became tangible with the Championship Trophy in 1993 and the Triple Crown Trophy, a silver dish, in 2006.

In 1988 England and Ireland started playing for the Millennium Trophy to mark Dublin's millennium. In 1989 Ireland started playing Scotland for the Centenary Quaich and in 2007 France started playing Italy for the Giuseppe Garibaldi Trophy, named in honour of the Italian revolutionary who was born in Nice, France. Italy won the Garibaldi Trophy in 2010.

There is also a Wooden Spoon – an idea, not a reality and not a desirable trophy at all as it is "awarded" to the team coming last which since 2000 has usually been Italy. Since 2000, Italy have been recipients 11 times, the Scots four times and Wales and France once each.

Outright Winners of the International Championship

Wales 32

England 30

France: 19

Scotland 16

Ireland 16

Grand Slam Winners

England 13

Wales 11

France 9

Scotland 3

Ireland 2

Triple Crown Winners

England 25

Wales 20

Scotland 10

Ireland 10

The idea of a grand slam comes from cards, and may in fact be from an obsolete word slampant meaning trickery. In cards it means winning tricks – all the tricks at whist or bridge. Win all 13 tricks and you have achieved a grand slam. Win 12 and you have achieved a small, little or minor slam. Golf adopted the idea and then tennis and baseball.

Rugby has come to adopt the idea, but comparatively recently. Then it made such feats retrospective. It became the custom in the Five Nations to apply the term Grand Slam – Grand Chelem in French – to a country which beat the other four countries. Four wins equalled a grand slam.  When Italy joined in, it became the Six Nations and now a grand slam required five wins.

International Championship Winners

England, who started off strongly, won in 1892 and then not again till 1910. This is explained by the breakaway of clubs in Lancashire and Yorkshire over compensation for lost wages to play the game. They were then the strongest part of playing rugby in England.

1883: England, Triple Crown

1884: England, Triple Crown

1885: No result

1886: Scotland

1887: Scotland

1888: Ireland with one more try than Scotland or Wales

1889: Scotland

1890: England

1891: Scotland, Triple Crown

1892: England, Triple Crown

1893: Wales, Triple Crown

1894: Ireland, Triple Crown

1895: Scotland, Triple Crown

1896: Ireland

1897: No result

1898: No result

1899: Ireland, Triple Crown

1900: Wales, Triple Crown

1901: Scotland, Triple Crown

1902: Wales, Triple Crown

1903: Scotland, Triple Crown

1904: Scotland

1905: Wales, Triple Crown

1906: Ireland, better points' difference than Wales

1907: Scotland, Triple Crown

1908: Wales, Triple Crown

1909: Wales, Triple Crown

1910: England

1911: Wales, Grand Slam, Triple Crown

1912: England, better points' difference than Ireland

1913: England, Grand Slam, Triple Crown

1914: England, Grand Slam, Triple Crown

1915-1919: No matches

1920: Wales, better points' difference than England & Scotland

1921: England, Grand Slam, Triple Crown

1922: Wales

1923: England, Grand Slam, Triple Crown

1924: England, Grand Slam, Triple Crown

1925: Scotland, Grand Slam, Triple Crown

1926: Scotland

1927: Scotland

1928: England, Grand Slam, Triple Crown

1929: Scotland

1930: England

1931: Wales

1932: Ireland

1933: Scotland, Triple Crown

1934: England, Triple Crown

1935: Ireland

1936: Wales

1937: England, Triple Crown

1938: Scotland, Triple Crown

1939: Wales, better points' difference than Ireland & England

1940-46: No matches

1947: England

1948: Ireland, Grand Slam, Triple Crown

1949: Ireland, Triple Crown

1950: Wales, Grand Slam, Triple Crown

1951: Ireland

1952: Wales, Grand Slam, Triple Crown

1953: England

1954: Wales, Triple Crown

1955: Wales

1956: Wales

1957: England, Grand Slam, Triple Crown

1958: England

1959: France

1960: France, England Triple Crown

1961: France

1962: France

1963: England

1964: Wales, better points' difference than Scotland

1965: Wales, Triple Crown

1966: Wales

1967: France

1968: France, Grand Slam

1969: Wales, Triple Crown

1970: France

1971: Wales, Grand Slam, Triple Crown

1972: No result

1973: Scotland, better points' difference than Wales, England, Ireland, France

1974: Ireland

1975: Wales

1976: Wales, Grand Slam, Triple Crown

1977: France, Grand Slam, Wales, Triple Crown

1978: Wales, Grand Slam, Triple Crown

1979: Wales, Triple Crown

1980: England, Grand Slam, Triple Crown

1981: France, Grand Slam

1982: Ireland, Triple Crown

1983: Ireland

1984: Scotland, Grand Slam

1985: Ireland

1986: France, better points' difference than Scotland

1987: France, Grand Slam

1988: Wales, better points' difference than France

1989: France

1990: Scotland, Grand Slam, Triple Crown

1991: England, Grand Slam, Triple Crown

1992: England, Grand Slam, Triple Crown

1993: France

1994: Wales, better points' difference than England

1995: England Grand Slam, Triple Crown

1996: England better points' difference than Scotland

1997: France Grand Slam, England, Triple Crown

1998: France Grand Slam, England, Triple Crown

1999: Scotland, better points' difference than England

2000: England

2001: England

2002: France Grand Slam, England Triple Crown

2003: England Grand Slam, Triple Crown

2004: France, Ireland Triple Crown

2005: Wales Grand Slam

2006: France, better points' difference than Ireland, Ireland Triple Crown

2007: France, better points’ difference than Ireland, Ireland Triple Crown

2008: Wales Grand Slam, Triple Crown

2009: Ireland Grand Slam, Triple Crown

2010: France Grand Slam

2011: England

2012: Wales Grand Slam, Triple Crown

2013: Wales

2014: Ireland, England Triple Crown

2015: Ireland

2016: England Grand Slam, Triple Crown