Champions England (25th title) Triple Crown England (23rd title) | Grand Slam England (12th title) Calcutta Cup England | |
Date 15 February 2003 - 30 March 2003 Countries England
France
Ireland
Italy
Scotland
Wales | ||
The 2003 Six Nations Championship was the fourth series of the Six Nations Championship. Including the previous incarnations as the Home Nations and Five Nations, this was the hundred-and-ninth series of the northern hemisphere rugby union championship. The annual tournament was won by England, who completed a tournament grand slam, and went on to win the 2003 Rugby World Cup later the same year. Italy won their first match with Wales (30-22), finishing in 5th place for the second time.
Contents
This was the sixth time in the Championship's overall history (after 1978, 1984, 1990, 1991 and 1995), but the first time since it became the Six Nations, that two teams met in the final week with undefeated records, both England and Ireland being on a 4-0 record and the final match being a decider for the Grand Slam (and in this case the Triple Crown as well). It was also the first such instance in which Ireland had been involved: and, unfortunately for them, the first such instance that was won by the team playing away from home. Wales were whitewashed, having lost all five of their games, and earned themselves the wooden spoon as a result.
Participants
The teams involved were:
Red carpet incident
The deciding game between Ireland and England was overshadowed by an incident in the pre-game ceremonies in which the Irish President Mary McAleese had to walk on the grass instead of the red carpet to meet the Irish team. England had lined up on the left hand side when facing the tunnel, which was said to be Ireland's lucky side. When asked to move his team, England captain Martin Johnson refused, so Ireland lined up to the left of them, with no team now on the right hand side, leaving insufficient red carpet on that side. A day after the game the Irish Rugby Football Union sent a written apology to the president for the England team's failure to "follow established and communicated protocol", while their English counterparts the Rugby Football Union also sent her a "full and unreserved apology". Having dismissed it at the time as "a fuss about nothing", Johnson later explained ahead of meeting the president again in Ireland for the 2011 Championship that he had lined up on that side as it was customary to line up on the side you warmed up on, that he had no prior knowledge of the protocol, and his subsequent refusal to move was because the request came from some "random guy", rather than the match referee.