1972 Five Nations Championship

The 1972 Five Nations Championship was the 43rd Five Nations Championship, an annual rugby union competition contested by the men's national teams of England, France, Ireland, Scotland and Wales, and the 78th since it began as the Home Nations Championship.

1972 Five Nations Championship
Date15 January - 29 April 1972
Countries England
 Ireland
 France
 Scotland
 Wales
Tournament statistics
ChampionsNot completed
Matches played8
Tries scored28 (3.5 per match)
Top point scorer(s)Wales Barry John (35)
Top try scorer(s)France Bernard Duprat (2)
Wales Gerald Davies (2)
Wales Gareth Edwards (2)
1971 (Previous) (Next) 1973

For the first time since the Second World War, the championship was not completed. Scotland and Wales did not travel to Dublin to play Ireland because of escalating political tensions in the wake of Bloody Sunday. Although the remaining fixtures of the schedule were fulfilled, as both Ireland and Wales won all their matches, neither could claim the title. To fill the gap of the missing two fixtures, France played a friendly match in Dublin (in addition to the scheduled match in Paris). In total, nine matches were played between 15 January and 29 April 1972.

This was the first Five Nations Championship in which a try was worth four points.[1]

This tournament saw France play its last matches at its decades-long home ground, Stade Yves-du-Manoir in Colombes. The opening of the rebuilt Parc des Princes that June saw France move its Five Nations matches to that ground.

Participants

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Nation Venue City Head coach Captain
  England Twickenham London John Elders Bob Hiller/Peter Dixon
  France Stade Olympique Yves-du-Manoir Colombes Fernand Cazenave Benoit Dauga/Walter Spanghero/Pierre Villepreux
  Ireland Lansdowne Road Dublin Syd Millar Tom Kiernan
  Scotland Murrayfield Edinburgh Bill Dickinson Peter Brown
  Wales Cardiff Arms Park Cardiff Clive Rowlands John Lloyd

Table

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Pos Team Pld W D L PF PA PD Pts
1   Wales 3 3 0 0 67 21 +46 6
2   Ireland 2 2 0 0 30 21 +9 4
3   Scotland 3 2 0 1 55 53 +2 4
4   France 4 1 0 3 61 66 −5 2
5   England 4 0 0 4 36 88 −52 0
Source: [citation needed]

Squads

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Fixtures

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15 January 1972
England  3–12  Wales
Pen: HillerTry: J.P.R. Williams
Con: John
Pen: John (2)
Twickenham Stadium, London
Referee: J. Young (Scotland)

15 January 1972
Scotland  20–9  France
Try: Frame
Renwick
Telfer
Con: A. Brown
Pen: P. Brown
Drop: Telfer
Try: Dauga
Con: Villepreux
Pen: Villepreux
Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh
Attendance: 50,000
Referee: M. Joseph (Wales)

29 January 1972
France  9–14  Ireland
Try: Lux
Con: Villepreux
Pen: Villepreux
Try: McLoughlin
Moloney
Pen: Kiernan (2)
Stade Yves-du-Manoir, Colombes
Attendance: 26,939
Referee: A. R. Lewis (Wales)

5 February 1972
Wales  35–12  Scotland
Try: Bergiers
Davies
Edwards (2)
Taylor
Con: John (3)
Pen: John (3)
Try: Clark
Con: P. Brown
Pen: P. Brown
Renwick
National Stadium, Cardiff
Referee: G. A. Jamison (Ireland)

12 February 1972
England  12–16  Ireland
Try: Ralston
Con: Hiller
Pen: Hiller (2)
Try: Flynn
Grace
Con: Kiernan
Pen: Kiernan
Drop: McGann
Twickenham Stadium, London
Referee: R. Austry (France)

26 February 1972
Ireland  Cancelled  Scotland
Lansdowne Road, Dublin

26 February 1972
France  37–12  England
Try: Biemouret
Duprat (2)
Lux
Sillières
Spanghero
Con: Villepreux (5)
Pen: Villepreux
Try: Beese
Con: Old
Pen: Old (2)
Stade Yves-du-Manoir, Colombes
Attendance: 33,860
Referee: T. F. E. Grierson (Scotland)

11 March 1972
Ireland  Cancelled  Wales
Lansdowne Road, Dublin

18 March 1972
Scotland  23–9  England
Try: P. Brown
MacEwan
Pen: A. Brown
P. Brown (3)
Drop: Telfer
Pen: Old (3)
Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh
Referee: M. Joseph (Wales)

25 March 1972
Wales  20–6  France
Try: Bevan
Davies
Pen: John (4)
Pen: Villepreux (2)
National Stadium, Cardiff
Attendance: 50,000
Referee: M. H. Titcomb (England)

Friendly match

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29 April 1972
Ireland  24–14  France
Try: Duggan
Flynn
Moloney
Con: Kiernan (3)
Pen: Kiernan (2)
Try: Duprat (2)
Lux
Con: Villepreux
Lansdowne Road, Dublin
Attendance: 35,000
Referee: R. F. Johnson (England)

References

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  1. ^ "Scoring history". Rugby Football History. Retrieved 15 November 2016.
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