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1978 Five Nations Championship

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1978 Five Nations Championship
Date21 January - 18 March 1978
Countries England
 Ireland
 France
 Scotland
 Wales
Tournament statistics
Champions Wales (20th title)
Grand Slam Wales (8th title)
Triple Crown Wales (15th title)
Matches played10
Tries scored24 (2.4 per match)
Top point scorer(s)Ireland Tony Ward (38)
Top try scorer(s)France Jérôme Gallion (3)
1977 (Previous) (Next) 1979

The 1978 Five Nations Championship was the forty-ninth series of the rugby union Five Nations Championship. Including the previous incarnations as the Home Nations and Five Nations, this was the eighty-fourth series of the northern hemisphere rugby union championship. Ten matches were played between 21 January and 18 March. The tournament was contested by England, France, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. The championship was won by Wales, their twentieth outright win in the competition. The Welsh had shared another nine titles with other teams. Having won all four of their games, Wales also won the Grand Slam for a record eighth time - Wales had formerly shared the record of seven with England. Victories over England, Ireland and Scotland (the Home Nations), also meant Wales won the Triple Crown for the third consecutive time, a record, given no other team had ever won the Triple Crown more than twice in a row. It was Wales' fifteenth in total, also a record, surpassing the fourteen won by England.

The tournament was the first Five Nations Championship in which two teams each with three victories faced off against each other in the final round of matches, with both capable of completing a Grand Slam with a victory.

Participants

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The teams involved were:

Nation Venue City Head coach Captain
 England Twickenham London Peter Colston Bill Beaumont
 France Parc des Princes Paris Jean Desclaux Jean-Pierre Bastiat
 Ireland Lansdowne Road Dublin Noel Murphy John Moloney
 Scotland Murrayfield Edinburgh Nairn McEwan Dougie Morgan
 Wales National Stadium Cardiff John Dawes Phil Bennett

Table

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Pos Team Pld W D L PF PA PD Pts
1  Wales 4 4 0 0 67 43 +24 8
2  France 4 3 0 1 51 47 +4 6
3  England 4 2 0 2 42 33 +9 4
4  Ireland 4 1 0 3 46 54 −8 2
5  Scotland 4 0 0 4 39 68 −29 0
Source: [citation needed]

Squads

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Results

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1978-01-21
France 15–6 England
Tries: Averous
Gallion
Con.: Aguirre (2)
Pen.: Aguirre
Drops: Old (2)
Parc des Princes, Paris
Attendance: 43,643
Referee: N. Sanson (Scotland)
1978-01-21
Ireland 12–9 Scotland
Tries: McKinney
Con.: Ward
Pen.: Ward (2)
Pen.: Morgan (3)
Lansdowne Road, Dublin
Referee: P. E. Hughes (England)

1978-02-04
Scotland 16–19 France
Tries: Irvine
Shedden
Con.: Morgan
Pen.: Morgan
Drops: Morgan
Tries: Gallion
Haget
Con.: Aguirre
Pen.: Aguirre (3)
Murrayfield, Edinburgh
Attendance: 55,000
Referee: C. G. P. Thomas (Wales)
1978-02-04
England 6–9 Wales
Pen.: Hignell (2)Pen.: Bennett (3)
Twickenham, London
Referee: N. Sanson (Scotland)

1978-02-18
Wales 22–14 Scotland
Tries: Edwards
Fenwick
Gravell
Quinnell
Pen.: Bennett
Drops: Bennett
Tries: Renwick
Tomes
Pen.: Morgan (2)
National Stadium, Cardiff
Referee: J. R. West (Ireland)
1978-02-18
France 10–9 Ireland
Tries: Gallion
Pen.: Aguirre (2)
Pen.: Ward (3)
Parc des Princes, Paris
Attendance: 43,639
Referee: C. G. P. Thomas (Wales)

1978-03-04
Scotland 0–15 England
Tries: Nelmes
Squires
Con.: Young (2)
Pen.: Dodge
Murrayfield, Edinburgh
Referee: J. R. West (Ireland)
1978-03-04
Ireland 16–20 Wales
Tries: Moloney
Pen.: Ward (3)
Drops: Ward
Tries: Fenwick
Williams
Pen.: Fenwick (4)
Lansdowne Road, Dublin
Referee: G. Domercq (France)

1978-03-18
Wales 16–7 France
Tries: Bennett (2)
Con.: Bennett
Drops: Edwards
Fenwick
Tries: Skrela
Drops: Vivies
National Stadium, Cardiff
Attendance: 60,000
Referee: A. Welsby (England)
1978-03-18
England 15–9 Ireland
Tries: Dixon
Slemen
Con.: Young (2)
Pen.: Young
Pen.: Ward (2)
Drops: Ward
Twickenham, London
Referee: F. Palmade (France)

References

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