Hispanopedia WikiThe 2009 Six Nations Championship, known as the RBS 6 Nations for sponsorship reasons, was the 10th Six Nations Championship, and the 115th international championship, an annual rugby union competition contested by the six major European national teams: England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. The tournament was held between 7 February and 21 March 2009.
Ireland won the Grand Slam and Triple Crown, only their second Grand Slam, their first since 1948, and first Triple Crown since 2007.[1]
England finished as runners-up, and also won the Calcutta Cup. The tournament featured the first Friday night game in its history, played between France and Wales at the Stade de France.[2]
Summary
The tournament began on 7 February 2009, when England hosted Italy in the earlier of the day's two matches. Ireland played France later that evening, with Scotland versus Wales the following day.
The reigning champions on entering the 2009 tournament were Wales, who won the Grand Slam and Triple Crown in 2008. The winners of both accolades in 2009 were Ireland, with Ronan O'Gara's dropped goal leaving the score in the final match against Wales in Cardiff on 21 March at 17–15.[3] Wales's Stephen Jones then missed a late penalty from just inside the Ireland half to leave Wales in fourth position.[4] Ireland's two tries in that match came when captain Brian O'Driscoll and Tommy Bowe scored in quick succession in the 44th and 46th minutes respectively.[4][5]Paul O'Connell received the Triple Crown and Ireland's captain Brian O'Driscoll lifted the trophy. It was Ireland's first Grand Slam since 1948, 61 years earlier.[4][6] This was achieved in the first Six Nations Championship since Declan Kidney was appointed as manager of the Ireland team, succeeding Eddie O'Sullivan who resigned after the previous tournament.[7]
Irlanda anotó doce tries durante todo el torneo, y cinco victorias dejaron al equipo en la cima de la tabla al final del Campeonato con diez puntos. Abrieron con una victoria 30-21 sobre Francia en su estadio local Croke Park el 7 de febrero. [ 8 ] El 15 de febrero, el segundo partido de Irlanda fue una victoria 38-9 sobre Italia en el Stadio Flaminio en Roma . [ 9 ] El 28 de febrero, Irlanda venció a Inglaterra 14-13 en Croke Park y el 14 de marzo, Irlanda venció a Escocia 22-15 en el Murrayfield Stadium . [ 10 ] [ 11 ] Luego siguió el Grand Slam contra Gales el 21 de marzo de 2009. A ese partido asistieron la Presidenta de Irlanda Mary McAleese , quien presentó el trofeo, y el Taoiseach Brian Cowen . [ 12 ] Después del partido hubo homenajes de políticos. [ 12 ] El 22 de marzo a las 16:30 se celebró una recepción cívica para el equipo frente a la Mansion House de Dublín, [ 12 ] con la asistencia de 18.000 aficionados junto al Taoiseach Brian Cowen y la vicealcaldesa de Dublín, Emer Costelloe. [ 13 ] 2.000 aficionados habían recibido previamente al equipo a su llegada al aeropuerto de Dublín . [ 13 ] Brian O'Driscoll describió el 21 de marzo como un "dulce, dulce día". [ 5 ] El partido fue visto por 945.000 personas en Irlanda, el programa de televisión con mayor audiencia del país en esa etapa de 2009. [ 14 ] Se dijo que el exentrenador Eddie O'Sullivan estaba "encantado" por el equipo. [ 15 ] Brian O'Driscoll fue nombrado mejor jugador del torneo, superando al italiano Sergio Parisse y a su compañero de equipo irlandés Paul O'Connell. [ 16 ] Posteriormente, O'Connell fue nombrado capitán del equipo British and Irish Lions que realizó una gira por Sudáfrica, el cual incluía a catorce miembros del equipo irlandés ganador del Grand Slam, el 21 de abril de 2009, describiéndolo como "un gran honor". [ 17 ] [ 18 ]
Italy were the only side to not win a match in the tournament, suffering defeats by twenty points or more against, in addition to Ireland, France (50–8), England (36–11) and Scotland (26–6), while losing 20–15 to Wales. Scotland managed a solitary victory against Italy to finish on 2 points. England, France and Wales all managed to win three of their matches to finish level on six points but England's points difference of +54 granted them second place in the table. Their points tally was boosted by a 36–10 defeat of France and a 26–12 win against Scotland which sealed the Calcutta Cup. Wales' early loss to France and narrow loss to Ireland in the last game of the tournament denied them a second consecutive championship. Although Wales needed to beat Ireland by more than 13 points to win the championship, they could have won the game and the Triple Crown in the last minute of the tournament (as well as denying Ireland the Grand Slam) if Stephen Jones' 50-yard penalty kick had not fallen short.
Participants
Squads
Table
Fixtures
The fixtures for the 2009 Six Nations were released on 17 April 2008.[24] The France v Wales game on 27 February was the first Friday night game in the history of the championship, both under the Five and Six Nations format.[25]