Four Classic Grand Slam Deciders Involving England

Four Classic Grand Slam Deciders Involving England

France and Ireland remain in the race for the 2022 Six Nations, with all three fixtures taking place on Super Saturday!

 

Wales hosts Italy in the opening game of the day, with Wayne Pivac's side capable of finishing fourth if Scotland depending on the results later in the day. 

 

In the second match of the day, Ireland will look to keep their hopes of a title alive as they sit just two points behind Grand Slam chasers France. Ireland will need a favour from England in the final match of the Championship, but they will need to put Scotland away first. 

 

Scotland are in a position to finish as high as third with a win over Ireland, but a defeat could see them finish as low as fifth.

 

Finally, France will clinch a Grand Slam and ultimately the Six Nations title with a win over England. Fabien Galthie's side will be out to claim their first Grand Slam since 2010. 


 

France could still win the title if they were to lose or draw to England, granted that Ireland lose to Scotland.

 

With a mouth-watering Super Saturday on the cards, we take a look back at four classic Grand Slam deciders involving England.


 
 

France 12-10 England - 2010

It would be remiss of us not to mention the last time France completed the Grand Slam. 

 

After Ireland lost the earlier Super Saturday clash against Scotland, France had secured the title before the first whistle and knew that a Grand Slam was now well within their reach.

  

 

Having dominated the opening four rounds, France looked to be wilting under the pressure of the Grand Slam. After a Francois Trinh-Duc drop-goal, Les Bleus found themselves trailing after Ben Foden finished a fine English attack as the French trialled 3-7.

  

 

Morgan Parra's sharpshooting from the tee put France back in the game before the break as they lead 12-7. 

 

Jonny Wilkinson slotted a penalty of his own, but France would hold England out, not scoring a single point in the second half to claim the Grand Slam.

 

England 15-24 Ireland - 2018

In 2018, Joe Schmidt's Ireland team claimed a remarkable Grand Slam by beating England on St. Patrick's Day at Twickenham.

 

Before the final round of the Championship, Eddie Jones' side had not lost at Twickenham in 16 consecutive matches.

 

Ireland also became just the second team to ever secure a Grand Slam at the home of English rugby - after France in 1981.

Garry Ringrose, CJ Stander and Jacob Stockdale all scored in the first half as Ireland stormed into a 21-5 halftime lead despite having Peter O'Mahony sin-binned. 

 

First-half tries from Garry Ringrose, CJ Stander and Jacob Stockdale lit up a snowy Twickenham as Joe Schmidt's men opened up a 21-5 lead despite having Peter O'Mahony in the sin bin.

 

Elliot Daly added a second-half try to go with the one he scored in the first, while Jonny May grabbed one of his own with the clock in the red as some consolation for England. 

 

Conor Murray added a penalty for Ireland, their only points of the second half, to seal the resounding victory.

 

France 24-21 England - 2004

The final day of the 2004 Six Nations saw both France and England in with a chance of winning the title.

 

A win would secure the Grand Slam for France, while England needed to win by eight points or more.

 

Dimitri Yachvili was the star of the show for France in the first half. He nudged his side into the lead with a penalty before a superb cross-field kick landed perfectly in the path of Imanol Harinordoquy, as France went up 10-0. 

 

Yachvili scored France's second try as he sniped down the blindside and grubbered through to score as his side led 21-3 at halftime.

 

Determined to upset the French, England took control of the match in the second half with the comeback sparked by a Ben Cohen try in the corner.

 

Josh Lewsey crossed in the opposite corner with three points remaining, setting up a nervy finish for the men in Blue. 

 

Les Bleus managed to hold England out in the match's final minutes to secure the Grand Slam. 

 

England 42-6 Ireland - 2003

The final match of the 2003 Six Nations saw two Grand Slam hopefuls go head to head.

 

England cruised through the competition beating France 25-17 in the opening game, before claiming a 9-26 victory over Wales. A 40-5 victory over Italy was followed by a 40-9 win over Scotland setting a Grand Slam met with Ireland at Lansdowne Road on the final day.

 

Ireland cruised to a 6-36 win over Scotland in round one and a 13-37 win over Italy before two narrow victories over France (15-12) and Wales (24-25).

 

The finale at Lansdowne Road set up a winner takes all scenario, and England were well up to the task claiming a commanding victory.

 

David Humphreys struck the first blow of the contest with a drop-goal, but England was swift in their response as Matt Dawson darted through a gap to set up Lawrence Dallaglio.

 

A Wilkinson drop-goal cancelled out another Humphreys penalty as England took a 6-13 lead into halftime.

 

England were ruthless in the second half as they scored 29 unanswered points to secure the Grand Slam. Centres Mike Tindall and Will Greenwood (2) both added their names to the scoresheet, as too did replacement back Dan Luger with Wilkinson, adding 15 points in total. 

 

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