1. Ireland 6 England 42 – Dublin, March 2003
When Clive Woodward became head coach of England in 1997, he took over a team that was performing well in the Five Nations, but struggling to make the step up to the level needed to win the Rugby World Cup. The team made great progress under his leadership, strengthening in all departments, and began to establish themselves as the team to beat in the Five then Six Nations. They finished second in 1997, 1998 and 1999 then won the tournament in each of the following two years. Despite their dominance, they somehow failed to win a Grand Slam. In three successive years, between 1999 and 2001, they came to the final round of games unbeaten and seemingly unbeatable, only to lose narrowly each time.
In 2003, once again, they arrived at the final game with a Grand Slam within reach. Comfortable wins had been achieved against France, Wales, Scotland and Italy but lying in wait was the only other unbeaten side in the tournament, Ireland. The game was to be played in front of a passionate Irish crowd at Lansdowne Road.
The England line-up can reasonably be considered their best ever. In the starting 15 against Ireland were 13 of the players, led by the indefatigable Martin Johnson, who would later that year line up in the victorious World Cup final. The team laid down a marker from the start by walking out on the side of the pitch that had been designated for Ireland, then refusing to move for the anthems and meet-and-greet with Irish President Mary McAleese.
Despite heavy home support, the game itself was not much of a contest. After Ireland took an early lead with a penalty, the England team moved through the gears and never looked in any sort of trouble. The pack dominated and the backs were lethal when presented with their chances. They led by only 13-6 at half time, but ran riot in the second half. Four unanswered tries saw them to a massive victory.
It was just the fillip that the team needed in World Cup year. They built on it with a stunning summer tour beating both New Zealand and Australia on home soil. Then we all know what happened in Sydney in November 2003.
https://www.sixnationsrugby.com/en/m6n/news/classic-guinness-six-nations-moment-ireland-6-42-england
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/international/2892271.stm
2. France 13 England 31 – Paris, February 1992
It can reasonably be argued that the run to England’s World Cup win in 2003 started a decade or so previously under the captaincy of Will Carling. After decades of underachievement, England finally began to look like they had a decent team. The back line featured four all-time greats in Rory Underwood, Rob Andrew, Jeremy Guscott and Carling himself, and the forwards featured gnarly, aggressive warriors such as Peter Winterbottom, Micky Skinner, Dean Richards and Jeff Probyn. They were unexpectedly and painfully denied a Grand Slam in 1990 by David Sole’s Scotland, but then embarked on a phenomenal run of success. An unbeaten run in 1991 saw them to a rare Grand Slam, and they were strongly favoured again the following year, 1992.
They started well with a comfortable win in Scotland, followed by a rout of Ireland at Twickenham. The big test, though, was in Paris against a French side with a world-class back line featuring Phillipe Sella, Franck Mesnel, Philippe Saint-Andre and Fabien Galthie.
The game was seen by the French as an opportunity for revenge, as they had gone out to England in a testy World Cup quarter final on home soil, the Parc des Princes, the previous October. The French, perhaps justifiably, felt that England’s aggression in that game had been over the top, and they were determined not to be outfought this time.
The game was tight in the early stages but England went to the interval leading 15-4, mainly on the back of two penalties and a converted try. England’s forwards were just too aggressive and too strong, and were putting the French under continuous pressure. As they failed to make headway the French became desperate and as the game wore on, their despair transformed into anger and a collective loss of discipline. First, an Olivier Roumat punch briefly knocked giant second-rower Wade Dooley unconscious. There was no video referee (or indeed concussion protocols) in those days, and when Dooley came round he reportedly did not seek punishment but retribution “Ref … do not send that fucker off”. Roumat stayed on.
The referee, Ireland’s Stephen Hilditch, had no choice, though, when France prop, Gregoire Lascube, then clearly stamped on Martin Bayfield’s head as the Englishman lay on the ground following a ruck. Lascube was given a red card. Then Begles front-rower and part-time boxer, Vincent Moscato nutted Jeff Probyn before a scrum. Moscato was only given a warning, but Probyn goaded him into another assault and the second Frenchman had to leave the field. More could have followed but Hilditch kept 13 Frenchman on the field, perhaps fearing for his own safety. As it was, he had to leave the ground with a police escort.
England ran out comfortable winners against the 13 men of France and went on to a second consecutive Grand Slam. The fortunes of the French were somewhat different. None of their front row played for Scotland again. Moscato returned to his boxing and then moved on to a successful acting career. But, in a sense, he was always resentful of the English. “They broke my career,” he said. “I will never forgive them.”
The final words perhaps go to England’s tough-nut of a prop, Jeff Probyn “If you can keep your cool when others are losing theirs, you will win internationals.”
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2014/jan/29/forgotten-story-england-france-five-nations-1992
3. France 13 England 17 – Paris, February 1980
In 1963 England won the Five Nations for the sixth time in 11 years. Few at the time would have imagined that it would take another 17 years for them to win it outright again but the late 60s and 1970s were a barren period for England. The 1970s in particular were a wasteland – bottom from 1974-76 and only one glimpse of silverware, the five-way shared trophy in 1973.
There was no great reason to think that 1980 would be much better, but England did have a new captain in 27-yr-old Bill Beaumont from Fylde, and the chemistry of the team seemed stronger with a core of mature, hard-nosed veterans alongside a handful of promising younger players.
England began the campaign with a convincing win at home to Ireland, but their second match was to be away in Paris, against a French side whom they had not beaten in Paris for 16 years. The French had come into the tournament with high hopes having drawn an away series in New Zealand in 1979, but suffered a big loss to Wales in their opener. The defeat had led to a major overhaul of their pack, and this presented England with an opportunity. If they could exploit the relative inexperience of the newly put-together French forward pack, they could perhaps neutralise the world-class French back line.
The French, belying their chaotic build-up, came out blazing. Captain and star player, flanker Jean-Pierre Rives touched down after just three minutes. An exchange of penalties and France were ahead by 7-3. That, though, was a good as it got for them. England’s forwards gained the ascendancy that they had targeted and laid a platform for two tries, both initiated by Bath fly-half, John Horton. Horton, relatively unheralded before the game, also landed a drop goal to put England 14-7 ahead at the break. A second drop goal by Horton after half time saw England move 10 points ahead.
The French were not yet beaten and came roaring back to score a second try, but England’s defence stood firm under intense pressure. The final whistle came with England four points ahead. “England’s doughty forwards ruled the cockerel’s roost” wrote Peter West of the Times.
England, now brim full of confidence, went on to deny Wales in a very close encounter, before sealing the deal with a solid win in Edinburgh. After 16 years without an outright win in the tournament, they had conquered all for the Grand Slam. Sadly, for England, this was not to be the dawn of a new era – in fact, it was to be another 11 years before they would next win the Five Nations. But for England players and fan alike, it was a season to be celebrated.
4. England 23 Ireland 22 – Twickenham, March 2024
The success of England in the 2023 Rugby World Cup was one of the big surprises of the tournament. Without ever playing particularly well, they made it to the semi-finals where only a last minute penalty from South Africa stopped them from reaching the final. The surprise at England’s progress was perhaps matched only by the shock at the failure of the world’s top-ranked side, Ireland, to get past the quarter finals. It did, in fairness, take an epic performance from the All Blacks to thwart them.
England, however, seemed to leave all of that positivity behind them when they kicked off in the 2024 Six Nations. Narrow wins were earned against the two weakest teams – Italy and Wales – before their visit to Edinburgh saw them steamrollered by Scottish winger, Duhan van der Merwe. Ireland, by contrast, seemed to shrug off any RWC disappointment, and cantered to three comfortable victories. Round 4 saw Ireland arrive at Twickenham as red hot favourites to win and set themselves up for an inevitable Grand Slam.
The outcome was what very few expected. England came out strongly, with an aggressive blitz defence aimed at neutralising the free-scoring Irish backs. They succeeded in preventing the Irish from scoring any tries, but did give away penalties, so despite a try from Ollie Lawrence, England went into the interval 8-12 down. When Irish wing, James Lowe, touched down at the start of the second half, England players and fans could have been forgiven for thinking that the game was up. England were becoming infamous for tailing off after good starts, and most commentators saw no way back into this one.
England, though, came out fighting and roared back into contention with two well-crafted and deserved tries from George Furbank and Ben Earl. With 10 minutes to go they held a surprise narrow lead. Then, in what seemed like a final twist – Ireland’s Lowe broke through on the left wing to score his second try and Ireland were two points back in front. A conversion may well have settled it, but Jack Crowley was unable to land his kick from the sideline meaning England were still in with a chance, slim as it was.
That chance appeared to have come and gone when with less than five minutes on the clock, Elliot Daly pulled a long range penalty just wide. But England refused to say die and launched a series of attacks in the Ireland half. Phase after phase was gone through until they won a penalty near to the Irish line. Victory would certainly have been clinched with a penalty, but someone had a sense that a more dramatic finish was required for the game. From yet another ruck on the line, the ball was skimmed to replacement fly-half, Marcus Smith, who popped over a drop goal to seal the win. England fans had to slap themselves, but it was true, they had beaten the Irish.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/68525487
5. Ireland 18 England 9 – Dublin, Feb 1973
If it seems strange to include an England defeat in the list of their best matches, it ignores the febrile context in which this match was played. 1972 had been a very difficult year on the island of Ireland. In Northern Ireland, tension and violence between loyalists and republicans was pretty much at a historic high, in response to which the British government had sent in more troops and introduced the very controversial policy of internment – the power to imprison people without trial. On 30 January 1972, members of the Army’s Parachute Regiment had opened fire on a civil rights demonstration, killing 13 and injuring 15 others, in what became known as ‘Bloody Sunday’. In Dublin, the British embassy was burned to the ground by an angry crowd.
Against this backdrop, both Scotland and Wales had refused to travel to Dublin to play Ireland so the 1972 Five Nations had to be abandoned. When the 1973 tournament came around, most expected England to follow suit and stay at home. To most people’s surprise, however, they decided to travel. They were influenced by the Irish captain, the great Willie John McBride, who called England’s David Duckham and said “you must come. Don’t let the terrorists win.”
There was plenty of security for the England team in Dublin, but perhaps they did not really need it. When they ran out first onto the pitch at Lansdowne Road they were met with a standing ovation from pretty well everyone in the 50,000-strong Irish crowd. The dressing room attendant, Frank Whisker, cleverly held back the Irish team from entering the pitch to allow the applause to last.
The generosity of the Irish did not, though, extend to those on the pitch and Ireland ran out comfortable winners. These were not golden days for England, who went through a barren decade during the 1970s. By a fluke of arithmetic, though, they were rewarded for their bravery in 1973 by earning a share of the championship … for the only time in the tournament’s history, all five teams finished on two wins apiece so all five shared the trophy.
The last word on this belongs to England captain, John Pullin, who endeared himself even more to the Irish at the post-match dinner with his modest words … “We might not be any good but at least we turn up.”