1981 Five Nations Championship

The 1981 Five Nations Championship was the fifty-second series of the rugby union Five Nations Championship. Including the previous incarnations as the Home Nations and Five Nations, this was the eighty-seventh series of the northern hemisphere rugby union championship. Ten matches were played between 17 January and 21 March.

1981 Five Nations Championship
Date17 January - 21 March 1981
Countries England
 Ireland
 France
 Scotland
 Wales
Tournament statistics
Champions France (7th title)
Grand Slam France (3rd title)
Matches played10
Tries scored25 (2.5 per match)
Top point scorer(s)England Dusty Hare (30)
Top try scorer(s) France Laurent Pardo (2)
Scotland Steve Munro (2)
1980 (Previous) (Next) 1982

France were the winners, winning the championship outright for the eighth time. They had also shared the title on four other occasions. In winning all their four matches they also won the Grand Slam for the third time.

Participants

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The teams involved were:

Nation Venue City Head coach Captain
  England Twickenham London Mike Davis Bill Beaumont
  France Parc des Princes Paris Jacques Fouroux Jean-Pierre Rives
  Ireland Lansdowne Road Dublin Tom Kiernan Fergus Slattery
  Scotland Murrayfield Edinburgh Jim Telfer Andy Irvine
  Wales National Stadium Cardiff John Lloyd Steve Fenwick

Table

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Pos Team Pld W D L PF PA PD Pts
1   France 4 4 0 0 70 49 +21 8
2   England 4 2 0 2 64 60 +4 4
2   Scotland 4 2 0 2 51 54 −3 4
2   Wales 4 2 0 2 51 61 −10 4
5   Ireland 4 0 0 4 36 48 −12 0
Source: [citation needed]

Squads

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Results

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1981-01-17
France  16–9  Scotland
Tries: Blanco
Bertranne
Con: Caussade
Pen: Gabernet
Viviès
Tries: Rutherford
Con: Renwick
Pen: Irvine
Parc des Princes, Paris
Attendance: 44,448
Referee: K. Rowlands (Wales)
1981-01-17
Wales  21–19  England
Tries: Davis
Con: Fenwick
Pen: Fenwick (4)
Drop: Davies
Tries: Hare
Pen: Hare (5)
National Stadium, Cardiff
Referee: J.B. Anderson (Scotland)

1981-02-07
Ireland  13–19  France
Tries: MacNeill
Pen: Campbell (3)
Tries: Pardo
Pen: Laporte (2)
Gabernet
Drop: Laporte (2)
Lansdowne Road, Dublin
Attendance: 51,000
Referee: C. Norling (Wales)
1981-02-07
Scotland  15–6  Wales
Tries: Tomes
Penalty try
Con: Renwick (2)
Pen: Renwick
Pen: Fenwick (2)
Murrayfield, Edinburgh
Referee: D.I.H. Burnett (Ireland)

1981-02-21
Wales  9–8  Ireland
Pen: Evans (2)
Drop: Pearce
Tries: Slattery
MacNeill
National Stadium, Cardiff
Referee: F. Palmade France
1981-02-21
England  23–17  Scotland
Tries: Davies
Slemen
Woodward
Con: Hare
Pen: Hare (3)
Tries: Munro (2)
Calder
Con: Irvine
Pen: Irvine
Twickenham, London
Referee: D.I.H. Burnett (Ireland)

1981-03-07
France  19–15  Wales
Tries: Gabernet
Pen: Laporte (3)
Gabernet (2)
Tries: Richards
Con: Evans
Pen: Evans (3)
Parc des Princes, Paris
Attendance: 45,249
Referee: A. Welsby (England)
1981-03-07
Ireland  6–10  England
Drop: Campbell
MacNeill
Tries: Dodge
Rose
Con: Rose
Lansdowne Road, Dublin
Referee: J. P. Bonnett (France)

1981-03-21
England  12–16  France
Pen: Rose (4)Tries: Lacans
Pardo
Con: Laporte
Drop: Laporte (2)
Twickenham, London
Attendance: 62,000
Referee: Alan Hosie (Scotland)
1981-03-21
Scotland  10–9  Ireland
Tries: Hay
Pen: Irvine
Drop: Rutherford
Tries: Irwin
Con: Campbell
Pen: Campbell
Murrayfield, Edinburgh
Referee: L. M. Prideaux (England)
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