Including the competition's previous incarnations as the Home Nations Championship and Five Nations Championship, it was the 119th edition of the tournament. Wales won the tournament for the second time in two years, the first time they had won back-to-back championships since their 1978 and 1979 wins. France collected the wooden spoon by finishing last for the first time since 1999. It was also the first time every team managed to win at least 3 competition points (the equivalent of a win and a draw or three draws) since 1974.
At the start of the 2013 Six Nations Championships England were favoured to win by many pundits after they beat the world champion New Zealand team in December 2012.[1] France, enjoying a winning streak prior to the competition, were also considered strong contenders.[1] In contrast defending champions Wales had suffered seven consecutive defeats (4 versus Australia) and were without their regular head coach Warren Gatland.[2] Expectations regarding England and Wales were confirmed in the first round of matches, played on 2 February, with England enjoying a convincing 38–18 victory against Scotland and Wales losing 22–30 against Ireland despite a Welsh comeback from 3-30 down just after half time.[3][4] France however were upset in their first game, going down 23–18 against Italy.[5] The following week both England and Wales won their matches, against Ireland and France respectively.[6][7] Scotland meanwhile beat Italy 34–10 in the other game,[8] their first Six Nations victory since 2011.[9] In round three Wales defeated Italy 9–26 and England beat France 23–13.[10][11] In the remaining match, Scotland defeated Ireland for a second consecutive victory.[12] Wales won their round four clash against Scotland 26-13 and in the process achieved a record fifth consecutive away win in the Six Nations. England remained undefeated after beating Italy 18-11.[13][14] Ireland and France tied 13–13, giving France their first points in the competition.[15]
England having won all four matches to this point (on 8 points) and Wales with three victories (6 points) meant that their match against each other in the final week, on 16 March, would determine the champions. A victory by Wales would give them two points and put them on equal footing with England. If they won by more than seven points they would move ahead on points differential and retain the title.[16] England were slight favourites heading into the game due to their unbeaten run,[17] although Wales had the advantage of a more experienced side and playing at home in the Millennium Stadium.[18] Going into the final round Scotland were on 4 points, Ireland on 3, Italy on 2 and France on 1.[19] Italy ended up beating Ireland and Scotland lost to France, giving Scotland and Italy 4 points each (with Scotland finishing ahead on points differential) and Ireland and France 3 points each (with Ireland finishing ahead on points differential).[20] France ended up with the wooden spoon, the first time they had finished last in the competition since 1999.[21]
Wales defeated England by an emphatic 30–3, their biggest ever win over England.[22] At half time Wales had just a 9-3 lead, with three penalties to fullbackLeigh Halfpenny against one from England's Owen Farrell. The first 20 minutes of the second half saw Wales score points through a try to wingerAlex Cuthbert, and another penalty goal to Halfpenny. This gave them a comfortable 17-3 lead heading into the last quarter of the game. Wales fly halfDan Biggar dropped a goal, which was then followed by a second try to Cuthbert in the 66th minute to put the game beyond England. Biggar kicked a final penalty with 10 minutes to go to give Wales their 30–3 victory.[23][24] Wales coach Rob Howley described the victory as a better achievement than their 2012 Grand Slam[25] and Welsh captain Sam Warburton described the win as the "best moment" of his career.[26] England coach Stuart Lancaster admitted that his side "didn't turn up" to their final match.[27]
This was the first time that Wales had lost five consecutive matches at home in their history after losing four consecutive matches in the 2012 Autumn internationals and this match.
Wales' first back to back win over France since 1999 and the first time they have won in France since their Grand Slam triumph in 2005 .
This was the first time that France had lost their opening two matches in the Six Nations Championship since the competition became the Six Nations in 2000. The last time they lost their first two games was in 1982.[29]
Ian Madigan (Ireland) made his international debut.
This is the first time France and Ireland have drawn two consecutive matches against each other, the first time this has happened since England and France drew three consecutive matches in 1959, 1960 and 1961.
In the United Kingdom, BBC One[31] televised the all matches live apart from the round five match between France and Scotland which was televised live on both BBC HD and BBC Two. There was also a forum show on the BBC Red Button for satellite, cable and Freeview viewers after several matches. Four days after the conclusion of the tournament, there was a highlights programme called “Wales v England: We Did It!” shown at 10:50pm on BBC One in Wales.
In Wales, Wales matches were televised live in Welsh by S4C.
