| 2014 Six Nations Championship | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date | 1 February – 15 March 2014 | ||
| Countries |  England France Ireland Italy Scotland Wales | ||
| Tournament statistics | |||
| Champions | Ireland (12th title) | ||
| Triple Crown | England (24th title) | ||
| Matches played | 15 | ||
| Attendance | 1,038,744 (69,250 per match) | ||
| Tries scored | 61 (4.07 per match) | ||
| Top point scorer(s) | Johnny Sexton (66) | ||
| Top try scorer(s) | Mike Brown (4) Johnny Sexton (4) | ||
| Player of the tournament | Mike Brown | ||
| Official website | Official website | ||
| |||
The 2014 Six Nations Championship, known as the 2014 RBS 6 Nations because of the tournament's sponsorship by the Royal Bank of Scotland, was the 15th series of the Six Nations Championship, the annual northern hemisphere rugby union championship. It was contested by England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. Including the competition's previous incarnations as the Home Nations Championship and Five Nations Championship, it was the 120th edition of the tournament.[1]
Going into the final day, three teams could have still won the championship – Ireland, England and France. In the final game, Ireland hung on to win against France by just two points and secure the championship, on points difference over England.[2] This was their first championship since 2009, and the 12th title they have won, including predecessor championships.[3][4]
The final game also saw the retirement of Brian O'Driscoll from international rugby, with a record number of 141 international caps – 133 for Ireland (83 as captain), and 8 for the British and Irish Lions.[5][6][7]
England won the Triple Crown by beating Wales, Scotland and Ireland[8] – they became the first team to win the Triple Crown while another of the Home Nations won the championship outright.
The 2014 tournament saw 12 players earn their first cap – three English, four French, two Scottish, one Irish, one Italian and one Welsh. Sergio Parisse and Martin Castrogiovanni became the most-capped Italian players with 105 caps,[9][10] with Gethin Jenkins earning the same number to become the most-capped Welsh player.[11] In their match against Wales on 1 February, Italy broke the world record for the most-capped starting pack with 587 caps, surpassing the previous record of 546 caps as held by New Zealand.
In line with a global change to the Television Match Official (TMO) protocol, this was the first Six Nations tournament where the TMO could be called upon to review up to two phases prior to a try being scored and to review potential instances of foul play occurring at any time during the match. Two red cards were issued for foul play during the tournament after referral to the TMO.[12]
