# 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.
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

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

| 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 |

## Results

* 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)