# 1979 Five Nations Championship

The 1979 Five Nations Championship was the fiftieth series of the rugby union Five Nations Championship. Including the previous incarnations as the Home Nations and Five Nations, this was the eighty-fifth series of the northern hemisphere rugby union championship. Ten matches were played between 20 January and 17 March.
Wales were the champions for the second consecutive season, winning a record twenty-first outright title. They had also shared the championship on nine other occasions. In beating Scotland, Ireland and England they also won the Triple Crown for a record fourth successive season and extended their record number of Triple Crown wins to sixteen. This would be the last time that Wales won back-to-back championships until 2013.

## Participants

The teams involved were:
| Nation | Venue | City | Head coach | Captain |
| England | Twickenham | London | Peter Colston | Roger Uttley |
| France | Parc des Princes | Paris | Jean Desclaux | Jean-Pierre Rives |
| Ireland | Lansdowne Road | Dublin | Noel Murphy | Fergus Slattery |
| Scotland | Murrayfield | Edinburgh | Nairn McEwan | Ian McGeechan |
| Wales | National Stadium | Cardiff | John Dawes | J.P.R. Williams |

## Table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts |
| 1 | Wales | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 83 | 51 | +32 | 6 |
| 2 | France | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 50 | 46 | +4 | 5 |
| 3 | Ireland | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 53 | 51 | +2 | 4 |
| 4 | England | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 24 | 52 | −28 | 3 |
| 5 | Scotland | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 48 | 58 | −10 | 2 |

## Results

* 1979-01-20
| Ireland | 9–9 | France |
| Pen.: Ward (3) | | Tries: Caussade Con.: Aguirre Pen.: Aguirre |
* Lansdowne Road, Dublin Attendance: 51,000 Referee: R. C. Quittenton (England)
* 1979-01-20
| Scotland | 13–19 | Wales |
| Tries: Irvine Pen.: Irvine (3) | | Tries: Holmes Rees Con.: Fenwick Pen.: Fenwick (3) |
* Murrayfield, Edinburgh Referee: F. Palmade (France)
* 1979-02-03
| Wales | 24–21 | Ireland |
| Tries: Martin Ringer Con.: Fenwick (2) Pen.: Fenwick (4) | | Tries: McLennan Patterson Con.: Ward (2) Pen.: Ward (3) |
* National Stadium, Cardiff Referee: Alan Hosie (Scotland)
* 1979-02-03
| England | 7–7 | Scotland |
| Tries: Slemen Pen.: Bennett | | Tries: Rutherford Pen.: Irvine |
* Twickenham, London Referee: C. Norling (Wales)
* 1979-02-17
| France | 14–13 | Wales |
| Tries: Gourdon (2) Pen.: Aguirre (2) | | Tries: Holmes Pen.: Fenwick (3) |
* Parc des Princes, Paris Attendance: 45,259 Referee: D. I. H. Burnett (Ireland)
* 1979-02-17
| Ireland | 12–7 | England |
| Tries: McLennan Con.: Ward Pen.: Ward Drops: Ward | | Tries: Bennett Pen.: Bennett |
* Lansdowne Road, Dublin Referee: Alan Hosie (Scotland)
* 1979-03-03
| England | 7–6 | France |
| Tries: Bennett Pen.: Bennett | | Tries: Costes Con.: Aguirre |
* Twickenham, London Attendance: 67,800 Referee: J. R. West (Ireland)
* 1979-03-03
| Scotland | 11–11 | Ireland |
| Tries: Irvine Robertson Pen.: Irvine | | Tries: Patterson (2) Pen.: Ward |
* Murrayfield, Edinburgh Referee: C. Thomas (Wales)
* 1979-03-17
| France | 21–17 | Scotland |
| Tries: Bélascain Malquier (2) Pen.: Aguerre Aguirre Drops: Aguerre | | Tries: Dickson Irvine Robertson Con.: Irvine Pen.: Irvine |
* Parc des Princes, Paris Attendance: 45,000 Referee: R. C. Quittenton (England)
* 1979-03-17
| Wales | 27–3 | England |
| Tries: Rees Richards Ringer Roberts Williams Con.: Fenwick Martin Drops: G. Davies | | Pen.: Bennett |
* National Stadium, Cardiff Referee: J. P. Bonnet (France)