2003 Six Nations Championship

The 2003 Six Nations Championship was the fourth series of the Six Nations Championship. Including the previous incarnations as the Home Nations and Five Nations, this was the hundred-and-ninth series of the northern hemisphere rugby union championship. The annual tournament was won by England, who completed a tournament grand slam, and went on to win the 2003 Rugby World Cup later the same year. Italy won their first match with Wales (30-22), finishing in 5th place for the second time.

Participants

The teams involved were:

Squads

Table

Results

Week 1

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Week 2

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Week 3

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Week 4

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Week 5

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Red carpet incident

The deciding game between Ireland and England was overshadowed by an incident in the pre-game ceremonies in which the Irish President Mary McAleese had to walk on the grass instead of the red carpet to meet the Irish team. England had lined up on the left hand side when facing the tunnel, which was said to be Ireland's lucky side. When asked to move his team, England captain Martin Johnson refused, so Ireland lined up to the left of them, with no team now on the right hand side, leaving insufficient red carpet on that side. A day after the game the Irish Rugby Football Union sent a written apology to the president for the England team's failure to "follow established and communicated protocol", while their English counterparts the Rugby Football Union also sent her a "full and unreserved apology".<ref...
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