Beaten World Cup finalists have fared well in the Six Nations, while those who believe things come in threes will expect a Grand Slam winner to this year’s championship.
SEARCHING OUT a correlation in performance terms between a Five/Six Nations Championship following a Rugby World Cup is compromised slightly by the fact that England alone from the Northern Hemisphere have won the global tournament.
They won the World Cup in 2003, beating Australia in the final, yet five months later could only finish third in the Six Nations Championship behind France (semi-finalists at the World Cup) and Ireland (quarter-finals). On two occasions a country that has lost in a World Cup final has gone on to win or share outright honours.
France were beaten by New Zealand in the 1987 World Cup final and, along with Wales, who finished third in that tournament, they topped the 1988 Five Nations Championship. It was the last year that the Northern Hemisphere tournament could be shared based on the number of victories as points differential came in to determine a winner the following season.
England were beaten by Australia in the 1991 World Cup Final at Twickenham but maintained their form through to the next Five Nations Championship by winning a Triple Crown and Grand Slam.
It’s instructive to note that in drawing a line between World Cups (not including New Zealand 2011) and the Five/Six Nations, three times a team has gone on to win a Grand Slam.
After England’s Grand Slam achievement in the 1992 Five Nations, France (semi-finalists in the 2003 World Cup) won a Grand Slam in the 2004 Six Nations. Wales, who had failed to get out of the group at the World Cup (2007) in France, managed to claim a Triple Crown and Grand Slam in the 2008 Six Nations.
Those who believe that things come in threes will probably want to invest financially given that a country has won a Grand Slam following the 2003 and 2007 World Cups.
Ireland’s form in the Five Nations tournaments post World Cups was pretty dire, finishing bottom in 1988 and 1996 with just a single victory, and last also in 1992, when they had to accept the wooden spoon.
In the latter instance the Irish team had come within a couple of minutes of making the World Cup semi-final the previous autumn.
Ironically, what many considered to be Ireland’s most disappointing performance – it is certainly rivalled by the displays in 2007 – at a World Cup when they lost a quarter-final play-off in Lens (1999), was promptly followed by three victories in the Six Nations including their only victory in Paris since 1972.
Some young centre called Brian O’Driscoll managed to score a hat-trick of tries, finishing the tournament as joint top scorer alongside English pair, Austin Healy and Ben Cohen.
