Triple Crown (Rugby Union)
In the sport of rugby union , the Triple Crown is an honorary title that the national teams of England , Ireland , Scotland and Wales fight for every year in the Six Nations tournament . If one of these teams manages to win all games against the three competitors, it also wins the Triple Crown. England achieved this for the last time in 2020 . France and Italy also take part in the Six Nations tournament, but they are not involved in the competition for the Triple Crown. A team that defeats all five opponents in the course of a tournament scores a Grand Slam .
Surname
The origin of the term Triple Crown is unclear. The Irish Times first mentioned him on March 12, 1894 in the introduction to the report of the Ireland-Wales game.
Possibly the name comes from the triple crown of King James I , who was the first monarch to rule England , Scotland and Ireland ( Wales was then considered an integral part of England). In Act 4, Scene 3 of the drama Macbeth by William Shakespeare , Macbeth mentions James' "three-sided scepter".
trophy
In 1975, a retired miner named Dave Marrington was using his penknife to carve a chunk of coal from the Haig Mine in Cumbria and turn it into a work of art. It is a crown on a square base. On the four sides are the rose of England, the shamrock of Ireland, the thistle of Scotland and the headdress of the Prince of Wales. Efforts were made to present the work of art to the Triple Crown winner, but all four associations refused. Today it is on display at the Rugby Museum in Twickenham .
Even more than thirty years later, there was still no trophy for winning the Triple Crown, which is why this competition was often referred to as the “invisible cup”. But then the main sponsor of Six Nations, the Royal Bank of Scotland , commissioned a trophy. The silver plate, known as the “Triple Crown Trophy”, was presented to the Irish team for the first time in 2006.
List of winners
England is the most successful with 25 triple crowns. This is followed by Wales with 21 and Scotland and Ireland with 11 each.
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