Women’s 6 Nations 2013

The 2013 Women’s Six Nations Championship, also known as the 2013 RBS Women’s Six Nations, due to the tournament been sponsored by the Royal Bank of Scotland, was the 12th series of the annual women’s rugby union competition. Matches were held in February and March 2013, on the same weekends as the men’s tournament.

Ireland won their first championship, winning both a Triple Crown and a Grand Slam at the same time. In their opening match of the campaign, Ireland beat Wales 12–10. Then on 9 February 2013 they defeated England for the first time. Alison Miller scored a hat-trick of tries as Ireland won 25–0. On 23 February 2013 they clinched their first Triple Crown with a 30–3 win against Scotland. On 8 March 2013 Ireland effectively won the championship after they defeated France 15–10. It was confirmed the following day after Italy failed to defeat England. Ireland eventually finished four points clear of runners-up France. Ireland secured the Grand Slam with a 6–3 away win against Italy on Saint Patrick’s Day. Two penalties from Niamh Briggs gave Ireland their fifth win in a row.

Italy’s defence was one of the revelations of the tournament – aside from the first half against England. This was by far and away their best ever Six Nations. Injuries to key players at the start of the tournament hampered France’s challenge, but they were in magnificent form at home, won for the first time at Twickenham, and lost only narrowly in Italy and Ireland. Wales would also have been broadly content with their performance, with narrow defeats to Ireland and England – but wins over Italy and Scotland ensured World Cup qualification, which was their main aim. Scotland, on the other hand, suffered some horrendous defeats in a very disappointing campaign where they scored no tries and only three points. As for England, like 2009, the vast majority of their leading players were left out of the Six Nations squad to prepare for the forthcoming Sevens World Cup taking place in June in Russia, so they used the Sevens World Series as a warm-up for that event. Consequently, they had a largely inexperienced squad with only 3 players remaining from the successful series win over New Zealand in the Autumn of 2012.

From Wikipedia.