// Workers AI · dad joke modeDid the 1988 Five Nations Championship go to the doctor? It had a rugby bad cough.

1988 Five Nations Championship
1988 Five Nations Championship
Date	16 January – 19 March 1988
Countries	England; Ireland; France; Scotland; Wales
Tournament statistics
Champions	France and Wales
Triple Crown	Wales (17th title)
Matches played	10
Tries scored	31 (3.1 per match)
Top point scorer	Gavin Hastings (41 points)
Top try scorer	Chris Oti (3 tries)
← 1987 (Previous)	(Next) 1989 →

The 1988 Five Nations Championship was the 59th series of the rugby union Five Nations Championship. Including the previous incarnations as the Home Nations and Five Nations, this was the ninety–fourth series of the northern hemisphere rugby union championship. Ten matches were played over five weekends between 16 January and 19 March. Wales and France were declared joint winners with six points each; it was the most recent time the Championship was shared between two or more nations as the rules were changed in 1994 to make such an event unlikely.^[1]

The final match of the tournament, England's victory over Ireland, was notable for the crowd bursting into song with "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" as a response to the hat-trick of tries scored by England's Chris Oti (only the second black player, and the first for 80 years, to be capped by England). The song subsequently became the unofficial rugby anthem for England.^[2]

Wales missed out on a ninth Grand Slam after losing to France at Cardiff Arms Park.

Participants

The teams involved were:

Nation	Venue	City	Head coach	Captain
England	Twickenham	London	Geoff Cooke	Mike Harrison/Nigel Melville
France	Parc des Princes	Paris	Jacques Fouroux	Daniel Dubroca
Ireland	Lansdowne Road	Dublin	Jim Davidson	Donal Lenihan
Scotland	Murrayfield	Edinburgh	Jim Telfer	Gary Callander
Wales	National Stadium	Cardiff	Tony Gray	Bleddyn Bowen

Squads

Table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts
1	Wales	4	3	1	57	42	+15	6
1	France	4	3	1	57	47	+10	6
3	England	4	2	2	56	30	+26	4
4	Scotland	4	1	3	67	68	−1	2
4	Ireland	4	1	3	40	90	−50	2

Source: ^[3]

Results

Round 1

16 January 1988

Ireland	22–18	Scotland
Try: Kiernan MacNeill Mullin Con: Kiernan (2) Pen: Kiernan Drop: Kiernan	Report	Try: S. Hastings Laidlaw Con: G. Hastings (2) Pen: G. Hastings (2)

Lansdowne Road, Dublin
Referee: Roger Quittenton (England)

16 January 1988

France	10–9	England
Try: Rodriguez Pen: Bérot (2)	Report	Pen: Webb (2) Drop: Cusworth

Parc des Princes, Paris
Attendance: 45,071
Referee: Owen Doyle (Ireland)

Round 2

6 February 1988

Scotland	23–12	France
Try: G. Hastings Tukalo Pen: G. Hastings (4) Drop: Cramb	Report	Try: Lagisquet Con: Bérot Pen: Bérot Drop: Lescarboura

Murrayfield, Edinburgh
Attendance: 65,000
Referee: Fransie Muller (South Africa)

6 February 1988

England	3–11	Wales
Pen: Webb	Report	Try: Hadley (2) Drop: J. Davies

Twickenham, London
Referee: Stephen Hilditch (Ireland)

Round 3

20 February 1988

France	25–6	Ireland
Try: Blanco Camberabero Carminati Lagisquet Sella Con: Bérot Drop: Camberabero	Report	Pen: Kiernan (2)

Parc des Princes, Paris
Attendance: 49,130
Referee: Fransie Muller (South Africa)

20 February 1988

Wales	25–20	Scotland
Try: J. Davies I. Evans Watkins Con: Thorburn (2) Pen: Thorburn Drop: J. Davies (2)	Report	Try: Calder Duncan Pen: G. Hastings (4)

National Stadium, Cardiff
Referee: Yves Bressy (France)

Round 4

5 March 1988

Ireland	9–12	Wales
Try: Kingston Con: Kiernan Pen: Kiernan	Report	Try: Moriarty Con: Thorburn Pen: Thorburn Drop: J. Davies

Lansdowne Road, Dublin
Referee: Ray Megson (Scotland)

5 March 1988

Scotland	6–9	England
Pen: G. Hastings (2)	Report	Pen: Webb (2) Drop: Andrew

Murrayfield, Edinburgh
Referee: Winston Jones (Wales)

Round 5

19 March 1988

Wales	9–10	France
Try: I. Evans Con: Thorburn Pen: Thorburn	Report	Try: Lescarboura Pen: Lafond (2)

National Stadium, Cardiff
Attendance: 63,000
Referee: Fred Howard (England)