The England national rugby union team represents England in international men's rugby union. They participate annually in the Six Nations Championship with France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. England have won the championship on 29 occasions (as well as sharing 10 victories), winning the Grand Slam 14 times and the Triple Crown 26 times, making them the most successful outright winners in the tournament's history. They are currently the only team from the Northern Hemisphere to win the Rugby World Cup, having won the tournament in 2003, and have been runners-up on three further occasions.
The team is run by the Rugby Football Union (RFU). Its history of the team extends back to 1871 when the England rugby team played their first official test match, losing 0–1 to Scotland. England dominated the early Home Nations Championship (now the Six Nations Championship) which started in 1883. Following the schism of rugby football in 1895 into union and league, England did not win the Championship again until 1910. They first played against New Zealand in 1905, South Africa in 1906, and Australia in 1909. England was one of the teams invited to take part in the inaugural Rugby World Cup in 1987. They progressed to the final in the second tournament in 1991, but lost to the eventual champions Australia. Following their Grand Slam in 2003, England went on to win the 2003 Rugby World Cup, defeating Australia in extra time. They contested the final again in 2007 in defence of their title but lost to South Africa. They reached the final for the fourth time in 2019, but lost to South Africa.
A number of countries have suffered their biggest-ever losses to England: Canada, Georgia, Netherlands, Romania and the United States.
England players traditionally wear a white shirt with a rose embroidered on the chest, white shorts, and navy blue socks with a white trim. England's home ground is Twickenham Stadium where they first played in 1910. The team is administered by the RFU. Five former players have been inducted into the International Rugby Hall of Fame. One of them is also a member of the IRB Hall of Fame. Seven other former players are members of the IRB Hall of Fame, four solely for their accomplishments as players, two solely for their achievements in other roles in the sport, and one for achievements both as a player and administrator. They have been branched in many different squads since the start of England Rugby, such as junior teams and women's teams.
History
Early years
The expansion of rugby in the first half of the 19th century was driven by former pupils from many of England's public schools, especially Rugby, who, upon finishing school, took the game with them to universities, to London, and to the counties. England's first international match was against Scotland on 27 March 1871; not only was this England's first match, but it is also noted as being the first rugby union international. Scotland won the match by one goal and a try to England's one unconverted try, in front of a crowd of 4,000 people at Raeburn Place, Edinburgh. A subsequent international took place at the Oval in London on 5 February 1872, when England defeated Scotland by a goal, a drop goal and two tries to Scotland's one drop goal. The early matches did not use a structured points system; this would not be introduced until after 1890 when a suitable format for the scoring system had been devised. Up until 1875, international rugby matches were decided by the number of goals scored (conversions and dropped goals), but from 1876 the number of tries scored could be used to decide a match if the teams were level on goals.
In 1875, England played their first game against Ireland at the Oval, winning by one goal, one drop goal and one try to nil; this was Ireland's first test match. England defeated Scotland in 1880 to become the first winners of the Calcutta Cup. Their first match against Wales was played on 19 February 1881 at Richardson's Field in Blackheath, where England recorded their largest victory, winning by seven goals, six tries, and one drop goal to nil, and scoring 13 tries in the process. The subsequent meeting the following year at St. Helen's in Swansea was a closer contest, with England defeating Wales by two goals and four tries to nil. Two years later, England emerged as the inaugural winners at the first Home Nations championship. In 1889, they played their first match against a non-home nations team when they defeated the New Zealand Natives at Rectory Field in Blackheath by one goal and four tries to nil. England shared the Home Nations trophy with Scotland in 1890.
England first played New Zealand (known as the "All Blacks") in 1905 at Crystal Palace in London. New Zealand scored five tries, worth three points at the time, to win 15–0. England played France for the first time in March 1906 in Paris, winning 35–8, and later that year they first faced South Africa (known as the "Springboks"), again at Crystal Palace. James Peters was withdrawn from the England squad when the South Africans refused to play against a black player; the match was drawn 3–3. England first played Australia (known as the "Wallabies") in January 1909 at Blackheath's Rectory Field, where they were defeated 9–3.
The year 1909 saw the opening of Twickenham Stadium as the RFU's new home, heralding a golden era for English rugby union. England's first international at Twickenham in 1910 brought them victory over Wales on their way to winning the International Championship (known from then as the Five Nations) for the first time since 1892. Although England did not retain the Five Nations title in 1911, they did share it (with Ireland) in 1912. England then achieved their first Five Nations Grand Slam in 1913, another in 1914, and a third in 1921 after the First World War. A further two consecutive Grand Slams followed for the England team in 1924 and 1925, this despite having started 1925 with an 17–11 loss to the "Invincibles" in front of 60,000 fans at Twickenham.
After winning a sixth Grand Slam in 1928, England were subjected to a 7–0 defeat by the Springboks in front of 70,000 spectators at Twickenham in January 1932. Following the expulsion of France from the International Championship in 1931 due to professionalism, which reverted the Five Nations tournament back to the Home Nations, England proceeded to win the 1934 and 1937 championships with a Triple Crown, and achieved their first victory over the All Blacks at Twickenham in January 1936.Polanski (2003), pp. 38–39.
When the Five Nations resumed with the readmission of France in 1947 after the Second World War, England shared the championship with Wales. The early Five Nations competitions of the 1950s were unsuccessful for England, winning one match in the 1950 and 1951 championships. England won the 1953 Five Nations, and followed this up with a Grand Slam in 1957, and win in 1958. England broke France's four-championship streak by winning the 1963 Championship. After this victory, England played three Tests in the Southern Hemisphere and lost all three: 21–11 and 9–6 against the All Blacks, and 18–9 against Australia. England did not win a single match in 1966, and managed only a draw with Ireland. They did not win another Championship that decade.
Don White was appointed as England's first coach in 1969. According to former Northampton player Bob Taylor, "Don was chosen because he was the most forward-thinking coach in England". His first match in charge was an 11–8 victory over South Africa at Twickenham in 1969. Of the eleven games England played with White in charge they won three, and drew one and lost seven. He resigned as England coach in 1971.
England had wins against Southern Hemisphere teams in the 1970s; with victories over South Africa in 1972, New Zealand in 1973 and Australia in 1973 and 1976. The 1972 Five Nations Championship was not completed due to the Troubles in Northern Ireland when Scotland and Wales refused to play their Five Nations away fixtures in Ireland. England played in Dublin in 1973 and were given a standing ovation lasting five minutes. After losing 18–9 at Lansdowne Road, the England captain, John Pullin famously stated, "We might not be very good but at least we turned up."
England started the following decade with a Grand Slam victory in the 1980 Five Nations – their first for 23 years. However in the 1983 Five Nations Championship, England failed to win a game and picked up the wooden spoon. In the first Rugby World Cup in New Zealand and Australia, England were grouped in pool A alongside Australia, Japan and the United States. England lost their first game 19–6 against Australia. They went on to defeat Japan and the United States, and met Wales in their quarter-final, losing the match 16–3.
In 1989, England won matches against Romania and Fiji, followed by victories in their first three Five Nations games of 1990. They lost to Scotland in their last game however, giving Scotland a Grand Slam. England recovered in the following year by winning their first Grand Slam since 1980. England hosted the 1991 World Cup and were in pool A, along with the All Blacks, Italy and the United States. Although they lost to the All Blacks in pool play, they qualified for a quarter-final going on to defeat France 19–10. England then defeated Scotland 9–6 to secure a place in the final against Australia which they lost 12–6.
The next year, England completed another Grand Slam and did not lose that year, including a victory over the Springboks. In the lead up to the 1995 World Cup in South Africa, England completed another Grand Slam – their third in five years. In the World Cup, England defeated Argentina, Italy and Samoa in pool play and then defeated Australia 25–22 in their quarter-final. England's semi-final was dominated by the All Blacks and featured four tries, now worth five points each, by Jonah Lomu; England lost 45–29. They then lost the third-place play-off match against France.
Professional era England won their 20th Triple Crown title in 1997, but came second in the 1997 Five Nations Championship after a narrow defeat to France at Twickenham. Sir Clive Woodward replaced Jack Rowell as the England head coach later that year. On 6 December 1997, England drew with New Zealand at Twickenham, after being heavily defeated by South Africa at the same venue the week before and by New Zealand in Manchester two weeks previously. In 1998, England toured Australia, New Zealand and South Africa; many of the experienced players were unavailable for what was to become nicknamed the "Tour from Hell" during which England lost all of their matches including a punishing defeat by the Wallabies. In the last Five Nations match on 11 April 1999, with England poised to win the championship, Welsh centre Scott Gibbs sliced through six English tackles to score a try in the last minute, and the ensuing conversion by Neil Jenkins handed the final Five Nations title to Scotland.
England commenced the new millennium by winning the inaugural Six Nations Championship, although they lost their last match to Scotland. They successfully defended their title the following year, but missed out on the Grand Slam by losing (14–20) to Ireland in a postponed match at Lansdowne Road. Although France won the 2002 Six Nations Championship, England defeated the other Home Nations teams to win the Triple Crown. In 2002, England beat Argentina (26–18) in Buenos Aires, and in the Autumn internationals they defeated New Zealand (31–28), Australia (32–31), and South Africa (53–3) at Twickenham. At the 2003 Six Nations Championship, England won the Grand Slam for the first time since 1995, followed by wins over Australia and the All Blacks on their June summer tour.