A site on Scotland's 1999 International Championship win
In 1999 Scotland won it's first International Championship since the Grand Slam of 1990.
Scotland were big outsiders. with many wondering if Scotland would win the Wooden spoon.
The first game saw equal favourites with England, France beat Ireland, 10-9, in Dublin, a Ireland not yet with their great team of the next decade, but the next saw a great win for Scotland. England were to take a break in this first game as nobody was playing them.
Scotland beat Graham Henry's new Wales team 33-20 at Murrayfield, The margin of victory was a suprise, as of the bad 1998 season, The next game was another bad result for a the new Wales team, who had appointed Henry after Wales had been crushed in South Africa by around 100 pts against them, with Welsh rugby at a low ebb, but who now had seemed to be able to re-establish Wales as he was reharded as the top world coach by many.
With the next, showing what a suprise this year's win would be for Scotland, a 24-21 defeat in England, seen as a good result. With many expecting a typical late 90s hammering in Twickenham. English people were actually dissapointed at the low win, feeling France were their main rivals for the title, and fearing France could put more points on versus Scotland.
But the next game saw the first big suprise, Wales were down against France, but eventually beat them 34-33 in France, The greatest result in Welsh rugby for almost a decade.
The next match showed that Ireland, still ppeared to be whipping boys with a 30-13 win for Scotland against Ireland at Murrayfield. Within a couple of years Ireland for the first time, in decades reversed this, and made Scotland a team, they beat regularaly, when for over a decade it was expected by many that Scotland could beat Ireland, and at times when Scotland were good, was the same v Wales, but was not like this, in the next decade. Scotland in the mid and late 90s, were usually regarded as easy to beat for France, and England.
Still part way through tghis title France, and England were favourites, but Scotland had risen up to be ahead of Wales, and Ireland, in contention, but most felt the prior defeat by England, and a upcoming game versus France in France, destined Scotland to just fighting for a good third place. The next news was that France were beaten by England, by 21 - 10,
It was still felt to be unlikely for the last 2 games that both results would go Scotland's way.
Some were saying that the last 2 marches were a potential title decider, that Scotland could win, but many almost treated this as a joke, (the same people still found time to call the French team arrogant, for their performances, when they were being abit arrogant, but that is just the way things, are it is not that bad.) But in the end Scotland made a incredible perfomance in the French National Stadium, and won 36-22, with 5 tries in the first half, in a score line, many were expecting to be a typical French win.
Many had felt the 5 nations should be abolished in the mid 90s, as of a few big English and French wins, but now Scotland had put themselves near the top, and shown this ridiculous arrogance had been beaten. A unexpected big victory also put on allot of pts, which meant that Scotland pts difference was big, instead of being plus 25 , 1 behind England, it was way ahead of them. Of course Scotland needed England to lose tomorow, so whatever happened, if Scotland had won and England had lost the difference would have changed to Scotland having a batter one than England, but this surely would have made them wish they had performed better against Scotland.
The last match was one where England faced Wales, a Welsh team playing in Wembley, as the stadium in Cardiff was being done up for the 1999 World Cup.
The result again was a suprise, with a few minutes to go, England, led, but failed to put pts over the bars, when they felt a try would cause a more impressive result. The home tea, then moved up the pitch with a great kick by Neil Jenkins, who then saw a try scored, and then converted yet another penalty, causing a brilliant Celtic victory for Scotland, or Rangers for that matter. And giving Wales, a very respectable 5 nations performance, and the rights to claim they won Scotland the title, plus a first win over England in some years. So keeping their lead over England in terms of Rugby wins a bit further into the next millenium. So Scotland won the first millenium of Rugby's last title (and beat England in the last Home Nations match of the millenium in football in late 1999, in a 1-0 win at Wembley)
Table
Scotland 120 79 6
England 103 78 6
Wales 109 126 4
Ireland 66 90 2
France 75 100 2
The next season a rain swept Scotland saw Italy enter the five nations, Italy won, but Scotland then stopped Emgland winning the Grand Slam, which even without the famous rivlary with England, yet again showed the tournament was not dominated by England or France, so kept the tournament as something worth winning. as Wales did last year, in the tournament, and then by beating England for the first time in almost a decade, also avoided the wooden spoon, on pts difference. So 2 great survivalist wins by Scotland.
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