List of Six Nations Championship hat-tricks

A hat-trick in rugby union, the scoring of three tries or three drop goals in a single match, has been achieved 55 times in the history of the Six Nations Championship. The annual competition, established in 1882, was originally known as the Home Nations Championship and contested between England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. It was expanded to the Five Nations when France joined in 1910,[A] and then to the Six Nations with the addition of Italy in 2000.[2]

Charles Wade, former England Rugby Union player
Charles Wade, of England, scored the Championship's first hat-trick.

The first player to achieve the feat was Charles Wade, who was an Australian student at Oxford University when he was called up as a travelling reserve for England's match against Wales. When Philip Newton got lost on his way to the match, Wade was instated in his place.[3] He scored three tries in England's 2–0 victory, which was the first match of the championship.[4] At that time, a try by itself was not worth any points but allowed the team to try and kick a goal.[5] George Lindsay scored five tries in Scotland's 4–0 win over Wales in 1887, the most tries scored by a single player in a Championship match.[6]

Besides Lindsay, six players have scored more than three tries in a Championship match; of these Ian Smith is the only player to achieve the feat twice. He scored four tries in successive matches during the 1925 Five Nations Championship.[7] Wales' Jehoida Hodges normally played as a forward, but after an injury to winger Tom Pearson during a match against England, Hodges was moved to the wing. Despite playing out of position, he scored a hat-trick in a 21–5 victory for Wales.[8] As of 2017, the only forwards to score a Championship hat-trick while actually playing in the forwards are Michel Crauste; he scored three tries for France in their 13–0 victory over England in 1962 and CJ Stander; he scored three tries for Ireland in a 63–10 win over Italy in 2017.[9][10]

Four players have scored a hat-trick of drop goals: Pierre Albaladejo, Jean-Patrick Lescarboura, Diego Dominguez and Neil Jenkins.[11] No Italian has scored a hat-trick of tries in the competition, with Dominguez's hat-trick of drop goals the only one by an Italian player. English players have scored the most hat-tricks with 18, while France, Ireland and Scotland have conceded the most, with 12 each. Three players have scored a hat-trick and been on the losing side; Robert Montgomery in Ireland's 0–1 loss to Wales in 1887,[12] Howard Marshall in England's 11–12 defeat to Wales in 1893,[13] and Émile Ntamack in France's 33–34 loss to Wales in 1999.[14] Lescarboura's hat-trick against England in 1985 and Jenkins' against Scotland in 2001, are the only times the feat has been achieved with the match ending in a draw.[15][16] The most recent hat-trick was achieved by Blair Kinghorn (Scotland) against Italy on 18 March 2023.[17]

Hat-tricks

Reggie Gibbs of Wales scored a hat-trick in both the 1910 and 1911 tournaments.
Brian O'Driscoll is the only Irishman to have scored two hat-tricks in the tournament's history.
Chris Ashton's four tries in 2011 against Italy is the most by one player in a single Championship match since 1969.
  • All statistics are correct as of 6 February 2022.
Key
4Player scored four tries
5Player scored five tries

Tries

Six Nations Championship try hat-tricks
No.PlayerForAgainstResultVenueDate
1Charles Wade  England  Wales2–0St. Helen's, Swansea16 December 1882
2George Lindsay5  Scotland  Wales4–0Raeburn Place, Edinburgh26 February 1887
3Robert Montgomery  Ireland  Wales0–1Birkenhead Park12 March 1887
4William Wotherspoon  Scotland  Ireland14–0Ballynafeigh, Belfast21 February 1891
5Howard Marshall  England  Wales11–12Cardiff Arms Park, Cardiff7 January 1893
6Willie Llewellyn4  Wales  England26–3St. Helen's, Swansea7 January 1899
7Jehoida Hodges  Wales  England21–5St. Helen's, Swansea10 January 1903
8Johnny Williams  Wales  Ireland29–0Cardiff Arms Park, Cardiff9 March 1907
9Reggie Gibbs  Wales  France49–14St. Helen's, Swansea1 January 1910
10James Tennent  Scotland  France27–0Inverleith, Edinburgh22 January 1910
11Johnny Williams  Wales  Ireland19–3Lansdowne Road, Dublin12 March 1910
12Reggie Gibbs  Wales  Scotland32–10Inverleith, Edinburgh4 February 1911
13Bill Stewart  Scotland  France21–3Parc des Princes, Paris1 January 1913
14Vincent Coates  England  France20–0Twickenham, London25 January 1913
15Bill Stewart4  Scotland  Ireland29–14Inverleith, Edinburgh22 February 1913
16Joseph Quinn  Ireland  France24–0Mardyke, Cork24 March 1913
17Cyril Lowe  England  Scotland16–15Inverleith, Edinburgh21 March 1914
18Cyril Lowe  England  France39–13Stade Olympique de Colombes13 April 1914
19Ronald Poulton-Palmer4  England  France39–13Stade Olympique de Colombes13 April 1914
20Brinley Williams  Wales  Ireland28–4Cardiff Arms Park, Cardiff13 March 1920
21Ian Smith  Scotland  Wales35–10Inverleith, Edinburgh2 February 1924
22Jake Jacob  England  France19–7Twickenham, London23 February 1924
23Ian Smith4  Scotland  France25–4Inverleith, Edinburgh24 January 1925
24Ian Smith4  Scotland  Wales24–14St. Helen's, Swansea7 February 1925
25Johnnie Wallace  Scotland  France20–6Stade Olympique de Colombes2 January 1926
26Eugene Davy  Ireland  Scotland14–11Murrayfield, Edinburgh22 February 1930
27Seamus Byrne  Ireland  Scotland26–8Murrayfield, Edinburgh28 February 1953
28Michel Crauste  France  England13–0Stade Olympique de Colombes24 February 1962
29Christian Darrouy  France  Ireland24–5Lansdowne Road, Dublin26 January 1963
30Maurice Richards4  Wales  England30–9Cardiff Arms Park, Cardiff12 April 1969
31John Carleton  England  Scotland30–18Murrayfield, Edinburgh15 March 1980
32Éric Bonneval  France  Scotland28–22Parc des Princes, Paris7 March 1987
33Chris Oti  England  Ireland35–3Twickenham, London19 March 1988
34Iwan Tukalo  Scotland  Ireland37–21Murrayfield, Edinburgh4 March 1989
35David Venditti  France  Ireland32–15Lansdowne Road, Dublin18 January 1997
36Émile Ntamack  France  Wales33–34Stade de France, Saint-Denis6 March 1999
37Austin Healey  England  Italy59–12Stadio Flaminio, Rome18 March 2000
38Brian O'Driscoll  Ireland  France27–25Stade de France, Saint-Denis19 March 2000
39Rob Henderson  Ireland  Italy41–22Stadio Flaminio, Rome3 February 2001
40Will Greenwood  England  Wales44–15Millennium Stadium, Cardiff3 February 2001
41Brian O'Driscoll  Ireland  Scotland43–22Lansdowne Road, Dublin2 March 2002
42Jason Robinson  England  Italy50–9Stadio Flaminio, Rome15 February 2004
43Mark Cueto  England  Italy39–7Twickenham, London12 March 2005
44Jamie Noon  England  Scotland43–22Twickenham, London19 March 2005
45Vincent Clerc  France  Ireland26–21Stade de France, Saint-Denis9 February 2008
46Chris Ashton4  England  Italy59–13Twickenham, London12 February 2011
47George North  Wales  Italy61–20Stadio Olimpico, Rome21 March 2015
48Jonathan Joseph  England  Italy40–9Stadio Olimpico, Rome14 February 2016
49CJ Stander  Ireland  Italy63–10Stadio Olimpico, Rome11 February 2017
50Craig Gilroy  Ireland  Italy63–10Stadio Olimpico, Rome11 February 2017
51Jonathan Joseph  England  Scotland61–21Twickenham, London11 March 2017
52Blair Kinghorn  Scotland  Italy33–20Murrayfield, Edinburgh2 February 2019
53Jonny May  England  France44–8Twickenham, London10 February 2019
54Josh Adams  Wales  Italy42–0Millennium Stadium, Cardiff1 February 2020
55Gabin Villière  France  Italy37–10Stade de France, Saint-Denis6 February 2022
56Blair Kinghorn  Scotland  Italy26–14Murrayfield, Edinburgh18 March 2023
57Duhan van der Merwe  Scotland  England30-21Murrayfield, Edinburgh25 February 2024


Multiple hat-tricks

Multiple hat-tricks
PlayerNo.Years
Ian Smith31924, 1925
Johnny Williams21907, 1910
Reggie Gibbs21910, 1911
Bill Stewart21913
Cyril Lowe21914
Brian O'Driscoll22000, 2002
Jonathan Joseph22016, 2017
Blair Kinghorn22019, 2023

Drop goals

Six Nations Championship drop goal hat-tricks
No.PlayerForAgainstResultVenueDate
1Pierre Albaladejo  France  Ireland23–6Stade Olympique de Colombes9 April 1960
2Jean-Patrick Lescarboura  France  England9–9Twickenham, London2 February 1985
3Diego Domínguez  Italy  Scotland34–20Stadio Flaminio, Rome5 February 2000
4Neil Jenkins  Wales  Scotland28–28Murrayfield, Edinburgh17 February 2001

Player hat-tricks by their national team

Player's hat-tricks by their national team
TeamTries forTries againstDrop goals forDrop goals againstTotal forTotal against
 England18401185
 Scotland129021211
 Wales10810118
 Ireland91001911
 France71220912
 Italy01310114

See also

Footnotes

Bibliography

  • Smith, David; Williams, Gareth (1980). Fields of Praise: The Official History of The Welsh Rugby Union. Cardiff: University of Wales Press. ISBN 0-7083-0766-3.

References

General

Specific