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Six Nations Championship
England: 3rd
How England performed
England began the 2004 Six Nations as Grand Slam winners from the previous season and started strongly under Clive Woodward and captain Lawrence Dallaglio, beating Italy 50–9 at the Stadio Flaminio in Rome and Scotland 35–13 at Murrayfield. The key setback came in the third round at Twickenham, where Ireland won 19–13.
England recovered to beat Wales 31–21 at Twickenham, but the final round brought a second defeat, France winning 24–21 at the Stade de France. Three wins and two defeats, with 150 points scored and 86 conceded, left England third, a clear decline from the clean sweep of 2003. Their points difference remained healthy, but both defeats came by six points or fewer, and the two away wins in Rome and Edinburgh were their most convincing results.
England fixtures
Italy
9–50
England
England won
England tries: Iain Balshaw 16', Jason Robinson 23', Jason Robinson 43', Josh Lewsey 59', Jason Robinson 64', Paul Grayson 70', Chris Jones 86'
Italy tries: None
Scotland
13–35
England
England won
England tries: Ben Cohen 11', Iain Balshaw 31', Josh Lewsey 48', Danny Grewcock 69'
Scotland tries: Simon Danielli 58'
England
13–19
Ireland
England lost
England tries: Matt Dawson 27'
Ireland tries: Girvan Dempsey 52'
England
31–21
Wales
England won
England tries: Ben Cohen 6', Ben Cohen 64', Joe Worsley 78'
Wales tries: Mark Taylor 42', Gareth Thomas 50'
France
24–21
England
England lost
England tries: Ben Cohen 53', Josh Lewsey 76'
France tries: Imanol Harinordoquy 26', Dimitri Yachvili 42'
England statistics
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