The RBS 6 Nations Championship, (referred to as RBS 6 Nations for sponsorship reasons) known before 2000 as the Five Nations Championship, is an annual international rugby union competition held between six European sides: England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. The winner of the RBS 6 Nations is often seen as being the unofficial European Champions.[citation needed]
The Five Nations Championship, with its predecessor the Home Championship, was the premier international rugby union tournament in the Northern Hemisphere. It has also in the past been known as 'The International Championship'. There is also a Women's Six Nations Championship which historically featured Spain instead of Italy, but from 2007 on will include Italy at Spain's expense.
France are the current defending champions having won the competition in 2007. No Grand Slam was won, but Ireland won the Triple Crown. Italy won their first away game ever when they defeated Scotland and they also defeated Wales the following week in Rome.
In 1871, England and Scotland played the first rugby union international.NETQUOTEVAR:1 After 12 years of occasional friendly matches between the teams, the inaugural Home International Championship, comprising England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales was played in 1883.NETQUOTEVAR:1 England won the first series, along with a Triple Crown. Up until 1893, England and Scotland were the only champions, with Wales winning their first title that season. Ireland won their first title the following season. The 1908 and 1909 championships won by Wales, although won during the Home Nations era, could be regarded as Grand Slams, as they also defeated France both seasons.
In 1910 the French, who had played in four of the tournaments up to that point, officially joined the competition and coined the phrase "Five Nations".NETQUOTEVAR:1 England won the first championship of the new era, with the Welsh achieving the first Grand Slam the following year. The competition was suspended during World War I (1914-18). In 1931, France were ejected from the tournament (see below), which reverted to being the "Home Nations" from 1932 through to 1939. The competition was suspended again during World War II (1939-1945). With France back in the competition, the Five Nations resumed in 1947, with a shared victory for England and Wales. France won their first shared title in 1954, and their first outright title in 1959.
By the 1970s the Five Nations Championship had become the pre-eminent series in Northern hemisphere rugby union with matches becoming all-ticket affairs, gaining huge popularity and a large television audience. The 1972 tournament was not finished after Scotland and Wales refused to play in Dublin. The season after was unique for a five-way tie, with every nation having won and lost two games. The 1970s marked the golden age for Welsh rugby; winning three Grand Slams and one Triple Crown during the decade.NETQUOTEVAR:2 Until 1993, there was no tangible reward for winning the Five Nations championship: there was neither flag nor cup or any other kind of trophy. However, for season 1992-93, there was presented, for competition, the Five Nations Championship Trophy.
France were the first winners of the new trophy, followed by Wales and then England. Scotland's first success came in season 1998-99; Ireland have yet to win it. Scotland was the last nation to win the Five Nations Trophy as such because Italy joined the competition in 2000 and the tournament became known as the "Six Nations Championship". England were the first nation to win the trophy under the new format, winning the 2000 competition. The importance of the competition has decreased slightly since the introduction of the Rugby World Cup, but the long standing rivalries between teams mean that it remains a passionate and fiercely contested prize.
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Sound of Music. Vs. Wicked. The competition for the leading london musicals production is hotting up with Sound of Music rival, Wicked, setting a new all-time theatre tickets record for a single week's musicals gross in the West End - for the week 26th-30th December 2006, the show sold a record-breaking £873,020 worths of london theatre tickets for the Apollo Victoria London Theatre. Over a quarter of a million people have now seen Wicked since the theatre production opened on September 7.
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Andrew Lloyd Webber has reclaimed the top spot in The London theatre Stage 100 - our annual list of the 100 most influential people in theatre. However, he has been forced to share first place with last year's winner David Ian, who co-produced Wicked west end rival, The Sound of Music with Lloyd Webber and appeared alongside him on reality TV series How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria? Next year, the pair will go their separate ways and star in rival London theatre TV shows on BBC and ITV. Lloyd Webber will be involved with the BBC's Any Dream Will Do - to find a star forJoseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat - while Ian will feature on ITV show You're the One That I Want! to find the leads for a theatre production of Grease.
If the sound of music is anything to go by, we could be looking at record breaking london theatre tickets sales this time next year as both musicals hit the west end. The West End theatres saw a number of musicals of which the finest was probably Michael Grandage's revival of Rice and Lloyd Webber's very best workWest End Listings Evita, starring Argentinian sensation Elena Roger. Subjectively very close behind is The Sound of Music in which lead Connie Fisher got all of the public attention thanks to her unusual selection - by a TV audience rather than Just Lloyd-Webber - but this should take nothing away from Charming Lesley Garrett and all those sweet little von-trapp children.
Monty Python fans have been wetting themselves over the prospect of the London theatre version of Spamalot, and they will not be disappointed, assuming that they can get theatre tickets. It could be even better with the arrival of Simon Russell Beale to take over the crown of King Arthur in the New Year. The other big success is Wicked, the Wizard of Oz prequel starring the delightful Idina Menzel and Helen Dallimore. This garnered some rather sniffy reviews but has silenced it's critics in terms of tickets sales.
Sir Trevor Nunn's Porgy and Bess pleased most audiences, although it might be a mistake to see the DVD of his opera production from twenty years before watching the London musicals. The most sought theatre tickets in town are forDirty Dancing, a very accurate reproduction of the famous film on stage.
Grease Tickets, Sound Of Music Tickets, Dirty Dancing Tickets, Wicked Tickets - all now available
