In their opener of the 2001 championship Wales hosted England at the Millennium Stadium for the first time in history. The Welsh though could not mark this historic occassion with a favourable result as, for the second successive tournament, England put over forty points past their neighbours.

England, firm favourites for a clean sweep in the tournament having been denied by a shock Scottish win in the previous year, were thrust into the lead after twelve minutes following two tries from Will Greenwood. Wales responded with a Neil Jenkins penalty and soon after Rob Howley demonstrated his flair with a touchdown in the corner. The Welsh score only brought retaliation from England as Matt Dawson obtained a brace of tries, the last of which came five minutes before the half time whistle. With the score at the interval 8-29 the match as a competition was already over.

Ben Cohen added a try a in the second half for England as did Greenwood, who secured his hat-trick. Scott Quinnell added a consolatory try for Wales and as Jenkins converted he reached his 1000th point mark in international test rugby. Though the Welsh crowd celebrated this momentous occurrence, as well as Scott Gibbs’s fiftieth cap, there was little else to cheer for in this clinical demolition by the English.

Wales travelled to Murrayfield in round two of the championship and had a thrilling encounter with the Scots. In an enthralling match that lacked elegance from each side the two nations battled out a 28-28 draw to share the spoils. Wales started strongly as Neil Jenkins secured a drop goal in the opening minute. He then added Wales’s first penalty which was equalled in kind by Scotland, but Jenkins was on form – adding a drop goal, penalty, a third drop goal and final penalty of the first half taking a Welsh lead into the break of 6-18.

Wales were sharp on the restart as Mark Taylor went over for a Welsh try but this heralded the Scottish resurgence. A try, conversion and penalty brought the deficit to just nine points – although Jenkins’s boot added another three for Wales to stretch a twelve point lead. In an almighty comeback Scotland notched up two tries in the last eight minutes of the game but as the conversion was missed on the first the scores remained level at twenty-eight apiece in an exhilarating finale.

In a second successive away fixture Wales took on France at the Stade de France in their third round match. Playing the first thirty minutes in much the same mode that gained them a defeat against the English, a Welsh revival secured a breathtaking eleventh hour win for the men in red. The man inherent to the Welsh turnaround was Neil Jenkins as he racked up twenty-eight points including a try three minutes from time to secure the Welsh victory. France had an early 10-0 lead thanks to a Sebastian Bonetti try and the boot of Gerald Merceron and as he and Jenkins took it in turns to slot over penalties the French led 19-9 after half an hour.

Scott Quinnell then began Wales’s period of decisive play as he set up Robert Howley’s superb try. After the interval Wales broke into the lead due to a try from playmaker Quinnell and this lead was further stretched to 22-33 following a Dafydd James score. On the stroke of sixty minutes France closed the gap to 32-33 courtesy of a Phillipe Bernat-Salles try and Lamaison kick. They soon after took the lead with a further Lamaison penalty with just eight minutes remaining. Three minutes from time Jenkins dropped a goal to edge the Welsh a point ahead but his ultimate glory came on the eightieth minute mark as he secured a try and converted his own effort to cement a 35-43 victory.

Italy hosted Wales at the Stadio Flaminio for the first time during the Six Nations tournament. Wales secured a victory over the Italians and in doing so secured a second place in the table behind England at this fourth round stage. The visitors dominated in a disciplined first half, gaining a 20-12 lead at the half-time whistle. First-half tries came courtesy of debutant Gareth Cooper and Scott Gibbs whilst Italy were kept in contention by the boot of Diego Dominguez.

The Italian fly half dropped a goal on the restart but the nervy play from Italy increasingly brought errors and indiscipline to the game. Wales benefited from this as Gibbs crossed for his second try and as Jenkins converted he stretched the Welsh lead to 27-15. Italy put the visitors under pressure in the closing stages of the game. Dominguez and Jenkins scored a penalty apiece before Italy’s efforts were rewarded five minutes from time. Carlo Checchinato crossed for the Italian try but Jenkins eased over a penalty before the final whistle to secure the 23-33 hard-fought victory.

Due to the Foot and Mouth outbreak Wales’s fixture with Ireland, originally scheduled before the Italy match, had been postponed until the outbreak had been contained. The game was eventually played at the Millennium Stadium in October with Ireland maintaining their eighteen year unbeaten record in Cardiff with a 36-6 win over the hosts.

Stephen Jones could only secure Wales’s three points in the first half whilst Ireland had David Humphreys to thank for slotting over five penalties. The Irish tally may well have been greater as both Shane Horgan and Mick Galwey crossed the line in first half injury-time but their scores were deemed illegitimate. After the interval Wales started strongly as Stephen Jones added three points, but this was to be the last Welsh score of the game. In a largely disjointed second half Ireland dominated Welsh territory and scored two tries in as many minutes in last ten minutes of the game. The victory gained Ireland a runners-up position in the final standings behind England – as they went on to spoil England’s grand slam hope the following week.

Wales had finished fourth in the table for the second successive championship, though they finished on equal points with Scotland just above them. England secured another championship title but for the third year running they were denied the grand slam distinction. For the first time in the tournament Italy failed to achieve a win but as then Wales Team Manager David Pickering had commented, “To win in Rome will become increasingly difficult,” as the newest team to Six Nations rugby were constantly improving in the tournament.