Grand Slam failures: Five times England fell at final hurdle

By PA Sport

Image: Scotland captain Andy Nicol is lifted in the air after their win over England in 2000

England will look to end a 13-year wait for Six Nations Grand Slam glory when they face France in Paris on Saturday.

Not since 2003 - England's World Cup-winning year - have they swept all before them in the tournament.

Let's look at five previous Five and Six Nations occasions when England fell at the final hurdle in pursuit of European rugby's biggest prize.

1990: Scotland 13-7 England

Image: Chris Gray, David Sole and Finlay Calder of Scotland lead the celebrations

Scotland and England met in a Five Nations Grand Slam decider at Murrayfield. England were clear favourites but Scotland caught the mood perfectly.

Scotland captain David Sole milked the crowd by walking, rather than running, out with his team, and Tony Stanger's try, plus three Craig Chalmers penalties, sent England home to think again.

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England: Hodgkinson, Halliday, Guscott, Carling (c), Underwood, Andrew, Hill; Rendall, Moore, Probyn, Dooley, Ackford, Skinner, Winterbottom, Teague.

1999: Wales 32-31 England

Image: Scott Quinnell is tackled by Jonny Wilkinson

Clive Woodward's England arrived at Wembley - Wales' temporary home while the Millennium Stadium was being built in Cardiff - as red-hot favourites to win the Five Nations Grand Slam.

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First-half tries from Dan Luger, Steve Hanley and Richard Hill put them in charge, but Neil Jenkins kicked 22 points for Wales, including a nerveless match-winning conversion of centre Scott Gibbs' late touchdown.

Wales' win meant that Scotland, victors against France 24 hours earlier, were crowned champions.

England: Perry, Luger, Wilkinson, Mather, Hanley, Catt, Dawson; Leonard, Cockerill, Garforth, Johnson, Rodber, Hill, Back, Dallaglio (c).

2000: Scotland 19-13 England

Image: Austin Healey is stopped by Chris Paterson and John Leslie

England looked set to complete the inaugural Six Nations competition by making amends for their Wembley woe 12 months earlier, but they had not accounted for Scotland fly-half Duncan Hodge, who scored all of his team's points amid torrential rain in the Scottish capital.

England still landed the title, but once again they had failed on the big occasion.

England: Perry, Healey, Tindall, Catt, Cohen, Wilkinson, Dawson (c); Leonard, Greening, Vickery, Archer, Shaw, Hill, Back, Dallaglio.

2001: Ireland 20-14 England

Image: Mike Catt (left) and Danny Grewcock look dejected as Ireland celebrate their victory

Ireland completed a Celtic hat-trick of inflicting Grand Slam misery on England by stunning them in a game that was delayed until the autumn due to a foot and mouth outbreak earlier in the year.

The opening four matches saw England destroy Wales (44-15), Italy (80-23), Scotland (43-3) and France (48-19), but Ireland proved a different challenge, and they never looked back after captain Keith Wood scored an early try.

England: Balshaw, Luger, Greenwood, Catt, Robinson, Wilkinson, Dawson (c); Leonard, Greening, White, Shaw, Grewcock, Corry, Back, Hill.

2013: Wales 30-3 England

Image: Sam Warburton makes a break

England's chariot rumbled into Cardiff with the Grand Slam and Six Nations title as their intended twin prizes, but irresistible Wales smashed them beyond recognition as wing Alex Cuthbert's try double, plus the goalkicking of Leigh Halfpenny and Dan Biggar, ensured they secured Six Nations silverware on points difference after beating their fiercest rivals by a record margin.

England: Goode, Ashton, Tuilagi, Barritt, Brown, Farrell, B Youngs; Marler, T Youngs, Cole, Launchbury, Parling, Croft, Robshaw (capt), Wood.

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