| 2011 Six Nations Championship | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Italy and France during the 2011 Six Nations at the Stadio Flaminio in Rome | |||
| Date | 4 February – 19 March 2011 | ||
| Countries |  England France Ireland Italy Scotland Wales | ||
| Tournament statistics | |||
| Champions | England (26th title) | ||
| Matches played | 15 | ||
| Attendance | 920,618 (61,375 per match) | ||
| Tries scored | 51 (3.4 per match) | ||
| Top point scorer(s) | Toby Flood (50) | ||
| Top try scorer(s) | Chris Ashton (6) | ||
| Player of the tournament | Andrea Masi | ||
| |||
The 2011 Six Nations Championship, known as the 2011 RBS 6 Nations due to sponsorship by the Royal Bank of Scotland, was the 12th series of the Six Nations Championship, and the 117th edition of the international championship. The annual rugby union tournament was contested by England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales, and was won by England.
Ireland played their first Six Nations games at the Aviva Stadium, having played their first matches at the new stadium in November 2010.
For the first time in its history, the tournament opened with a Friday night fixture.[1] For the first time in a decade, all of the teams had the same head coach as in the previous year's tournament.[2]
This tournament was also notable for a major upset, with Italy beating 2010 champions France. Despite this upset, Italy still finished last, and was awarded the wooden spoon as a result. The champions were England, who won their first four matches, but were denied the Grand Slam and the Triple Crown by a defeat to Ireland.
Italy's Andrea Masi was named the Six Nations Player of the Championship, becoming the first Italian player to win the award with 30% of the voting. The runners up were Fabio Semenzato in second, Seán O'Brien in third and Toby Flood in fourth. [3]
- ^ "Six Nations to end experiment of Friday night matches". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 26 January 2011. Archived from the original on 27 January 2011. Retrieved 27 January 2011.
- ^ Palmer, Bryn (26 January 2011). "Six Nations set for launch with a bang". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original on 1 February 2011. Retrieved 27 January 2011.
- ^ "Masi scoops Six Nations award". ESPN Scrum. 23 March 2011. Retrieved 23 March 2011.