2010 Six Nations Championship had seen John Hayes achieve 100 caps for his country, the first player to do so for Ireland. Ireland's loss to Scotland meant France had won the Championship but could still achieve the Grand Slam by beating England in their final game at the Stade de France on 20 March. The Grand Slam was achieved by France following a 12–10 victory in this game. It was France's first Grand Slam since 2004. England scored the only try of the game. Jonny Wilkinson was not included in the England starting team for only the third time in his career. Bryce Lawrence
2009 end-of-year rugby union internationals 2009 end-of-year rugby union internationals The 2009 end of year rugby internationals, also known as the Autumn internationals in the Northern Hemisphere, saw Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Argentina, tour the northern hemisphere. The headline event of the series was an attempted Grand Slam tour of the Home Nations by Australia. This year marked the 25th anniversary of the Wallabies' only previous Grand Slam tour, which saw the Wallabies sweep all four matches and saw David Campese, Mark Ella, Nick Farr-Jones, and Michael Lynagh achieve international prominence. Also, for the second consecutive year, a Bledisloe Cup match was contested