LYCOS RETRIEVER 
England: Northern Ireland
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Following their loss to South Africa in the 2006 end of year Tests,[52] England had lost eight of their last nine Tests — their worst ever losing streak. Coach Andy Robinson resigned after this run, and attack coach Brian Ashton was appointed head coach in December 2006.[53] England started the 2007 Six Nations Championship with a Calcutta Cup victory over Scotland.[54] The championship ... included a historic match at Croke Park against Ireland which England lost 43–13, their heaviest ever defeat to Ireland.[55]
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In contrast to Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, England has no separate elected national body exclusively responsible for its central administration. Instead a number of government departments look after England's day-to-day administrative affairs.
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When the Five Nations resumed with the re-admission of France in 1947 after the Second World War, England shared the championship with Wales. The early Five Nations competitions of the 1950s were unsuccessful for England, winning one match in the 1950 and 1951 championships.[23] England toured South Africa for the first time in 1952 where they lost to the Springboks 8–3. England won the 1953 Five Nations, and followed this up with a Grand Slam in 1957, and win in 1958. England broke France's four-championship streak by winning the 1963 Championship.[23] After this victory, England played three Tests in the Southern Hemisphere and lost all three: 21–11 and 9–6 against the All Blacks, and 18–9 against Australia.[29] England did not win a single match in 1966, and managed only a draw with Ireland. They did not win another Championship that decade.
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England is somewhat triangular in shape, with its apex at the mouth of the Tweed River. The eastern leg, bounded by the North Sea, extends generally southeast to the North Foreland, the northern extremity of the region called the Downs. The western leg of the triangle extends generally southwest from the mouth of the Tweed along the boundary with Scotland, the Irish Sea, St. George’s Channel, and the Atlantic Ocean to Land’s End, the westernmost extremity of England and of the island. The northern frontier extends from Solway Firth on the west along the Cheviot Hills to the mouth of the Tweed on the east. The base of the triangle fronts the English Channel and the Strait of Dover. The total area of England is 130,410 sq km (50,352 sq mi), 57 percent of the area of the island.
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The history of the origin of the land-forms of England, as far as they have been deduced from geological studies, is exceedingly complicated. The fact that every known geological formation (except the Miocene) is represented, proves of itself how long the history has been, and how multifarious the changes. It must suffice to say that the separation of Ireland from England was a comparatively recent episode, while the severance of the landconnexion between England and the continent by the formation of the Strait of Dover is still more recent and probably occurred with the human period.
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The England national rugby union team represents England in rugby union. They compete in the annual Six Nations Championship with France, Ireland, Scotland, Italy, and Wales. They have won this championship on 25 occasions, 12 times winning the Grand Slam. England ... compete for the Calcutta Cup—which they hold—with Scotland as part of the Six Nations. England are ranked fourth in the world by the International Rugby Board. They won the Rugby World Cup in 2003 and finished runner-up in 1991 and 2007.
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