Gatland in a Grand finale WARREN’S CROWN & OUT
WARREN GATLAND said before the Six Nations began that if Wales beat France, the Grand Slam was on. The New Zealander is rarely wrong.
His players delivered it in Cardiff with a clinical and ferocious dismantling of a once-great Ireland side.
A try from Hadleigh Parkes after just 70 seconds plus the flawless kicking of Gareth Anscombe, who struck seven from seven, secured a third Championship clean sweep for Gatland in his last game at the Principality Stadium after 12 years in charge. He leaves after the World Cup this autumn.
The famous Welsh songs poured down on to the players along with the rain that teemed through a roof Ireland had been so keen to ensure was kept open.
It may have been a foregone conclusion from midway through the first half but there was barely a dry eye in the house at the end.
“We’ve worked incredibly hard for the last year and we’ve got a habit of winning,” said Anscombe (right) named man of the match after racking up 20 points.
“It’s a special group and we work so hard for each other.”
Gatland is the first coach to claim three Grand Slams and has his team on a record run of 14 Test wins.
“We will miss him when he’s gone,” said captain Alun Wyn Jones, who joined Gethin Jenkins as the most-capped Welshman with
134. “He’s unwavering and unflappable.”
Unlike Ireland, who were terrible, with star man TIM GOW 25 Ireland 7 Johnny Sexton perhaps the worst of the lot. They lacked discipline, leadership and composure and Wales happily got on with the job of crushing them, returning with points every time they entered Irish territory.
They were dead-eyed and deliberate, led masterfully by Jones. They tackled feverishly and made so few errors with the ball in hand that Ireland rarely had a sniff. The men in red even had the rub of the green, every bounce of a squirming ball going their way. It could not have started better for the Dragons with George North scaring Ireland’s kick-off collectors into touch. From the lineout, Wales took one phase into the centre of the pitch before Anscombe chipped over the defence for Parkes to collect on the tryline.
But even they could not have imagined it getting better, the reliable Anscombe punishing every Irish mistake. The only blot on Wales’ copybook was an Irish try right at the death, replacement full-back Jordan Lamour finding a clear path to the line as the fallen champions gained scant consolation.
But it was worth nothing and it is unlikely Wales’ famously stern defensive coach Shaun Edwards will be too much of a grump at a party that will probably go on for days.