KEV KICKS OFF

I HAVE got to congratulate Ireland on winning the Grand Slam and win it by a clear 11 points. They comfortably beat England at Twickenham on Saturday and Wales were second, Scotland third, France fourth, England fifth and Italy bottom again. Wales were not at their best on Saturday but scraped a win over France 14-13. A lot of Welsh players were well below their best but we did have the outstanding player on the day. Our captain Alun Wyn Jones was immense and deserved the Man of the Match award. If France had a kicker and a decent outside-half they would have beaten us but they didn’t and we have got to be happy with second place and the WRU will net about £2m. Let’s hope they invest all of it in schools/mini/junior rugby. It was good to actually see Italy fronting up and playing some great rugby and pushing Scotland all the way and they were unlucky to lose 29-27 so a well done to the Italians but they can’t afford to play well for one game. You would be better off bringing someone like Georgia into the Six Nations.

Warren Gatland has said he’s going to rest Alun Wyn Jones and leave him off the summer tour to Argentina and a Test in Washington DC against the Springboks. I think it’s the right decision as he’s 32 now and had a lot of rugby with the Lions tour last year and autumn internationals, Six Nations and Ospreys games. He’s just recently signed another dual WRU/Ospreys contract which is a massive boost as the Ospreys have been poor this year and lots of players and coaches are leaving. Good luck to him. QUESTION: Do you think Warren Gatland will be happy with second place?

No, not really. I don’t think any coach would be happy losing but he knows the Irish have been the best team over the last few weeks and got to be the best team in the northern hemisphere now. Wales played their worst game Saturday but won so he will take that result but he won’t be happy; now he’s got to plan for Argentina and SA games in the summer and have a look who’s coming through.