That Cardiff crowd roar put a lump in my throat
WHAT A day to be commentating in Rome! My head might have been at the Stadio Olimpico, but my heart was inside the Principality Stadium with every other mad Wales fan. What a performance, what a team, what a coach!
I joined in with Welsh men and women around the world in singing and dancing in the rain as Alun-Wyn Jones’ side refused to be denied by blowing Ireland away on the biggest of stages.
I have to say there was a lump in my throat as I heard the crowd roaring on their team and Ireland threw the kitchen sink at them at the end trying desperately not to end the game without a point.
The fact they at least got over that hurdle allowed them to escape with some dignity and pride.
Still, this is not about Ireland. It is all about Wales.
For a moment I thought I had been transported back in time to 2008 and 2012 when we beat France to win those two Grand Slams. Those are days I will never forget and the players who have been a part of this special season will feel exactly the same as they grow older.
It has to be said it was a pretty abject performance from the Irish and I simply can’t explain what happened to Conor Murray and Johnny Sexton. So often the talisman for the men in green, they fell apart under the immense pressure put on them by the Welsh back row.
Poor old Johnny. World Rugby’s Player of the Year in 2018, he cut a pretty sorry and very damp figure by the end. By contrast, the great Alun Wyn was bouncing around like a baby!
The Welsh skipper is just a giant catalyst for his team. His incredible thirst for work and pursuit of excellence means he definitely deserves to join the 12 other Welsh greats who have completed three Grand Slams. Warren Gatland will also now go down in history as the first coach to complete three Six Nations clean sweeps. Not content with just that, his team are now up to No.2 in the world rankings. It means Gatland has bettered the likes of John Dawes, Jacques Fouroux, Geoff Cooke, Jean Claude Skrela and Bernard Laporte who all won two Grand Slams across the Five and Six Nations eras. Not only that, it is now 14 games in a row that this incredible Welsh team have ended up on the winning side.
No wonder Warren keeps saying that this squad has forgotten how to lose. There wasn’t an ounce of selfdoubt among the group and after Hadleigh Parkes crossed for his try the rest of the nation believed there was no way the Six Nations trophy was going anywhere else later in the day.
While the try settled everyone’s nerves and piled the pressure on the Irish, it was the chase from Gareth Anscombe’s kick-off that showed me the Welsh team were right up for it. After George North bundled Jacob Stockdale into touch and earned the first line-out, Wales simply built from there.
I’m not sure what Joe Schmidt would have said to his players after the game. The only thing he and his team can do is write it off as a bad day at the office.
It was arguably their worst day under Schmidt. Ireland’s decision to ask for the roof to be open really backfired on them. What on earth were they thinking?
The Welsh pack has been magnificent throughout the tournament and they were far stronger than the Irish from first to last in wet conditions. As the heavens opened, so the Irish error count rose. They simply couldn’t find any way to get into the game. They needed a big player to stand tall and to provide a rallying point.
Rory Best huffed and puffed, James Ryan was taken to school by Alun Wyn, Ross Moriarty and Josh Navidi did for CJ Stander and Justin Tipuric was all over Peter O’Mahony and Sean O’Brien. Then there was the superior Welsh front row and a much improved line-out performance.
Add it all up and it came to arguably the most complete Welsh performance of the Gatland era. He bowed out as Wales coach in the Six Nations on the highest of highs. Now bring on the World Cup!
While the Irish were considered the best bet from the northern hemisphere to end New Zealand dominance in Japan later this year, you’d have to say that it is now Warren’s warriors who are the pick of the bunch. Dare we dream? Why not!
So much will hinge on the Pool game against Australia in Tokyo. Get over that one and then you’d have to say anything is possible. The momentum that has been built over the last year, along with the increased strength in depth in the squad, has been superb.
Add in Leigh Halfpenny, Cory Hill, Taulupe Faletau, Tomos Williams, Samson Lee and Ellis Jenkins, who have all been injured during the campaign, and the picture starts to look even brighter.
Who knows, maybe Rhys Webb will end up in there too.
There is no reason why Wales can’t go to Japan full of confidence regardless of what happens in the four warm-up matches. I like the fact that Warren has picked four tough fixtures because it means his squad will be battle hardened. Keeping the winning run will be nice, but not imperative. This side has proven it can peak in championship matches and that’s what the World Cup is all about.
The longer the squad spends under the spell of Warren and his magnifi- cent coaching team, the better they become. If you think the win over the Irish was good, just think what might be in store later in the year! Of course that can all wait, certainly for now at least.
First of all there is some celebrating to be done. Warren is a coach who likes his players to enjoy their successes and rightly so. There will be some serious drinking done in Cardiff in the next few days. All I hope is that they learn from my mistake because when we won the Grand Slam in 2008, I got a little bit excited after too many beers and decided it would be a good idea to offer to fight Warren! I’ve been paying for that ever since!
I’m sure the boys will be in the nightclubs of Mill Lane till Sunday and then again the next day, but by God do they deserve it.
Wales now has statistically the best team of their history, one with a Six Nations Grand Slam and Triple Crown in the bank, and the world is the oyster.
We can go on and win in Japan, but let’s just enjoy this moment. These are heady days for Welsh rugby fans indeed!
“Ireland’s decision to ask for the roof to be open really backfired on them”