AS GOOD AS ANY ENGLAND TEAM IN HISTORY

Sportsmail’s columnist pays tribute to his 1980 Grand Slam winning wonders 40 years on

I’ve never really reflected on the 1980 Grand Slam — you move on quickly in life and sport — and it has caught me by surprise that the 40th anniversary is upon us.

That campaign taught me just about every rugby lesson there is to learn and played a significant part in england’s World Cup success 23 years later.

I saw the vital importance in all winning teams of having a commanding, combative, streetwise set of forwards. That was closely followed by the necessity of having a world- class kicker, in our case Dusty Hare, who saw us home against Wales when we probably deserved to lose. Find a way of getting the job done.

There was the disappointment of not being selected for the opening game against Ireland. But then the realisation of how quickly things can change when the unfortunate Tony Bond broke a leg in that Ireland game and suddenly I was on. Rugby gives and takes and you must be ready to take your chance. Lastly, if you play quickly from all phases with world- class players, nobody can stop you.

Only going back down memory lane this week has it dawned on me that Fran Cotton — who was such an important figure and so supportive behind the scenes as the chairman of Club england when I coached the national side — and I provided a direct link between the 2003 World Cup team and the class of 1980.

We knew what english rugby greatness looked like, we had been fortunate enough to participate in it and, importantly, we knew from experience exactly what it took and the sacrifices needed.

Both of us became businessmen and took the business- like approach to winning that england adopted in 1980, and Fran had already proved an incredibly successful Lions manager when he asked me to coach england. We sang from the same hymn sheet.

On a personal level, I also learned that you must relish the good times because they can be fleeting. My first four caps for england were those four victorious Grand Slam games and I never played as well for england as I did in that final game at Murrayfield.

That 1980 season, aged 23, was as good as it got for me as a Test rugby player, but everybody is different and I often reflected on that when I became england coach. The side I coached endured some tough times — the ‘Tour from Hell’ in 1998 and our World Cup elimination in 1999 — but I knew that you still have to believe your moment will come.

Nothing is forever in sport, success or failure. Just be ready when it’s your time. Back in 1980 I thought it was all ridiculously easy and, in the dressing room at Murrayfield as we celebrated after the final game, I looked around at incredible players such as Roger Uttley, Fran, Tony Neary, Bill Beaumont and Peter Wheeler and just couldn’t believe england had not won countless Championships and Slams.

Here I was, a Grand Slam winner after four Tests, and some of these legends had spent the best part of a decade working towards it with countless kickings en route.

Which is why I have limited sympathy for modern-day players when they start complaining about workloads, too many games and the stress of it all. Try being a top player — but t amateur t — i in t the 1980s. I’d love to transport a few of them back 40 years for a taste.

Throughout that 1980 Slam I, like many england players, was working full-time. At 8am every Monday I had to be in the Xerox offices with my detailed weekly forecasts and sales schedules. I wanted to excel at work as well.

At 6pm most Mondays I also had to be at Stourbridge for a full-on, two-hour england training session. The pace of life was relentless but I loved every minute.

We played and trained for our clubs in between the Tests, and on international week I had to go into work on Thursday morning before heading to London for an afternoon training session.

In our side we had solicitors, farmers, teachers, insurance brokers, bookbinders and fruit merchants. There were not enough hours in the day for most of us.

As for the rugby, that 1980 side stands comparison with any england t team in i history. it If ft there had been a World Cup in 1980, we would have won it.

That pack, that season, was up there with any the game has produced and, although rugby players can only really be judged in terms of the era they played in, I haven’t the slightest doubt the superstars of our 1980 team would be superstars in modern-day rugby.

My coaching adage was always that you needed five or six of the best players in the world in their position to be the greatest, and the class of 1980 stand up to that test. At the start of the campaign Mike Slemen, Fran, ‘Wheelbrace’, Roger and Nearo were world-class and, by the end of it, Beaumont could be added to that list.

They were also a team of leaders and decision-makers. There were six past, present and future england captains in the pack and Paul Dodge and Steve Smith in the backs. An extraordinary stat but what an extraordinary bunch.