Warren’s men can join greats of the game by winning today

Mar 15 2008 by Gareth Edwards, Western Mail

IT is going to be an honour and a privilege to be at the Millennium Stadium today. This Welsh team has surprised us and stands on the verge of greatness.

Winning a Grand Slam is the greatest feat any northern hemisphere team can achieve outside winning the World Cup and it takes some doing.

Wales were the first to manage the clean sweep 100 years ago yesterday and there have been only 33 unbeaten seasons in that time.

So if Ryan Jones’ side are able to close the deal today their achievement will rank next to any of the other nine Grand Slams brought home to Wales.

The great thing about this season is that expectations were really low at the start. Even the new coach, Warren Gatland, was telling us that his goal was third place.

So how has it turned out that Wales will be playing for a 10th Grand Slam and will take the Six Nations title for only the second time, even if they lose by anything up to 19 points.

The way Wales have performed this championship, it is the French who have the mountain to climb at the Millennium Stadium – a massive change given that we haven’t beaten them here since 1999.

I haven’t looked forward to a game this much for many a moon. In fact, the prospect of facing the French to complete the Grand Slam is even slightly more appealing than the final encounter of the 2005 campaign.

Then we had been blowing teams apart with our running rugby. Today we are smothering teams and striking at the perfect moment.

The impact made by the new coaching recruits, Gatland, Shaun Edwards and Rob Howley, has been enormous. The team have responded to them and the improvement in results has been simply staggering.

When you consider we have conceded only two tries in four games, the basis of our success has been a rock-solid defence.

To put that achievement in perspective, the Welsh Grand Slam teams in which I played in 1971, 1976 and 1978 conceded four, three and four tries respectively in four games, while in the 2002 Six Nations we conceded 18 tries.

Credit to Edwards for getting the players to react so positively to his defensive mantra. We knew he was a specialist in that area, but if Wales can shut out the French he will move into the realms of fantasy land.

The whole season we have been wondering if the team was going to be good enough to raise itself to the next level for the next challenge. Was the historic win at Twickenham against England a fluke, we asked?

Then came those comprehensive and clinical home wins over Scotland and Italy before last week’s Triple Crown test in Dublin. If I was worried about the outcome of that game before the start, after seeing the team weather the early storm I was confident they could go on to win.

They have shown their durability, displayed their patience and grown in confidence with the passing of every minute of every game.

So much so, that France will arrive as firm underdogs and will meet a Wales team that is confident enough in its own ability to go on and win what will probably be ranked in history as the most unlikely of Grand Slams – if they can do it.

Without wishing to tempt fate, I believe there is an air of confidence about this team that will carry them to their ultimate goal today. It is not about the French, for once, but about the Welsh players.

It certainly won’t be easy. The new French coach Marc Lievremont has picked his most experienced line-up of the season – there are 11 players who played in the World Cup – and they have got nothing to lose.

The fact they can only win the title if they beat Wales by 20 points is going to make them dangerous... very dangerous.

Twice before in the Six Nations France have beaten Wales by bigger margins than that, so we can take nothing for granted tonight.

My one big fear is that Wales will rise to the challenge of getting involved in a running battle. That would be folly.

There is a big prize at the end of the game and a single-point victory will be good enough to take it. If Yannick Jauzion, Vincent Clerc and Anthony Floch are permitted any freedom to show off their running skills, then the game could easily slip away for the home side.

That’s why it is imperative the Welsh forwards take note of the inroads the Italian pack made against the French scrummage. Put a stranglehold on the game.

If James Hook has been selected to engage Wales in a running battle, then that could work against us. If he is there to keep the French guessing, then that will be perfect.

If the two teams stick to the form book of the championship, then I think we will come out on top. The only problem I can foresee is that the French could turn up and surprise us.

They’ve done that in the past and are one of the few teams in the world who can rip up the form book and find something to throw into the equation that nobody thought about.

Like Welsh fans, I’m incredibly proud of what this group of players have already achieved. If they can go one step further today then they will join the greats of the game.

Good luck to them!