Wales prove they're Grand masters

Mar 16 2008 Wales On Sunday

Wales 29-12 France

YOU wait 27 years for a Grand Slam – then two come along in three years.

Wales celebrated the centenary of their first-ever Grand Slam in perfect fashion by clinching their tenth at the Millennium Stadium yesterday.

And their unstoppable march to a truly remarkable clean sweep of the Six Nations under new coach Warren Gatland never really looked in doubt.

It completed the sporting comeback story to beat them all.

A team that was broken, beaten and battered when they exited the World Cup just five months ago, redeemed itself in Cardiff.

And a coach whose international career had been snatched away from him in brutal fashion completed his own resurrection too.

There were other fairy stories on offer on a day when dreams came true.

Shane Williams, who has spent most of his career being written off in certain quarters for being too small for modern Test match rugby, is now his country’s record try-scorer after he crossed for his 41st for Wales.

And Martyn Williams, the player who’d had enough of Test rugby after a dismal World Cup, capped his return from international retirement by waltzing over for Wales’ clinching try. All three have played key parts in a truly remarkable revival.

All the talk was about whether France could mount a challenge and get the 20 points to spoil a nation’s party.

They had their moments but they never looked like wrestling the Six Nations title away from the home side.

Gatland and Shaun Edwards (below), his charismatic right-hand man, deserve all the credit for the way they have transformed the fortunes of this Wales side.

Even if they had failed at this final hurdle, the New Zealander and the Englishman would have deserved all the credit for galvanising a talented group of players who were beaten and broken after the embarrassment and humiliation of their defeat to Fiji back in September.

Wales are now unrecognisable from the disorganised rabble who returned home from Nantes.

Gatland has brought a steely determination and attitude, and his players have responded.

But not even the Kiwi with the Midas Touch could have really hoped he would have had such an impact so soon on his adopted country.

Wales are now a side who can walk the walk and not just talk the talk.

Gatland and Edwards are born winners and they have transmitted their self-belief and confidence to the Welsh players. They may have not played with the fantasy rugby of 2005, but they have displayed true grit and determination.

Wales have won ugly and replaced the classic Welsh romanticism with a real hard-nosed and clinical edge, but still had the ambition to go out and play rugby in the right way.

This game was never going to be a classic, there was simply too much at stake for both sides and both coaches. Gatland’s Wales had the chance for a truly remarkable Grand Slam, while Marc Leivremont’s France were optimistic of stealing the Six Nations title.

But Wales have been the team of the tournament and their defence has been quite unbelievable.

Mr Edwards take a bow, you have set a new record for the least number of tries conceded in the Six Nations, with only two scored against Wales – that is two better than England’s record in 2002 and 2003.

Wales had been here before. And it looked like it.

They didn’t for one moment look like a side about to freeze on the big stage. The French, on the other hand, made mistakes and were tentative.

David Skrela, the French fly-half, even managed the impossible after James Hook had landed an early penalty, and totally scuffed his restart back into his own half. All the nerves were displayed by the side in blue.

Wing Mark Jones came closest to breaking the early deadlock after full-back Lee Byrne had put the Scarlets flyer away. The speedster slipped and failed to make the pass and the chance was gone.

Wales totally dominated the first quarter and spent most of it deep in the French half but, thanks to two James Hook penalties, were only 6-3 ahead despite being in total control of the contest.

But the visitors were then given a chink of light when Wales, once again, showed a lack of discipline.

Gavin Henson was shown a yellow card for a high tackle on flanker Fulgence Ouedraogo and was confined to the sin bin. While Wales were down to 14 men, Hook missed a second penalty and a chance to stretch his side’s lead while Jean Baptiste Elissalde landed his third penalty to draw France level at 9-9.

Gatland’s side had only conceded six points before Henson returned to the fray but the game had become a real chess match, with both sides paralysed by the fear of losing the prizes on offer.

France had too much ball and didn’t know what to do with it and Wales’ only idea was to kick it right back to them.

The game needed one player to take it by the scruff off the neck, but it was hard to see who would stand up and do exactly that.

Gatland then chanced his arm with the introduction of Stephen Jones to replace Hook at fly-half.

And it wasn’t long before the smallest man on the field did what he has done all season and popped up at the right time. Wing Williams latched onto a loose ball and kicked it soccer-style to the French posts and then won the race for the touchdown. The Millennium Stadium, and the nation, went berserk and heaved a massive sigh of relief.

Jones landed the conversion and a penalty to give Wales a 19-9 lead midway through the second-half before the nail-biting really began. Wing Jones nearly ran the length of the field for a try before flanker Williams strolled in to clinch their second Grand Slam of the era.

Wales, the Kings of Europe, now face South Africa, the reigning world champions, in the summer. Just maybe on that occasion they can really exorcise their World Cup demons.

Nobody was caring about that in Cardiff last night.

How Wales won the Grand Slam

'What they said'...

Former Wales captain Colin Charvis: “It is really great seeing Shane break the record – and what a time to do it because it put Wales to a point where it didn’t look like France could come back.”

Former Wales fly-half Jonathan Davies: “Who would have thought this? It is just fantastic for Wales. There are 150,000 Welsh people going to enjoy this – and I’m going to be one of them.”

Man of the Match Martyn Williams: ”It’s an unbelievable feeling. There are 30 or 40 people who have worked so hard for this. “We had to dig deep that first half, we played for long periods without the ball. “We’ve had a bit of luck along the way but we’ve worked hard as a group.”

Wales captain Ryan Jones: “I’m knackered more than anything else. I’ve talked all along about people having dreams and what more can I take away from this.“It’s absolutely amazing. We’ve defended superbly and that’s what’s won us this championship. It’s just been a magnificent eight weeks.”

Alun Wyn Jones: “Three years ago I was with the Under-21s, but now I’ve had a chance to experience this for myself.“Hopefully for Wales this could be the tip of the iceberg. Hopefully the honeymoon period can last for the next four years and the next World Cup - but for now we’ll savour the moment.”

Shane Williams: “I wouldn’t dare think of me scoring and winning the Grand Slam before the game but anything can happen. “The game was so tight and their defence was awesome, but the try was one in a million. “It just shows how much hard work we’ve put in since the World Cup. It’s probably because we’re so scared senseless of Shaun Edwards!”

Stephen Jones: “It’s a great feeling and it’s amazing to think the Rugby World Cup and this have been in the same season. “There are always highs and lows in Welsh rugby and this is certainly a high.“We’ve developed a lot of self-belief and the efforts we’ve put in have earned our rewards.“To only concede two tries is a great statistic. “We had a good start at Twickenham to get our first victory and we gathered momentum and snowballed since then.“This has been a joint effort between coaches and players.” “We had a good start at Twickenham to get our first victory and we gathered momentum and snowballed since then.“This has been a joint effort between coaches and players.”