I Was There!
March 16th, 2008There are many times that great sporting occasions fail to live up to the media hype that surrounds them. The FA Cup Final with two Premiership teams stuffed full of the best and most expensive players available that fails to deliver a goal before full time. The Test Match that is largely rained off. The Grand Prix that is determined by mechanical failure rather than driving prowess. The Classic race that is not supported by many of the most important owners and trainers. Yesterday’s Rugby Union RBS Six Nations Championship decider at Cardiff was not one of those occasions. As Max Boyce once said, “I was there”.
Before the construction of the Millennium Stadium, this Grand Slam game would have been played in a veritable downpour - a muddy tussle by the Taff would have ensued. Mercifully, it was agreed by both Wales and France that the roof should be closed for the match. The pitch remained in excellent condition throughout. I had been concerned about the number of flamethrowing devices that were deployed immediately prior to the arrival of Wales on the field of play. I was delighted to see the late Ray Gravell’s daughters lead Wales (together with Iain Gough, achieving his fiftieth cap) out.
After the emotion of the anthems came the game itself. It was not an anti-climax. Wales got better and better, to the point where they were able to push France off their own ball in a scrum close to the Welsh five metre line. Wales’s defence was superb, and unlike France they almost always looked threatening in attack.
When the first try came at about sixty minutes, the whole place erupted. Shane Williams had set a new record and the Grand Slam was coming into view. Martin Williams’s try came after the most wonderful burst of the Championship, made by Mark Jones of Llanelli Scarlets. I was glad to see that one or two Scarlets were able to make a great contribution to this Osprey dominated side. Despite the appalling weather outside, Cardiff was in festival mood after this truly great game.
The arrival of Warren Gatland, Shaun Edwards and Rob Howley has, without doubt, helped to instill a new ethos of discipline and order within this Welsh squad. This is Wales’s Tenth Grand Slam. The first was won 100 years ago almost to the day. Thirty years ago, Wales beat France in Cardiff to win their eighth Slam. That team were coming to the end of a wonderful era. This team is far from that. To adapt Winston Churchill’s observation about Alamein: “This is not the end. This is not the beginning of the end. This is the end of the beginning”.
