Sunday, March 16, 2008

Wales Grand Slam

Wales won all their matches in the 2008 Rugby union six nations.

Here's what happened :

England 19-26 Wales
Wales 30-15 Scotland
Wales 47-8 Italy
Ireland 12-16 Wales
Wales 29-12 France

Grand Slam

Transforming Wales from World Cup flops to Grand Slam heroes was a "dream", coach Warren Gatland admitted after seeing his side beat France 29-12 in the Six Nations on Saturday.

The result ensured Wales a second Grand Slam in four years, a remarkable turnaround for a team that crashed out of last season's World Cup in the group stages, a result that cost then-coach Gareth Jenkins his job.

Gatland took the helm, and has overseen five straight wins in the championship with a squad hardly changed from the debacle in France.

The New Zealander, who formerly coached Waikato, Wasps and Ireland, said the first goal had been beating England in the first game of the tournament.

"If we could beat England away at Twickenham, and we were lucky enough to do that, our next two games were at home then you have a chance," he said.

"This competition's so short it's all about creating some momentum, and if you win a few games it's great, if you lose a few you're looking at the wooden spoon.

"It was a dream. You have got to believe," he said, admitting that assistant coach Shaun Edwards had given him "a hard time before the competition started when I said we could win the Six Nations".

Edwards, he said, had called him an "eternal optimist".

"The disappointment for Wales in the World Cup came down to a couple of shots at goal. That cost them a quarter-final place and that's how close games in international rugby can be.

"It can turn and change careers."

Gatland said that after his arrival in Wales, he found a group of players with "ability and talent".

"We put some structures in place," he said, adding that emphasis had been laid on "work ethic and self-belief".

"The guys have been magnificent. You get what you deserve - they deserved to win the Six Nations.

"The last few months have been tough for them, but they've responded.

"Winning the Grand Slam in the first season is pretty special."

Edwards, the former Wigan and Great Britain rugby league legend, hailed the tenacious Welsh defence that only conceded two tries.

"Offence sells tickets, defence wins championships," said Edwards, who was assistant to Gatland at Wasps.

"The attitude to defence over the whole of the Six Nations has superseded anything I could even have dreamt of.

"To concede only two tries, one from an interception, one from a kick, so not one running try in five games, is massive credit for the players."

"It's not very romantic but there's no doubt that teams with the best defences often win championships. "What I've always been pleased about is the number of tries we've scored from our defence," he added.

Captain Ryan Jones also hailed his players.

"You push yourself to the limit and get what you deserve," he said.
"Then you have moments like that that you can't put into words, experiences you can't buy and will treasure forever."

Wales - Tries: Shane Williams, Martyn Williams. Conversions: Stephen Jones (2). Penalties: James Hook (3), Jones (2).

France - Penalties: Jean-Baptiste Elissalde (3), Dimitri Yachvili.

Referee: Marius Jonker (South Africa)

Saturday, March 15, 2008

Wales 29 - 12 France

CARDIFF (AFP) — Wales produced a gutsy display of tenacious defence to beat France 29-12 here on Saturday to claim their second Six Nations Grand Slam in four years.

The Welsh completed their remarkable transformation from a side which crashed out of last year's World Cup in the group stages to conceding only two tries and finishing unbeaten after five games of European rugby's showcase tournament.

Wales tellingly punished France with five penalties for ruck infringements, three from James Hook and two from Stephen Jones.

In addition, winger Shane Williams became Wales' record try scorer with a touchdown under the posts and outstanding flanker Martin Williams scored with five minutes remaining. Both were converted by Jones.

Jean-Baptiste Elissalde hit back with three penalties and Dimitri Yachvili one for a game French side that failed to break down the home side's robust blitz defence fashioned by assistant coach Shaun Edwards.

"Sensational" was how the former Wigan and Great Britain rugby league legend summed up Wales' achievement.

Wales coach Warren Gatland added: "These players have given more than we as coaches have asked of them. They've improved from game to game.

"We've won a Grand Slam, but we don't want to stop here. South Africa are the number one team in the world, we go there in the summer..."

Winning captain Ryan Jones described the result as "something special."

He added: "This is absolutely amazing. There were always moments of doubt, but we defended superbly and that's what won us the championship."

Shane Williams reflected: "This just goes to show how hard we've worked since the World Cup. My try was one in a million."

In complete contrast to the era of former coach Gareth Jenkins, who was sacked in the wake of the side's World Cup nightmare, the Welsh showed themselves capable of withstanding wave after wave of French attack.

Although the defensive model sometimes exposed the front five out wide, support from impressive centre pairing of Gavin Henson and Tom Shanklin, as well as full-back Lee Byrne, was quickly on hand to help out.

France retained possession for a concerted three-minute spell early in the game played under a closed roof, but it was Wales which went closer to opening the scoring, winger Mark Jones slipping on the slick pitch as he tried to sidestep the last French defender.

Hook kicked an eighth-minute penalty after a stray French hand in a ruck but missed a second effort five minutes later after some more sustained Welsh pressure.

French centre Yannick Jauzion then produced a try-saving tackle on Byrne after good hands from Martin Williams and Henson saw the ball move wide.

Two further French ruck infringements were penalised by Hook, with Elissalde knocking over one for the French after Wales failed to release the ball after a well-placed up-and-under from Anthony Floch.

Elissalde reduced the arrears to three points with a second penalty in injury time of the first-half, shortly after Henson had been yellow carded for a high tackle on flanker Fulgence Ouedraogo.

Hook missed a second penalty three minutes into the second-half after Vincent Clerc took the wrong decision to run out of his own 22 metre area, and with Henson still off the pitch, Elissalde was successful with a third penalty to draw France level.

Then up stepped Shane Williams to become the highest try scorer for Wales with 41, chasing onto a spilled French ball in midfield and outsprinting Floch to touch down under the posts.

Stephen Jones hit the extras and then nailed a penalty with 15 minutes of the game to go after yet more French ill-discipline at a ruck.

"The turning point of the game was the counter-attack of Shane Williams," France coach Marc Lievremont said.

"The match changed after that. The result was not known at that point but that sealed it although 29-12 was too harsh as a result."

The Welsh front five then shoved the France pack off their own ball at a five-metre scrum, a raft of replacements were made, and man-of-the-match Martin Williams ensured Wales an outstanding end to the Six Nations season with a well-taken try, also converted by Jones.

Saturday, March 8, 2008

Triple Crown Stats
















Wales have taken the triple crown 19 times :
1893, 1900, 1902, 1905, 1908, 1909, 1911, 1950, 1952, 1965, 1969, 1971, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1988, 2005, 2008

The Triple Crown is an honour contested annually by the national teams of England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales as part of the Six Nations Championship. If any one team manages to win all their games against the other three then they win the Triple Crown.

Wales Clinch Triple Crown

Wales won the Triple Crown and continued their march towards the Grand Slam with a narrow victory over Ireland at Croke Park. They also strengthened their grip on the RBS 6 Nations title and they now face a showdown with France next Saturday at the Millennium Stadium.

Wales had not won in Dublin for eight years and spent 20 minutes down to 14 men after Mike Phillips and then Martyn Williams were sin-binned.

Ronan O'Gara scored all of Ireland's points - but sparkling winger Shane Williams scored the decisive try to equal Gareth Thomas' Welsh record of 40.

Wales dominated the encounter yet had to wait until the 57th minute to pierce the Irish defence with the elusive Williams dancing over.

Llanelli fly-half Stephen Jones contributed two penalties and a conversion while his eventual replacement James Hook weighed in with a late three points.

Williams, though, is not interested in hogging the limelight for himself.

"It is amazing. It was a very good performance by the Irish, but we stuck at it," he said. "The last five minutes were the longest five minutes of my life. But the forwards stuck at it, and we deserved it."

Williams believes credit is due to New Zealander Gatland, who has helped to transform Wales' fortunes along with assistant coach Shaun Edwards.

"It is a lot to do with Warren - and the players, and everybody else," said Williams "Warren has come in with his own ideas; we've trained very hard, and it's going very well."

Ryan Jones was almost lost for words afterwards.

He said: "You can't put moments like that into words. It was fantastic. Very few people get to do it. I am proud and privileged.

"The most important thing was doing it on behalf of the other boys. Individual performances and memories don't mean anything - it is the fact I got to represent those boys.

"I wish we could have all gone up because it was impressive to look out over 73,000 people and hear the cheer go up."

Wales take the triple crown




Wales have beaten Ireland thanks to a second half comeback. At half time Wales were down 6-3 but managed to end the match 4 points ahead.

BBC sport match report

Wales 6 nations team versus Ireland

Wales: L Byrne (Ospreys); M Jones (Scarlets), T Shanklin (Blues), G Henson (Ospreys), S Williams (Ospreys); S Jones (Scarlets), M Phillips (Ospreys); G Jenkins (Blues), M Rees (Scarlets), A Jones (Ospreys), I Gough (Ospreys), AW Jones (Ospreys), J Thomas (Ospreys), M Williams (Blues), R Jones (Ospreys, capt).
Replacements: G Williams (Blues), D Jones (Ospreys), I Evans (Ospreys), G Delve (Gloucester), D Peel (Scarlets), J Hook (Ospreys), S Parker (Ospreys).



Ireland: R Kearney (Leinster); S Horgan (Leinster), B O'Driscoll (Leinster, capt), A Trimble (Ulster), T Bowe (Ulster); R O'Gara (Munster), E Reddan (Wasps); M Horan (Munster), R Best (Ulster), J Hayes (Munster), D O'Callaghan (Munster), P O'Connell (Munster), D Leamy (Munster), D Wallace (Munster), J Heaslip (Leinster).
Replacements: B Jackman (Leinster), T Buckley (Munster), M O'Driscoll (Munster), S Easterby (Scarlets), P Stringer (Munster), P Wallace (Ulster), L Fitzgerald (Leinster).

Referee: Wayne Barnes (England).