Mailbox: Grand Slam winners saluted
March 18 2008
What a transformation! 168 days after being dumped out of the World Cup by Fiji, Wales were crowned Six Nations Grand Slam champions following their 29-12 victory over defending champions France before a euphoric home crowd at the Millennium Stadium on Saturday.
With a tour of South Africa next where coach Warren Gatland has targeted the World Champions on his so far successful hit list, floods of congratulations - and cautions - have been blocking up our inbox! Here's what you had to say...
"A well deserved victory for Wales over France in Cardiff. The Principality is the worthy winner of the 2008 Six Nations. As a France supporter I found it painful watching the men in blue being comprehensively beaten by a hungrier and more effective side. France did not - or could not - switch into second gear and respond accordingly. Was it necessary for Eddie Butler, a supposed professional international rugby commentator, to rub buckets of salt in the wounds of France supporters? In my view, this kind of blatantly biased commentating is unacceptable in any professional sport. I gather that even some Welshman who watched the match from home or the pub thought Mr. Butler poured in on a bit thick and were embarrassed.
"Mr Butler, do Six Nations fans a favour next time and at least try to be neutral. You're no Bill McLaren, Tony Johnson or Hugh Bladen. At least South Africa's Bladen has a subtle way of criticizing players and teams and almost always on the basis of merit. You need a lesson in tact and good sportsmanship.
"For anyone who tuned into Mr. Butler's commentary on Saturday evening, we could all picture him jumping for joy as the final whistle blew. Shameful!"
- Chris Bjornestad (Maputo, Mozambique)
"What can I say, Well done lads!!! Nice to be back at the top."
- Cape
"Tremendous achievement considering where they were after the RWC. Playing good football and maximising their abilities compared to that of their opponents.
"It would be good to be a Welshman today. If only NZ could beat France in Cardiff :)"
- Perry
"Congratulations to Wales on a fantastic season, albeit completely unexpected following their World Cup fiasco. How ironic that it was masterminded by a Kiwi (and Irish) reject and an English ex-Rugby League player."
- Noel
"Sheer magic and proud to be Welsh. Warren Gatland and Shaun Edwards can become honorary WELSHMEN!"
- David
"To think this is the same season as the World Cup is unbelievable, an amazing turn around from Wales with almost the same squad. Gatland and Edwards have performed a miracle. We need to build on this now and make sure its not a one off like 2005 turned out to be. Thank you Fiji, u have awoken the sleeping Dragon!"
- Andrew (Pontypridd)
"Wales seem to think that everybody loves them and loves to see them winning - they need a reality check! Although you cant ask anyone to do more than win all their matches, the standard of the 6 Nations recently has been disappointing to say the least. Remember that they did very little to get themselves back into the first game - credit is due to them for sticking at it but without applying any real pressure or creating any openings of their own, they simply took advantage of an second half by England that was as poor as their entire performance against Scotland. Ireland were poor, Italy like headless chickens, Scotland posed no threat whatsoever against them and France just didn't seem bothered....best of a bad bunch really!
"I suppose we should be congratulating them but the day they force themselves to say "well done" to anyone else's achievements (particularly England!) will be a cold day in hell.The biggest compliment you could pay is that they were the only side who showed any consistency or even improvement over last season (with the possible exception of England & Italy's final matches) largely due to the influence of a certain Englishman and a Kiwi.
"Bring on the Boks? They must be quaking in their boots, mustn't they....?"
- AJ
"Hmmm - England, Scotland, Ireland and Italy...yep, great prep for South Africa (sheesh!)."
- Sola
"Congratulations Wales. May we now see shades of Gareth Edwards, JPR Williams and Gerald Davies era!"
- Earle Mason
"Good luck Wales... on the hard fast South Africa surfaces, the huge Bok loose forwards will tear you to bits!"
- Marlon
"Well done to Wales, they have had an awesome 6N and well deserved winners. Gatland has had a huge impact and one thing is certain, the Boks are going to have to play very very well to stop this Welsh side.
"Boks have a new coach and structures so it's going to be very difficult for them.
"Go Boks!"
- Nick
"Wales' victory in this year's Six Nations has set up a great opportunity for them to claim to be the best in the world with victory over SA in June. It will however be interesting to know what side SA will put out as it would appear from afar that the majority of their World Cup winning team are either now retired from international rugby or playing overseas and potentially not available for international duty. I predict a rebuilding phase over the next 2-3 years for SA rugby, with international stars only making themselves available for tours again just before the next Rugby World Cup, a sorry state of affairs, but the price SA has to pay for the weak Rand and the attraction of the Pound!
"Also, does anyone know if the new ELV's being used in the Super 14 will be used in the test matches in the southern hemisphere? If not (and I expect not), how will southern hemisphere countries be able to adapt to the existing laws for these test matches after having played 4 months worth under different laws?"
- Brendon (a Bok supporter predicting bad times ahead!)
"Wales were the best of the worst but to believe that Welsh rugby has changed over night to challenge South Africa is maybe a bit optimistic.
Wales were lucky that they managed to dig deep and beat England and France are nowhere near the side they once were. Scotland and Italy are non-competitive and Ireland were thrashed by an English side that has barely performed consistently since 2003.
"Good luck to Wales though, the above is not said with sour grapes and a grand slam is no easy achievement no matter how bad the opposition are. If they can pull off two test wins then maybe the Wales team will really be something to talk about again. Time will tell."
- Adam (Sweden)
"Possibly one of the most telling statistics of Wales' Six National campaign is the first and second half score totals in the games.
"If you add all the matches Wales scored 41 points and their opponents 36.
"If you then add the second half scores the total is Wales 107, opponents 30.
"Surely this is a testament to the fitness and doggedness of the 2008 Grand Slam winners."
- Leigh Woolford (Pontypridd)
"Well done Wales! Just a word or two about the "World Champions". Much to our regret (I am a South African) Wales will not be able to play the team that won the World Cup. Three of our key players are in France at present and our selectors have lost their minds. We now select teams by the colour of their skin."
- Dave
"Be careful what you wish for. One championship win doesn't make them giant killers."
- Trevor (USA)
"What a joke (regarding Warren Gatland's comment 'Bring on the World Champions'). From a quality point of view, this has probably been the worst 6N tournament we have ever seen and a number of the S14 teams would have had a chance to win that tournament.
"The Welsh team will be brought back down to earth with a heavy thump come the June tests. They have never won in South Africa and if they are using the Six Nations tournament as a measuring stick to gauge their current international standings, they will be very disappointed when they come up against the Southern Hemisphere teams this year."
- Martin Rohde