Congratulations Wales

Deserved Grand Slam and NH bragging rights until the RWC at least.

Yup. Absolute dog and fight. Clawed their way to a hard earned championship

Yea not the prettiest but showed defenses win chanpionships.

Pretty enough to be quite effective. I enjoyed the second half of the England v Scotland game ( only half I saw). It was entertaining high jinx stuff...but the real hard nosed rugby was played by Wales. Talk about perfecting everything for a total performance.

It’s all about what happens from here onwards..!

A fourth six nations grand slam is wonderful, but the RWC is the next pinnacle.

I have a feeling all the six nations learned a lot about what they need to do next this championships and hopefully we will all be the better off for it.

Yes well done Wales, third fave going in, easily the best coming out.

Gonna be a teary farewell at the airport for Gats at some point. Best NH coach in the pro era now? Gotta be close...

LondonTiger wrote:Deserved Grand Slam and NH bragging rights until the RWC at least.

Yes, make sure you pass that batton on..

What sort of person would spend their time trolling a sport in another hemisphere that he has no time or respect for Taylorman? I am in NZ at the moment and have met hundreds of lovely Kiwis at Super Rugby......not one of them is as bitter and petty as you take pride in.

Well done Wales. Seemed like the only team that played with consistency and with a coach that knew what they were doing.

Taylorman wrote:Gonna be a teary  farewell at the airport for Gats at some point.

I imagine he'll be getting the train to London rather than a flight.

It's Paris. Heard all the details. Mucho big salary already promised.

Belated well done to Welsh fans! Of all the teams this 6N they definitely showed the most strength mentally and physically. Gatland has to be applauded for his stellar career with Wales and their incredible 6N record

Through the most gritted of teeth .. congrats guys

is that the humble pie coming back up?

I blame the Saturday and Sunday

BamBam, come on now. Say that again with meaning. I'll hold your hand if you need support

Ok fine, I blame the Saturday and Sunday AND the Friday

Yes indeed.Congratulations to the boys and the management.As a doubter of Anscombe as an international 10(which I retain) his performance on Saturday was top draw so much well earned humble pie for me.My only quibble about Saturday was Gareth Davies' performance which,allowing for the conditions,was patchy to say the least.I also see our Slam has led our Irish friend and wholly impartial pundit Neil Francis to belittle the Welsh team.What an R Sole that man is.

It was a hard fought and well deserved GS for Wales, when they needed to turn it on and turn it up they did.

The stats are fascinating, looking at them without knowing the results, you would never have seen a GS in them. It just goes to show that we probably place far to much confidence in statistics. The only one that really counts is in the history books.

I have never really warmed to Gatland as a person, probably largely to do with his treatment of Scottish players at Lions time, which I still resent. You can't take it away from him as a coach though, he has proved it time and time again. Wales are going to miss him.

He'll miss Wales. Unless he seeks it out now, he'll not be going to any more sides that feel they are being under appreciated, thought too little of, belittled or not respected.

I think Gats thrives on those emotions about proving something to a world that doesn't believe. Well, if he eventually gets the Big Job at the ABs... he ain't going to be coming in under no radar. He's going to have to wear the target badge from possibly day one as even if New Zealand slide a bit in the next few years, they won't be sliding far.

Anyway, he's a great coach, not a good one. But even now, half jokingly, half serious, he's talking about hoping his boys come in under the radar at the WC. Got to face it Gats. It ain't happening.
And maybe Schmidt is a master mind guy all along in dumping the limelight on your guys.

SecretFly wrote:He'll miss Wales.  Unless he seeks it out now, he'll not be going to any more sides that feel they are being under appreciated, thought too little of, belittled or not respected.

I think Gats thrives on those emotions about proving something to a world that doesn't believe.  Well, if he eventually gets the Big Job at the ABs... he ain't going to be coming in under no radar.  He's going to have to wear the target badge from possibly day one as even if New Zealand slide a bit in the next few years, they won't be sliding far.

Anyway, he's a great coach, not a good one.  But even now, half jokingly, half serious, he's talking about hoping his boys come in under the radar at the WC.  Got to face it Gats.  It ain't happening.  
And maybe Schmidt is a master mind guy all along in dumping the limelight on your guys.

Don't worry, Gats will throw a few WC warm up games to put us back under the radar and take the heat off a bit!

A big well done.

Still think they have peaked too soon.

Nah, Oracle. That was my plan. To give you both warm ups too to really put the pressure on. The radar is hot. Enjoy the temperature.

Came to see if there was a thread like this. Just to add my twopence worth: bloody well done, Wales. Pains me to say it, but can't argue. Well deserved. Up to second in the IRB rankings now too.

Also, I've been pretty critical of a certain Welsh second row, but I'm happy to say that I'm now a convert: AWJ is pure, utter class.

Right, now let's get on with prepping for RWC...

Is anyone else really frightened at the prospect of Gatland’s coaching team with French resources?

Eejit wrote:Is anyone else really frightened at the prospect of Gatland’s coaching team with French resources?

What works in Wales won't necessarily work well in France.

Are the French even coachable?

He would not get the same access to the players in France as in Wales, it is a very different dynamic between club and country over there, the players are expected to earn their corn week in week out for their clubs. In Wales currently, players are definitely not putting their clubs/regions first, some of them hardly play at all and can concentrate almost wholly on their international appearances.

One of Gatlands great strength's is that he is able to bring them to the boil without them getting battle hardened in the club matches, particularly the high intensity European ones, that others seem to rely on.

The French are not coachable, too many egos, too many differences and just too French!

They are broken.

If the rumours about Jackman at Grenoble are true (player mutiny because he banned desserts after meals, leading to him getting the chop), I don't think Gatland and Edwards would go down too well. I think the authoritarian style works well with Wales, for whatever reason. I'm not sure it would work as well in France. Although I appreciate I'm generalising quite a bit now.

The Oracle wrote:If the rumours about Jackman at Grenoble are true (player mutiny because he banned desserts after meals, leading to him getting the chop), I don't think Gatland and Edwards would go down too well.  I think the authoritarian style works well with Wales, for whatever reason.  I'm not sure it would work as well in France.  Although I appreciate I'm generalising quite a bit now.

And when I say 'getting the chop', I mean Jackman was sacked rather than he had a vasectomy! Although that might be true too

I remember that the French riot police were threatening to go on strike a few years back because they were trying to ban them from having wine with their lunch!

There are definitely different rules in France!

It’s folly doubting Evil Professor Gatland. Anyway, the south of France is a far better climate for a volcano island in the shape of a skull. Anglesey is too chilly.

The Oracle wrote:

The Oracle wrote:If the rumours about Jackman at Grenoble are true (player mutiny because he banned desserts after meals, leading to him getting the chop), I don't think Gatland and Edwards would go down too well.  I think the authoritarian style works well with Wales, for whatever reason.  I'm not sure it would work as well in France.  Although I appreciate I'm generalising quite a bit now.

And when I say 'getting the chop', I mean Jackman was sacked rather than he had a vasectomy!  Although that might be true too

In France 'getting the chop' generally refers to an appointment with the national razor. Well it certainly used to!

The Oracle wrote:If the rumours about Jackman at Grenoble are true (player mutiny because he banned desserts after meals, leading to him getting the chop), I don't think Gatland and Edwards would go down too well.  I think the authoritarian style works well with Wales, for whatever reason.  I'm not sure it would work as well in France.  Although I appreciate I'm generalising quite a bit now.

One major difference between Jackman and Gatland is that the latter isn't a charlatan.

Charlatan. Hmm, you always have such juicy names for people. Always the scent of dark deception.
Jackman = bad coach. That might be nicer to a guy that seems nice enough but seems to be a bad coach.