Appreciation for Wales 3 Grand Slams in 8 years

The_Kew_Tour

What a fantastic achievement by the Welsh yet again. Pure bottle when under pressure.

For a team that has been called so many things particularly by Irish media, and supporters in past they put Ireland to shame in what they have achieved.

This team does not seem to get the credit they deserve and any team that can win 3 Grand Slams in such short period deserve more credit then what they have been given.

Tox56

It's just the arrogant nature of the Welsh forums I've visited that puts me off them.

Still, great achievement by their team and congratulations, but we have more concerning issues atm.

.ak

Re-writing the book on back 3 play .. again. Fair play.

Cosmo Kramer

It has to be said that two of them came in directly post world cup campaigns where the other teams were well below their best through either the start of a rebuilding process or a post world cup hangover. I don't think you can give Wales the same credit for these as you would if they had been achieved when the opposition was going full tilt in other years.

For me they have about 5 or 6 top class players and a fair few average ones. But they seem to know how to strike and win slams when other teams are off their game.

Podge_irl

I have no interest in devaluing Wales achievement by claiming it was due to this, that or the other. 3 Grand Slams in 8 years is a fantastic result for them and congratulations.

PhatPiggins

Fantastic achievement, especially considering that player for player they would be similar in quality to their Irish counter parts. Oh yeah and they won 2 of them under a coach who we deemed not good enough.

boynesider

Fair play to them. We should be trying to emulate what they have done with regard to selection policy, conditioning and tactical strategy.

teednab-el

Wales know how to do pressure. Can you imagine if it was Ireland going for the Slam today, they would bottle it 9 out of 10 times.

mikedragon32

teednab-el wrote: »

Wales know how to do pressure. Can you imagine if it was Ireland going for the Slam today, they would bottle it 9 out of 10 times.

Time the record. You've made your point repeatedly on this forum.

porterbelly

Here here

A coach not afraid to take chances and play young lads.

If Kidney was in charge of Wales, Stephen Jones would be at 10, Colin Charvis at 8, Martyn Williams at 7 and so on

The Dragons are utilised properly, when you see the likes of Faletau and Lydiate coming through, and Charteris there as well. We could take notice here and start utilising Connacht a bit more, or recognising that there is talent there and not having to move them onto another province for them to be considered.

FionnRua

Well done Wales. I envy your sucess. So much for the golden generation of Irish players.
Time for Ireland to move on

teednab-el

FionnRua wrote: »

Well done Wales. I envy your sucess. So much for the golden generation of Irish players.
Time for Ireland to move on

Hopefully we can win a Slam again someday within 10 years of 2009 and not 60+ years. Big changes needed.

thomond2006

It's a fantastic achievement, especially considering their achievements in the club game are awful.

The scary thought is the Wales side is still very young bar the front row, even Phillips is still 29. They will be a top Six Nations side for the forseeable future.

scudzilla

Tox56 wrote: »

It's just the arrogant nature of the Welsh forums I've visited that puts me off them.

Still, great achievement by their team and congratulations, but we have more concerning issues atm.

So don't visit the Welsh Forums then!!

I'm Welsh and think we have a great young team and they're still learning, if they continue to develop and carry on this path then i can see us winning the 6 Nations for the next couple of seasons.

But if it all falls apart, like it has done before, then we've another couple of years of crap followed by a Grand Slam Sometimes it's so frustrating to be a Taff.

And as for the arrogance, yeah, a lot of the Welsh sure can be, ke on my FB for example, 80% of my FB friends are Welsh, only 1 or 2 of them have been commenting on the six nations games this season, yet today everyone was on and a fcukin expert :mad::mad:

jimbomalley

The_Kew_Tour wrote: »

What a fantastic achievement by the Welsh yet again. Pure bottle when under pressure.

For a team that has been called so many things particularly by Irish media, and supporters in past they put Ireland to shame in what they have achieved.

This team does not seem to get the credit they deserve and any team that can win 3 Grand Slams in such short period deserve more credit then what they have been given.

Of all the home nations, I like the welsh the least. No particular reason, maybe it's their arrogance, that and the tanning beds and hair straighteners. Couldn't care less about their triple slam tbh. The 6 nations is starting to bore me too, used to love 6N weekends, the love is seeping away though. From now on Leinster will be my first love, not Ireland, never thought I'd hear myself say that

washman3

[QUOTE=jimbomalley; The 6 nations is starting to bore me too, used to love 6N weekends, the love is seeping away though. From now on Leinster will be my first love, not Ireland, never thought I'd hear myself say that[/QUOTE]

At least until they suffer a few successive defeats, then i will return to watching Formala 1 or Cricket..:D:D:D

washman3

scudzilla wrote: »

And as for the arrogance, yeah, a lot of the Welsh sure can be, ke on my FB for example, 80% of my FB friends are Welsh, only 1 or 2 of them have been commenting on the six nations games this season, yet today everyone was on and a fcukin expert :mad::mad:

Got thousands like that in Ireland too.;)
Get really upset when referred to as a bandwagon.:)
Sporting Congratulations from an all round Irish sports follower.
Hope it makes up for our ref's gigantic bubu at the W/Cup
3 G/Slams in 7yrs, amazing.

bennyineire

Arrogance comes with winning guys, if we won the 3 slams in 8 you can be sure there would be plenty of arrogance coming the "Fintan and Fergals in D4".
Fair play to Wales, I'm happy for ya, better for Wales to win it than England and France.
As for falling out of love for the 6 nations, I don't know where some of guys are coming from, when I grew up in the 90's it was either England or France that won the 6 nations, now there are genuinely 4 teams that can win it.

teednab-el

bennyineire wrote: »

Arrogance comes with winning guys, if we won the 3 slams in 8 you can be sure there would be plenty of arrogance coming the "Fintan and Fergals in D4".
Fair play to Wales, I'm happy for ya, better for Wales to win it than England and France.
As for falling out of love for the 6 nations, I don't know where some of guys are coming from, when I grew up in the 90's it was either England or France that won the 6 nations, now there are genuinely 4 teams that can win it.

Really?

I really think its a toss between Wales England and France.

Tox56

teednab-el wrote: »

Really?

I really think its a toss between Wales England and France.

I know you dislike our team for some reason, but if you say we don't have a chance you are delusional, irrespective of who is managing us.

jimbomalley

washman3 wrote: »

[QUOTE=jimbomalley; The 6 nations is starting to bore me too, used to love 6N weekends, the love is seeping away though. From now on Leinster will be my first love, not Ireland, never thought I'd hear myself say that

At least until they suffer a few successive defeats, then i will return to watching Formala 1 or Cricket..:D:D:D[/Quote]

Been following Leinster and Ireland a long time washman, don't put words in my mouth please regardless of your comedic intent

rmchmufc

Fair play to Wales. Ireland would love to have a record like that

cgpg5

teednab-el wrote: »

Really?

I really think its a toss between Wales England and France.

Are you still posting on this??

washman3

jimbomalley wrote: »

Been following Leinster and Ireland a long time washman, don't put words in my mouth please regardless of your comedic intent

Strange how many people nowadays claim to be lifelong Leinster "followers". any time i've watched them play over the last 3 decades no more than 100 souls were in attendance (with the exception of the last 10yrs or so)

P.S. the Irish Hockey team are on a roll at the moment, think i may become familiar with the rules and jump aboard.:)

CatFromHue

washman3 wrote: »

Strange how many people nowadays claim to be lifelong Leinster "followers". any time i've watched them play over the last 3 decades no more than 100 souls were in attendance (with the exception of the last 5yrs or so)

P.S. the Irish Hockey team are on a roll at the moment, think i may become familiar with the rules and jump aboard.:)

The Celtic League began 10 years ago which was the beginning of Leinster being made a "club" and players/fans/everyone being more focussed on it than the AIL. Leinster and all the provinces before this only played a few games a season and so could be termed a part time "club".

The below gives the attendance for Leinster for this season 10 years ago. There's a few more than a few 100 souls at the games.

http://www.leinsterrugby.ie/matchcentre/results_and_fixtures_leinster.php?includeref=5855&season=2001-2002

If you've being paying attention over the last few decades you should know this.

jimbomalley

washman3 wrote: »

jimbomalley wrote: »

Been following Leinster and Ireland a long time washman, don't put words in my mouth please regardless of your comedic intent

Strange how many people nowadays claim to be lifelong Leinster "followers". any time i've watched them play over the last 3 decades no more than 100 souls were in attendance (with the exception of the last 10yrs or so)

P.S. the Irish Hockey team are on a roll at the moment, think i may become familiar with the rules and jump aboard.:)

Reported and added to ignored. Bye bye

washman3

CatFromHue wrote: »

The Celtic League began 10 years ago which was the beginning of Leinster being made a "club" and players/fans/everyone being more focussed on it than the AIL. Leinster and all the provinces before this only played a few games a season and so could be termed a part time "club".

The below gives the attendance for Leinster for this season 10 years ago. There's a few more than a few 100 souls at the games.

http://www.leinsterrugby.ie/matchcentre/results_and_fixtures_leinster.php?includeref=5855&season=2001-2002

If you've being paying attention over the last few decades you should know this.

I've edited my post to the last 10yrs. have you got attendance figures pre2001.
remember watching Leinster/Munster in Garryowen RFC in an interpro circa 1997. attendance was 300, mostly Munster. 1997 is not exactly "light years" ago, thus disputing the claims of "lifelong" Leinster supporters

CatFromHue

washman3 wrote: »

I've edited my post to the last 10yrs. have you got attendance figures pre2001.
remember watching Leinster/Munster in Garryowen RFC in an interpro circa 1997. attendance was 300, mostly Munster. 1997 is not exactly "light years" ago, thus disputing the claims of "lifelong" Leinster supporters

Leinster and all the provinces pre and post 2001 existence are two very different animals.

In 96/97 Leinster played 3 interpros and 4 HEC games with their season ending in November. In 01/02 Leinster played 19 games in total.

You can check the Leinster/Munster attendance on their websites.

washman3

CatFromHue wrote: »

Leinster and all the provinces pre and post 2001 existence are two very different animals.

In 96/97 Leinster played 3 interpros and 4 HEC games with their season ending in November. In 01/02 Leinster played 19 games in total.

You can check the Leinster/Munster attendance on their websites.

ya, see your point. but no attendance records are available pre Celtic League. attendance at interpro was virtually a source of embarassment.
remember watching Connacht/Munster at Showgrounds with around 80 supporters. 1996 i think,may be wrong.
as for the provinces pre/post 2001 being very different animals, we are now seeing the result of this. today was an absolute trouncing.!

Fair play to Wales, showed great character to come back from the World Cup dissapointment, rode their luck in a few games but really came good when they needed to against Ireland (despite my misgivings about the farce of our "defensive system" on the day), England and today, also they had their share of injuries throughout the campaign and overcame them.

The next test for Wales is can they take it on, personally I don't think Wales hit the sort of heights they can in this 6 nations, yet still won a grand slam and the question is can they raise their game a level?

They need a Southern Hemisphere scalp away from home to copperfasten this improvement, they have 3 shots at Australia who they can target up front, they have a determined and ambitious set of young players who'll be targetting a series win in Australia.

After their last two grand slams the Welsh went backwards, this is a better Welsh side though and they can push on but also they have to address the issue of their regions, its not the end of the world a couple of players going abroad but if this flood of players leaving continues it will make life difficult for Wales to keep the show on the road internationally.

teednab-el

cgpg5 wrote: »

teednab-el wrote: »

Really?

I really think its a toss between Wales England and France.

Are you still posting on this??

Yes I am, have you anything useful to add kiddo?

its_phil

washman3 wrote: »

1997 is not exactly "light years" ago, thus disputing the claims of "lifelong" Leinster supporters

It was 15 years ago. It may as well have been light years ago! Rugby turned pro in 1995 and the game is completely different to then. The game is completely different to where it was in 2005

Are you in some kind of competition on here with everyone to prove your the ultimate die hard fan? All your recent posts on this forum have been about where you were, how you were there before everyone else and why no one else could claim to be a big supporter of the provinces when they didn't before the provinces became a big deal in Ireland! Well congratulations, you and the other 79 fans at The Sportsground that day are the only 'true' provincial fans of Munster and Connacht. The other 6,000 of us planning to go to the Connacht-Munster game next week will stay away so the real rugby fans can watch. Think of it like a 17 year reunion for you guys.

It's this attitude that puts people in this country off rugby and the snobbery of people who are completely against new people following the sport. The more people the better for Irish rugby. The less snobs the better for Irish rugby.

[Jackass]

You can't help but admire the Welsh team for not only their achievements, which alone are fantastic, but for their balls, the way they play, and their selection policy.

They wouldn't be my favourite team in the world in terms of liking them, but I absolutely love watching them, and any team that plays proper rugby I just can't help but admire.

Certainly more than the sum of their parts at international level, and if they are trying to emulate our provincial set up, we should definitely be trying to emulate their international set up...

cgpg5

teednab-el wrote: »

Yes I am, have you anything useful to add kiddo?

Well you've certainly had nothing useful to add on this forum for the past day or two

teednab-el

cgpg5 wrote: »

teednab-el wrote: »

Yes I am, have you anything useful to add kiddo?

Well you've certainly had nothing useful to add on this forum for the past day or two

Like yourself I guess.

Hagz

It's incredible to think that North at 19 years of age has been in a WC Quarter Final and has a Grand Slam under his belt.

cgpg5

teednab-el wrote: »

Like yourself I guess.

You wasted a whole day blasting your own country online how someone gets a kick from that I'll never know

CatFromHue

Hagz wrote: »

It's incredible to think that North at 19 years of age has been in a WC Quarter Final and has a Grand Slam under his belt.

Most 19 year olds can't swat people out of the way like he can. Add that to this intelligence and skill and you have a serious player.

bleg

Yup, fair play to them. Great achievement and congratulations.

It still really annoys me that at club/provincial level we hockey them off the pitch most times.

phog

Great achievement for them and to win it in Cardiff makes it all the sweeter for their fans.

CatFromHue

North's only played six 70+ min games for Lanelli so far this season. He's 21 caps for Wales but only 22 for Lanelli! Because of his talent and physical ability he's almost skipped club rugby altogether in his development!

http://www.scarlets.co.uk/eng/rugby/people.php?player=88298&includeref=dynamic

thomond2006

Well North did have shoulder surgery after the 2010 AIs so he missed about 3 months of club rugby.

[Jackass]

It can happen with wonder kids.

Believe it or not, Brian O'Driscoll was capped by Ireland against the then world champions (Australia) before he made a single senior appearance with Leinster.

buck65

Remember Roberts sarcastically tapping Ferris on the head for his late "penalty"?
Says it all really.

dougieruggie

[Jackass] wrote: »

It can happen with wonder kids.

Believe it or not, Brian O'Driscoll was capped by Ireland against the then world champions (Australia) before he made a single senior appearance with Leinster.

Luke McGrath step forward. (joking)(not really)

Webbs

buck65 wrote: »

Remember Roberts sarcastically tapping Ferris on the head for his late "penalty"?
Says it all really.

Says what exactly?

davegrohl48

I think Wales attitude to conditioning and their fitness camps in Poland have played a big part in their success. I think without this edge, they would have had at least one loss out of Ire/Eng/France games.

seeing_ie

[Jackass] wrote: »

You can't help but admire the Welsh team for not only their achievements, which alone are fantastic, but for their balls, the way they play, and their selection policy.

They wouldn't be my favourite team in the world in terms of liking them, but I absolutely love watching them, and any team that plays proper rugby I just can't help but admire.

Certainly more than the sum of their parts at international level, and if they are trying to emulate our provincial set up, we should definitely be trying to emulate their international set up...

Sums up my feeling about the Welsh team fairly well. Couple of fortunate finds though, North/Cuthbert etc.

Congratulations are due on the Grand Slam.
I know we'd be screaming from the rooftops if we won it the way they have this year.

washman3

its_phil wrote: »

The other 6,000 of us planning to go to the Connacht-Munster game next week will stay away so the real rugby fans can watch. Think of it like a 17 year reunion for you guys

do you think we should have a reunion for the 150,000 that attended Thomond Park in 1978 for the Munster/All Blacks game...:D:D:D

washman3

Webbs wrote: »

Says what exactly?

Says that Ferris should shut his mouth in future during the week before an international in Twickenham

washman3

davegrohl48 wrote: »

I think Wales attitude to conditioning and their fitness camps in Poland have played a big part in their success. I think without this edge, they would have had at least one loss out of Ire/Eng/France games.

we've been there,done exactly the same training and bottled it at the W/C. the Polish training camp is a myth.
cant make racehorses out of donkeys...;)