";s:4:"text";s:3233:" Chief sports writer at the Principality Stadium, 'Relentless work and a deep belief' - Gatland's Grand Slam coup, It's nice when predictions come true - Gatland, England and Scotland draw astonishing Test. A few minutes later, Ireland had a scrum in Wales’s 22. We've been inconsistent this championship and we'll have to dust ourselves off and finish the calendar year strong.
To use comments you will need to have JavaScript enabled. Wales came from 16-0 down against France in Paris in the opening round, achieving the biggest comeback win since the tournament expanded in 2000. Just after North left the field, Wales’s captain, Alun Wyn Jones, cried out in pain after twisting his knee in a ruck. Italy 0 . Cue the celebrations and emotion: even the hard-nosed Gatland shed tears as his players held aloft the trophy, Warrenbawl. Anscombe's second penalty, from 41 meters, made it 13-0. Congrats wales, grand slams aren’t won by luck. Ireland’s attempt to play catch-up was not helped by the steady rain but such was Wales’s resolve the roof was a minor issue. It took a last-ditch tackle in the left-hand corner from Parkes to stop Stockdale striking back immediately after Johnny Sexton's cross-kick, although Wales then lost George North to injury, Anscombe moving to full-back, Dan Biggar coming in at fly-half and Liam Williams switching to the right wing. Anyone claiming otherwise is a sour bitter bad-loser. He's stepping down after the Rugby World Cup later this year, when he hopes to collect the biggest trophy yet.
But, with three extra points awarded for claiming a Grand Slam, Warren Gatland's team would actually have at least 23 points and the Six Nations title. The crown had been ripped from the champions’ head, exposing a bald patch. With the addition of France, this became the Five Nations Championship (1910–31 and 1947–99), which in turn became the Six Nations Championship with the addition of Italy. Ireland were thrown off course, bungling two lineouts and penalised at three scrums. Gatland cool as ice. Jonathan Sexton noticed Wales wing George North was busy receiving treatment on his bandaged left forearm. France 5. How to get into rugby union - get into the social team game that brings people together. Read about our approach to external linking.