Wales vs Ireland: Wales finish grand slam in style

I agree with the BBC, AWJ was enormous. I am in Australia and we got the feed via BEIN, am not sure who the commentators worked for or even who they were (too late to think 2am). :)

What Wales showed again was the value of having a great coach working in tandem with a great onfield leader. The Welsh team in all their games had a plan on how they were going to play the specific opponent and then had faith in that plan and were able to execute it. Sure there were times when it got rocky but you must expect that at international levels. It is interesting to speculate how England would have gone with Gatland as coach and Alun Wyn Jones as captain. Even with just AWJ I have a feeling they would be such a better team. He really has turned into a great leader (apart from being a great player) and there are many teams around the world including the Wallabies who could learn how Wales play. AWJ asks all the questions of the referee for Wales and sure there is some chat from other players especially the front row but it doesn't seem to be directly about decisions - only AWJ does that and without whinging!! The rest of the team just get on and play. He also takes his time about making decisions about what to do when Wales have a penalty and understands the power of scoreboard pressure. And lets be honest - while Wales only scored ten tries in the tournament they WON it! Would the Welsh supporters prefer them to have scored twenty four tries but run second. The celebrations in Cardiff will give you the answer to that!! (M Hooper - please remember!)

Ireland are in a dilemma, last year made to look better than they really are. 25-0 with time up? No way the number two ranked side should be in that position. Ever. Time for some serious introspection, for me, predictable fare.

Yes, I suspect this will be a more defensively orientated World Cup. None of the NH sides aside from Scotland are particularly adventurous. Honestly, I think Shannon Frizzell could be fantastic this World Cup. He, along with Kieran Read and Ardie Savea (on current form) looks pretty great to me.

Im thinking Hansen could just choose a beat em approach in the knockouts rather than adopt the usual wide at all costs approach. Rush defence and constant pod work seem the go to plan these days with the odd wide kick or run and to be honest I think the right AB selection could show them how that game can be done. I say that because we havent worked out how to beat it consistently yet, and we are struggling to find world best loosies and midfielders and we had both last two tourneys in abundance. 6,7 and Reads form at 8 are concerning as is the midfield. We have options, but we have got nowhere near replacing McCaw, kaino, the old Read, and certainly not Nonu and Smith. Methinks we are going to have to win this the hard way if we do.

Yep, been thinking that a while. It was competitive to the end but more so due to sub par performances from the higher two sides. They say the RC is not competitive. Well after NZ oz and SA have fought it out for years for second spot. Id be concerned if I were Jones or Schmidt. They need invincible hard men playing at peak levels to enforce their gameplan. Over a short campaign like the world cup, high tensity over several matches, those plans are reliant on high energy levels, non injuries and a bit of luck, and that gameplan is worse case fit for a world cup, where intensity lifts significantly with every match.

Yeah, with the possible exception of Wales it looks to me like South Africa and New Zealand should be fairly confident. And based on what I've seen, I'd be surprised if Wales could beat the All Blacks were they to meet in the finals.

Perhaps burnout, perhaps being praised for selective matches when they had a lot of ordinary ones. They may think they have depth but if the likes of Sexton, Murray, Stockdale etc arent at their very best, they move back to the peleton very quickly, as they have. Wcups looking good for the south again, particularly looking at how the north will build up. Disjointed matches, clubs? Where we have a Super rugby, cut down RC...a nice staircased run i to the tournament.

That’s interesting, the BBC gave man of the match to Alun Wyn Jones...

Wouldn’t mind Gatland as the next Wallabies coach.

Pretty amazing how much Ireland have declined in a few months, and especially players like Ryan, Sexton and Murray! What do you people think caused this rapid decline??

Congratulations, well done the boyos. My theory as to why the Irish barely fired a shot in this Six Nations campaign goes back to their win over the All Blacks in November. Take another look at the physical state of every Irish player in the starting XV as they were subbed off. Rory Best turned 60 that day and every other starting forward was ghostly white, glassy eyed and visibly wobbling at the knees as his spent body sought respite from the battle . They had bypassed their limiter that day and this failed 6 Nations campaign is simple case of the piper being paid for the heroic deeds of the recent past. Again, well done Warren Gatland and Wales. It's always a great Six Nations when England doesn't win it.

Yes the only problem with that statement is thats been the case with three of the six sides in the last six months and Wales are at the moment the only ones who have lived up to it...so far. The danger of peaking too soon evident from the other two.

Yes congrats Wales on the slam, doing to Ireland what they did to England when they also beat the ABs in the AIs in 2012, both sides capitulating in the final match vs Wales, as predicted. ???????? Ireland now a shell of what they were last year..peaking too early...overconfident...? Take your pick. Probably the best thing to happen for them going into the world cup, now they have a more...realistic take on things. Congrats Gats on equalling Henrys 3 Grand slam tours with 3 local ones.

Gatland produces teams with grit. Lions draw against ABs and now this - he's up there. Ireland have to find another way of playing ... their predictability does not bode well for RWC ...

Strange co-incidence that the teams that won the grand slam in 2018 and 2019 were both cactus and out in their matches against France yet contrived wins which kicked them to their 6Ncups. Typical Welsh tv coverage, the MotM is the goal kicker. If I remember B.Foley won MotM against Wales on the EOYT2014 because he kicked 7 goals and basically nowt else. :)

Wales look good. No real weaknesses across the park - a strong team unit. They will test any side in the world. Ireland have some serious questions hanging over them. Rory Best, for one, is past his prime.