The win, when it came, was convincing. Wales beat France yesterday at Cardiff’s Millennium stadium to win rugby’s Grand Slam – a clean sweep of wins in the RBS Six Nations tournament. 

For Wales, the 2008 Grand Slam feels more substantial than that of 2005. The euphoria was just as strong three years ago but that win soon faded, and coach Mike Ruddock was fired less than a year later amidst stories of player unrest. Yesterday’s triumph was won by Wales’s amazing transformation under head coach, Warren Gatland, and defence coach Shaun Edwards. The team conceded just two tries in five games – an extraordinary achievement. Just imagine – beating France and not allowing them a try. The contrast with 2005, when Yachvili spectacularly cut open the Welsh defence, was striking.

Yesterday, Gatland and Edwards understandably insisted that the success belonged to the players. "People are trying to give me the credit in this Six Nations but I haven’t made one tackle in this year’s championship…" joked Edwards. Yet no one was fooled. This was a classic example of how passionate and clever coaches can raise players’ performances. The statistics tell the story: Wales made 128 tackles compared with France’s 79. A tremendous tribute to the fitness and commitment of this Welsh side. Six years ago the then England football manager Sven-Göran Eriksson capitalised on his brief moment of success by writing a book about motivational management. Gatland and Edwards could teach Sven a thing or two!

I reflected on this blog last week how Wales’s sporting renaissance has evoked memories of the fabulous 1970s. Welsh rugby legend Gerald Davies wrote in similar vein in Friday’s Times newspaper. He recalled how the then prime minister and Cardiff MP Jim Callaghan invited the Welsh Grand Slam heroes of 1978 to celebrate at 10 Downing Street. How ironic that Callaghan’s Labour party and Welsh rugby shared the losing habit for years afterwards.

You can see highlights of the 1978 Grand Slam on YouTube.

See my separate post on how London’s media ignored Wales’s Grand Slam triumph.