Ireland's Grand Slam: What I Learnt

As the dust settled on one of Ireland's most historic sporting achievements, the Grand Slam and Six Nations win at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium yesterday, I sat back, Bulmer's in hand, to reflect on the journey Declan Kidney's new Ireland setup had taken.

With success in the bag so early, surely any doubts or uncertainty about last year's appointment of the greatest Irish born rugby union coach of the last decade have been vanquished.

So what did I reflect on? There, are firstly, some obvious things that any observer of Ireland's rugby team can conclude:

O'Driscoll and D'Arcy Are Back

Following an horrendous injury set-back with a broken arm during last year's disappointing Six Nations, Gordon D'Arcy has ousted Paddy Wallace, the initial experiment as first choice, at inside centre.

His try against France, after coming off the bench, seemed to be exactly what was needed to reaffirm what a great player he is, not just to Ireland's supporters, but perhaps to the man himself, after spending so long on the sidelines.

Likewise, Brian O'Driscoll seems like a man reborn, turning in his best Six Nations performance, certainly since 2007, and possibly ever.

Ireland's captain scored four tries in five games and even converted a drop goal against perennial rivals England, in what rugby pundit George Hook described as "the best performance by an Irish captain in living memory."

Declan Kidney Has Made The Difference

Declan Kidney, a humble man by nature will probably put the Grand Slam down to the cliches of hard work, "110% effort," yadda-yadda-yadda.

Undoubtedly the addition of Jon Smit, as forwards coach, and Alan Gaffney, as backs coach, has been a welcome change from the previously stale regime, but it is no coincidence Ireland have come up with a Grand Slam in Kidney's first attempt.

The squad itself hasn't changed much in terms of personnel. In fact, appearance records were broken under his reign, showing his faith in many of the old guard, and, of course, his Munster proteges.

That said, Kidney has turned a wonderful team on paper into a team capable of putting in consistently strong performances which live up to the players club and previous international reputations.

The Future of Ireland Looks Bright

Stephen Ferris, Rob Kearney, and Jamie Heaslip, among others, all cemented their places in the team while, like fine wines, David Wallace, Peter Stringer, Paul O'Connell, Jerry Flannery, and others already established in the team, seem to have become more pivotal to Ireland's fortunes.

Together with a great coach, and the aforementioned star pairing of D'Arcy and O'Driscoll at centre, Ireland should hopefully push on and dominate the Northern Hemisphere. We should now look to realistically become the fourth best team in the world within the coming months, and one of the strongest contenders for the next world cup.

Now, while both of the above, and of course, the historical significance of the Grand Slam itself are obvious to all, here are some more interesting caveats that not all may agree on, but I think are worth pointing out.

Ronan O'Gara is Overrated/We Need A Replacement

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