Irish Grand Slam: History, Potential, and Preview

There is no such thing as a guaranteed Grand Slam, and Ireland coach Declan Kidney has warned his side not to take anything for granted.

Ireland remains on course after dispatching England, but as the last decade has shown, there would be a sense of nervousness in the next weeks.

The match against England was not reflective of some advantages they held over the English, but Kidney believes his team was hamstrung by slow ball.

Interesting that current champion Wales were shown up by France for exactly that. It was their lack of ability to adjust to Les Bleus' aggressiveness at the ruck that effectively cost them the match. 

It is a lesson the Irish will do well to heed.

Kidney stated after the match, "We showed good resilience and pressure throughout and that is improving,"

"The forwards brought huge energy to the pitch, guys like Paul O'Connell hit so many rucks.”

"But we didn't get enough quick ball and the gaps just weren't appearing."

But Kidney insists that he always believed that England was no guaranteed win, despite comments made by the media.

"The view that we would beat England heavily never came from us," said the former Munster coach.

"There is never a bad England team, especially when their backs are against the wall like they were when they played us.

"They were extremely difficult to break down and we had to put our all into it.

"We're an OK team. We have four professional teams, England has 12, and they have a semi-professional league below that.”

"We came away with a one-point win in a venue that is very important to us. It was important to win both games against them here.

"There's a lot of experience in our team. They have been down different roads in the past but we know there's no one like Scotland to disturb a party."

Captain Brian O'Driscoll refused to contemplate the Grand Slam despite preserving their unbeaten record in the RBS 6 Nations after three rounds.

Victory over Scotland would send Ireland within one match of potential Six Nations and Grand Slam glory, but that one match would be against the Northern Hemisphere's best team, Wales.

“Nothing has changed for us. We’ll give Scotland exactly the same respect we gave France, Italy, and England,” O’Driscoll said.

“We’re talking about Scotland and them alone. Murrayfield is a tough place to go—I know that from experience.”

“Any side can beat any other in this tournament. That’s what makes it so hard to win.”

“We’ll enjoy this victory tonight and then start focusing all of our attention on Murrayfield.”

It was hardly the most convincing of victories, but if they take the glory by the end of the championship, one-point or 100-point margins will mean little for Ireland.

“The ending was a little nerve-wracking. We made it harder for ourselves than we needed to conceding when we did near the end,” he said.

“But we played it out and won. We didn’t stress ourselves, just did what we needed to.”

“There were a few opportunities out there. That was one of the more physical matches played in a long, long time.”

“England have been in three World Cup finals and are a huge team to beat.”

“We enjoy winning against them because we know how hard it is.”

“It wasn’t the perfect performance but we’re happy to have beaten England, albeit by one point.”

“I’m sore now and will know in the morning that I’ve been in a hard Test match,” he said.

“You expect that against the better teams in the world. The challenges hurt.

“I’m not here to be judging what sort of tackles they were. I won’t hold grudges against the players.”

Ireland will be in a position to win even in they concede a match between now and the conclusion of the championship, considering they have a healthy points advantage. But so much could change in the next two rounds.

Ireland has been the perennial bridesmaids of the championships—since 2001 they have been runners up five times.

The one good omen from this is that they have only been runners-up to France or England, two teams in which they have conquered.  But Scotland is an outside threat, and Wales will be all the more dangerous for having now lost to Les Bleus.

Ireland results so far:

(home team first)

Ireland 30 Vs France 21

Italy 9  Vs Ireland 38

Ireland 14 Vs England 13

Matches to come:

Vs Scotland @ Murrayfield

HEAD TO HEAD:

Ireland 54

Scotland 63

Draws 5

Vs Wales @ Millennium Stadium

HEAD TO HEAD:

Ireland 45

Wales62

Draws 6

Ireland Six Nations record:

Championship wins: 1894, 1896, 1899, 1906 (shared with Wales), 1912 (shared with England), 1926/1927 (shared with Scotland) 1932 (shared with England and Wales), 1935, 1939 (shared with England and Wales), 1948 (Grand Slam), 1949, 1951, 1973 (five way tie), 1974, 1982, 1983 (shared with France), 1985

Grand Slams: 1 (1948)

Triple Crowns: 9

Last championship: 1985