Ireland v Wales 2008 Scrum V Classics

In 2007, Welsh rugby was lurching towards another crisis.

A disastrous World Cup campaign, ending with defeat to Fiji,

led to the sacking of coach Gareth Jenkins in a car park.

The WRU management scoured the world for his replacement.

On behalf of the board of directors of the Welsh Rugby Union,

it is my honour and my pleasure to officially announce

that the new national coach of Wales

is Warren Gatland.

Warren Gatland was appointed as the new coach of Wales

on the eve of the Six Nations,

and he came with a huge reputation.

I remember having a phone call with him, asking me

if I would like to captain the Welsh squad.

It was a monumental moment for me, really. It was a moment in my life

that...was a turning point, really,

and my career went from strength to strength, and my reputation alike.

We entered that competition with a real desire

as well as a real measured approach on how to manufacture

and win a Six Nations competition.

We were told in no uncertain terms what was required of us,

and the onus was put on 30 players

to go and implement it over the following nine weeks.

First up was England at Twickenham,

a place where Wales hadn't tasted victory for 20 years.

There were 13 Ospreys in the starting line-up.

It's a wonderful place to go and play rugby,

there's a huge amount of heritage there.

We always said that records are there to be broken,

we hadn't won there for God knows how many years.

But we were thrown the gauntlet... why CAN'T it be our turn,

what is there to be afraid of?

What haven't we got in our armoury?

We had some moments of brilliance which allowed us to turn that game.

It's off for Wales!

Good pickup by Gethin Jenkins!

Back to Williams, back to Phillips!

Oh, England, what have you done? And, Wales, what are you doing?

You take a huge, huge amount of confidence from a victory like that,

and it was something we built on.

Scotland were Wales's next victims,

as Gatling's men powered to a 30-15 victory in Cardiff.

Hook with a hand-off... James Hook straight through!

And the campaign ignited a fortnight later,

as Wales romped to a record 47-8 victory over Italy -

Tom Shanklin celebrating his 50th cap with one of five tries.

Sonny Parker to Shane Williams. His eyes open up!

Outside to Lee Byrne if he needs it!

Surely Shane Williams does it!

He has his second try!

And there is an enormous smile on the face of Welsh rugby.

Next stop was Dublin. The triple crown was within Wales's grasp.

We were two weeks away from achieving something

that you would get remembered for forever, you know,

and one loss or one bad game can take it all away.

It's such a fine margin, but the reward far outweighs

the sacrifice, the effort, the energy, the pain.

And it was just keeping that focus

and striving, and continuing to strive to make history.

We were off to Croke Park for the first time.

You had in the mix the history of Warren Gatland, Eddie O'Sullivan,

the history of Croke Park itself.

But everything felt right.

We were a team that was full of confidence.

You know, we went there to win,

expecting to win, and that wasn't built on a false hope

or it was built on the foundations

of a game that we talked about, we were building on,

it was built on confidence that the guys within the team

were playing very well as individuals as well.

We knew what it would take to win.

It's the return of an old stager that catches the eye today.

Paul O'Connell's influence will be felt all over the pitch,

especially at line-out time.

Injuries to Geordan Murphy and Girvan Dempsey have prompted

a serious reshuffle in the back three.

Shane Horgan returns on the right wing,

Tommy Bowe switches to the left,

21-year-old Rob Kearney starts a test at full-back

for the first time. A late change for Wales.

Hooker Huw Bennett has gone down with the lurgy,

so Matthew Rees is promoted from the bench.

He'll pack down with Adam Jones, who's back again at three.

In the second row, Alun Wyn Jones is fit to go again.

Two big selection calls at nine and ten -

the physical presence of Mike Phillips

preferred to Dwayne Peel at scrum-half,

the experience and control of Stephen Jones

keeps him ahead of James Hook at fly half.

The replacements - Ireland's Luke Fitzgerald will have a nervous wait

for his first introduction to this Six Nations jamboree.

Peel and Hook are asked to bide their time

before they can exert any influence on proceedings.

Cardiff hooker Gareth Williams only flew in last night.

Ireland and Wales still both on course,

let's not forget, for the Triple Crown.

Wales, though, still eyeing the Grand Slam.

And this promises to be very, very special,

as Ronan O'Gara get us under way.

Ireland in the green, Wales in the red.

We are all in sunshine and the ball

is in the arms of Jonathan Thomas, the Osprey winning his 43rd cap.

Back to Lee Byrne.

Had his best game for Wales against Italy in the last outing.

His first clearing touch.

It will be interesting to see how often Wales

actually kick the ball into touch. Their line-up has been terrible.

-WHISTLE BLOWS

-And they have conceded the first penalty as well.

They've been patting themselves on the back

over the past couple of weeks about their discipline.

But immediately Wayne Barnes, who is particularly hot on the breakdown

and players rolling away, has penalised Wales,

and Ireland have the first possible kick at goal.

We will see if O'Gara goes for it.

It might be just a little bit breezy.

It certainly looks as if O'Gara is going to bump this into touch,

rather than go for the opportunity of three points that were on offer.

Maybe Ireland just want to keep this tight into the wind.

They don't want an open wide, unstructured game,

that would play into Wales's hands.

So far Wales coping with it very well.

And O'Gara, like the rest of us,

waiting for the ball to be given some air.

Ireland's forwards look like they've lost the ball.

It's loose, but they get it back.

Penalties coming...for Ireland.

All that hard work and endeavour, it leads to the penalty.

It looked for a second as if they'd lost the ball.

But Wales have conceded the penalty

and now surely this one will be kicked.

And he's done it. And Ireland ahead.

All the muscle and endeavour of the pack leading to the first

three points for Ronan O'Gara and for Eddie O'Sullivan's Ireland.

Things to ponder for the man now in the Welsh box, Warren Gatland.

Ireland 3, Wales 0, five minutes played.

Irish line-out won by O'Callaghan.

Back to something approaching his best again,

he really is starting to fizz, O'Callaghan.

REF: Hands on ball, do not collapse.

After all the talk about dodgy line-outs before the match,

both sides are giving us a masterclass

when it comes to throwing the darts in at the moment.

REF: Not the head! Not the head!

Well, that's been well defended by Wales.

As soon as the ball is won, they've got Ireland on the back foot

and it's going to be slow ball again for Ireland,

that's what they want to do.

A roar for the shove by the forwards.

It might not look much but it's such hard work for these forwards,

it's energy-sapping stuff.

-REF BLOWS WHISTLE

-All this hard work in the pack

will hopefully pay off later on.

And another penalty to Ireland.

Two from two. Perfect.

Ireland have taken their chances in the first quarter,

Wales have paid for their indiscipline.

Two penalties, Ireland 6, Wales 0.

A quarter of the match gone in the Dublin sunshine.

Ireland leading by six points to nil.

REF: Stay on, stay on, 6 Red!

REF: No, there's the ball, don't touch anyone with your feet, no need.

Reddan to O'Gara.

Again, the little chip over

Shane Williams into the space that he sensed was behind.

Oh, and that corner flag could only have been made in Ireland.

This is now a big line-out nonetheless for Matthew Rees.

The Llanelli Scarlet.

And it's won by Paul O'Connell but ball went forward.

REF: Crouch, touch, engage.

The Welsh having to work hard there and Ryan Jones now having to

work very hard to get it back on his team-mates' side.

There it is though for Phillips. Byrne won't have long.

That left boot is such a useful weapon in defence, though.

Terrifically taken by Kearney, however. This is Bowe.

REF: Hands away, Red!

Reddan.

Shane Horgan! Big hole, Horgan, big man!

-Oh, just held up!

-REF BLOWS WHISTLE

Just held up!

It was a lovely dummy by Horgan,

he makes the decision early to cut back in and Lee Byrne reads it

-and just slows him up enough for Phillips to get in there.

-No.

That's short.

It would have been slightly against the run of play and opportunistic

but it was made by Reddan, the chance, that's what he offers.

The tackle's important from Mike Phillips, isn't it?

And if it was any other scrum-half, Horgan would surely have scored.

If that had been Dwayne Peel wearing the number 9,

-Ireland would now be celebrating a try, but it isn't.

-That's right,

I just think Horgan made his decision too early

in cutting in from Lee Byrne, it allowed him

to slow himself up and that gave Phillips time to make the tackle.

REF: Just to confirm, that is a knock-on by Green. Scrum, Red.

-OFFICIAL:

-Confirmed.

REF: No try. Scrum, knock-on.

Horgan won't get any closer than that without scoring.

This, though, an opportunity for Wales.

REF BLOWS WHISTLE

And it's a penalty.

REF: It stopped a fair contest.

He gauges it to perfection.

And Wales are on the board for the first time.

It's taken 26 minutes but it's now Ireland 6, Wales 3.

There's still really nothing in this.

Terrific line-out ball from Alun Wyn Jones.

Some momentum was lost as Phillips

struggled to gather the ball in initially.

Shane Williams, though, releasing again for Wales.

Gough, oh, lovely play! Ryan Jones, the captain.

Support is up quickly.

Wales are really coming back into this one.

That was behind Stephen Jones, had to readjust,

but there are so many men clear on the wide right-hand side!

Ball was intended for Martyn Williams.

It was a knock-on in the end.

Ryan Jones on the charge, 7m short.

REF: And away!

Wales straining everything for a try that they would probably deserve.

They've dominated the last ten minutes.

-REF BLOWS WHISTLE

-Ireland's defence being tested

in a way it's not been tested in the championship so far,

really, and penalty now for Wales.

Now, we're going to have a change of decision here

and it's going to be problems for Mike Phillips.

REF: It's going to be your penalty.

Christophe Berdos has told Wayne Barnes

what he thinks happened here.

Oh, dear.

REF: This man has dropped his knee onto his back.

Recommendation, yellow card.

He's cost you three points and he goes to the bin.

The first half, it was ending with so much hope and optimism for Wales.

It's going to end with them down to 14 players and what's more,

the scrum-half, Mike Phillips, is the man who's being binned.

Just stupid.

And Wales have been happy with their discipline leading up to this game,

they will not be happy with their discipline in this first 40 minutes.

REF: Hands away, Red!

REF: That's a good clear-out, not a problem.

He's an abrasive character, Mike Phillips.

It's the feature of his game, it's what makes him

such a special scrum-half, his physical presence

but on that occasion, he just overdid it.

REF: Hands away now, 7.

And we're back to where we were at the start of the first half.

Ireland happy just to keep it tight, keep it close.

And Reddan into touch. Well, it's not been a classic.

Ireland started well enough, took a 6-0 lead, Wales have fought

their way back into it, but they'll be furious that they're not ahead.

The game itself was going OK,

we didn't feel under a huge amount of pressure.

We were still... I felt like we had... For a lot of the competition

we were still able to sort of impose ourselves, if you like.

We were still managing to achieve

what we wanted to in certain scenarios.

The set pieces were going pretty well. But then you start questioning.

The difficulty comes when your kicker misses a kick

and it's compounded by another mistake, a yellow card,

you know, something else goes against you.

But these games are about... It was always going to be

a tight, tight game, you know.

These games, the margins are so small.

Only one team this season can win a Grand Slam

and a half-time they are behind.

What's more, for the first nine minutes of this second half,

Wales will have to do without Mike Phillips.

It will be fascinating to see how they fill in at scrum-half,

a specialist position.

Not easy to cover the cracks, as Stephen Jones has us back under way.

This is the full-back Rob Kearney.

Solid introduction to life as a test match full-back Kearney

in that first 40 minutes.

And O'Gara, now with the Dublin breeze behind him,

finds a safe enough touch.

I wonder how much that yellow card will play on Warren Gatland's

thoughts as he ponders the final game against the French in Cardiff

for what may yet be a potential Grand Slam clincher.

Long, long way to go yet.

And away!

But Wales have started the second half like they finished the first,

very much in the ascendancy

and beginning to boss things in this area at the breakdown.

Winning lots of possession, can they turn all this possession

and territory finally into points?

It's still in.

WHISTLE BLOWS

Ball was loose and it is a penalty.

CHEERING

Stephen Jones's second penalty.

Early knock-ins in the second half, and despite being a man down,

Wales are now level.

Ireland six, Wales six, it could

not be more perfectly balanced.

Phillips back on.

Not only have Wales survived the ten minutes without him,

they've profited.

They were 6-3 down, it's now 6-6.

Here he is.

Burning to make amends, doubtless, into the arms of Tommy Bowe,

originally picked to start on the right wing.

This is the full-back, Rob Kearney.

And away, Reds.

O'Driscoll.

Byrne again.

Trimble.

O'Gara, spreading it for Kearney.

Not quite sure where he was going there and he might have been turned.

And he has. Look at Martin Williams.

Hands off, Green!

Not so much pickpocketing as mugging.

Kearney's mistake, Wales's ball.

Ryan Jones to Tom Shanklin, has Mark Jones outside.

Shanklin holds on to possession as he was tackled by Bowe. Phillips.

Driven on. By Alun Wyn Jones.

Wheels are bossing this. There's only one team in it at the moment.

And it's not the home team.

Hands away, Green!

Ryan Jones.

That's the Irish 22.

Phillips to Jones, to Williams.

Ohhh! Lee Byrne,

aching for the pass that never came. Stephen Jones.

Now then some whip. Shane Williams - always a buzz of excitement.

Williams has scored!

WHISTLE BLOWS

Is there a sharper winger in the world at the moment than

sizzling Shane? And Wales deservedly are ahead.

And Williams...

pulls aside Gareth Thomas as the sharpest tool ever in the Welsh box.

40 tries for him. He is in blistering form.

It goes without saying that in such a tight game,

kicks like this may be important.

It's a really tricky one.

Ohhhh! Stephen Jones!

Stephen Jones threads the needle.

Wales have a seven-point score.

And Williams for the first time in his career has scored

a try against Ireland.

He has never punctured the Green defence before this moment.

If they are going to turn this around, they are going to

really need to stop the flow of possession to Wales

because the way they're playing at the moment, it's going to be

a difficult afternoon, albeit with the breeze not in their favour.

So that's what Wales planned.

But it fell into the grateful arms of Martin Williams nonetheless.

Phillips. Now, big, big hole. Looks for support.

He needs it. He's not going to get all on his own but he's into the 22.

Wales get a quick ball here.

There will be enormous alarm bells ringing. Gavin Henson.

Looks for the options on the wide outside. Lee Byrne to Mark Jones.

The green Irish defence is back.

But the initial burst was from Mike Phillips

and that created this situation.

Jones - to Phillips.

Back inside to Alun Wyn Jones.

Phillips again.

Tom Shanklin - if he can get the ball away...

Shane Williams is all on his own on the left-hand side.

Now Ireland have got the numbers across

and the ball was knocked forward.

There was another opportunity.

An hour gone at Croke Park.

And Ireland beginning to make

a comeback with a terrific ball inside.

The ball could have come from Heaslip.

Oh, goodness me!

Decision.

Don't run at me and shout or the penalty will be reversed.

Coming up from Wayne Barnes though it's a penalty against Wales.

-It's another yellow card.

-Cynical trip.

And Martyn Williams has gone.

Well, what a break from Jamie Heaslip.

He's been at the centre of most good things for Ireland

so far this season.

APPLAUSE

Whoa! He's got it.

For half a second he looked like he'd fluffed it

but they are back to within four points.

Into the final quarter, Ireland 9, Wales 13.

And Martyn Williams is off because of this trip on Eoin Reddan.

Well, whatever about the first red card,

that was a definite...

Sorry, yellow card - that was a definite yellow card.

That's a better scrum from Ireland.

Reddan to O'Gara. Trimble offers himself.

WHISTLE BLOWS

O'Gara takes the tackle. Penalty to Ireland.

Again offside... Now then.

Oh, the game's getting better and better, isn't it?

Who'd be Eddie O'Sullivan?

Who'd be a coach?

Which box would you rather be in?

The one on the right...

..or the one on the left?

Eight minutes to go.

Reddan.

Now, the test, for Lee Byrne.

Gets the ball and gets up onto his feet quickly.

And turns back towards his own players.

Absolutely textbook from Lee Byrne,

who just gets better and better, it seems, with every game at full back.

Thomas, forced away.

Phillips, to Hook.

Holding up in the wind a little bit,

as it's taken well by Kearney, under plenty of pressure from Henson.

Wales with players there, but enough green shirts

to protect the ball for them. O'Gara, thrillingly.

Remember, they're still going for the Triple Crown themselves.

If they can pull themselves through this one,

then they'll go to London with that very much in mind.

So much still on offer for both sides, and still seven minutes

left to play. This has been a real slow-burner,

but I defy anyone to take their eyes off it now.

Trimble.

That is good Welsh defence, though, isn't it?

Ireland really looking for gaps, but there are no gaps there at all.

This is Jackman.

Reddan looking for support and it is almost as if

they are arguing between themselves.

Trimble didn't seem entirely happy

with whatever Eion Reddan was saying.

-WHISTLE

-And it's a penalty to Wales!

Oh, now, then!

Well, he was pointing at Bernard Jackman when he said that.

There is no need for that, at all.

We can see that again...

That really wasn't going to achieve anything.

The ball is nowhere near it, so that is gratuitous.

How badly hurt Jones is, we don't know, but...

Ryan Jones has got his arms up in the air and that, again,

is just plain stupid from Bernard Jackman.

Only just come on to the pitch.

This to give Wales just a little bit of breathing space.

It means that an Irish penalty would not be enough.

Where is it going?

It's going the Welsh way!

It's straight between the posts!

It is James Hook and it is Wales with a four-point cushion,

as they bear down on the Triple Crown!

The giant grasp of Duncan Jones.

Not sure our cameras have had to move for the last 90 seconds.

Wales are playing out time.

It is not the most entertaining facet of the game, but its one

which is beginning to creep in. But it is mightily effective.

And it is doubly so when you are 30 seconds away from a Triple Crown.

And who would have thought this after the wreckage of the World Cup?

After the wreckage of Nantes and the defeat against Fiji...

..and the sacking of the coach.

What a difference for Wales.

20 seconds to go and they are

20 seconds away from winning the Triple Crown.

Taken on by Duncan Jones.

Into the final ten seconds. It's all done for Ireland.

It's all smiles for Wales.

Mike Phillips...into touch!

Wayne Barnes looks for confirmation.

It's a little bit of a pause...

-WHISTLE

-..but it was one worth waiting for!

Wales have won in Dublin!

Wales have won the Triple Crown

and they deserved it!

That was the first moment for me, personally, that I got to lift

silverware as a Welsh captain and is a moment I'll never, ever forget.

To see Martyn Williams' face as he came off.

To see, just, the jubilation in him. There was a relief.

The Triple Crown belongs to Wales!

The Triple Crown has red ribbons on it!

So, it was realisation. You put all those emotions into a pot

and it is a great place to be. Moments like that

live with you for ever. It is only as I'm getting older,

you're able to reflect on those. You roll from one to another,

fortunately, at times, but when you actually sit back and you think

and you drag out a photo or you watch a DVD -

"Crikey!" These are key moments.

They are a small part of Welsh rugby history, right there and then,

and we were part of it and we were creating it.

There was a realisation then that we had one game to go, France,

and we were on the verge of achieving something very, very special -

the second Gram Slam in three years.

They don't come any bigger than that.

That is a monumental fixture and it's in our own back yard.

And it's within grasp.

Williams! It's a foot race and Shane Williams is going to get there!

Oh! A breakaway try!

That's the wonderful thing about how sport... We had an opportunity.

We weren't relying on other results. We had just set ourselves up

for the opportunity to take home the ultimate prize

in Northern Hemisphere rugby.

And they seized that opportunity, beating France convincingly,

by 29-12, in front of a rapturous home crowd.

Martyn Williams finished the job, after his namesake Shane

had become his country's highest-ever try scorer.

It was their second Grand Slam in three years.

Warren Gatland's reign could not have begun in more dramatic fashion.