Warren Gatland, Shaun Edwards and Rob Howley have been the dream team on the sidelines, and the players on the park stepped up to bring the 10th Grand Slam home to Wales.
Wales conceded just two tries in five matches, the lowest total since records began and crucial in the final reckoning. The Millennium Stadium was packed with 75,000 roaring fans, who, from the word go willed the home side to complete their fifth win on the spin and add further silverware to the cabinet after collecting the Triple Crown last weekend.
France were no pushovers by any means and with half an hour to go the score was locked at 9-9. Cometh the hour, cometh the man, and who else but Shane Williams to come to Wales’s rescue. The 28-year-old wing reacted fastest to a loose ball in the France 22 and had the footballing skills to chip to under the posts and dot down.
The try was confirmed by the TMO and Williams leap-frogged Gareth Thomas as Wales’s all-time leading try scorer with 41 touchdowns. Stephen Jones’s conversion gave Wales a seven point lead and then another home hero put his name on the score sheet.
Shane Williams may have grabbed all the headlines in the recent weeks, but fellow wing Mark Jones showed he has some gas with a run that was stopped just one metre short of the tryline. France were in trouble and within a minute, Martyn Williams, the 2005 man of the tournament, has snaffled a loose ball and was under the sticks.
This was an occasion of pure sporting drama. It had a script that was so fantastical as to be unbelievable.
Wales 29 France 12
Wales (9) 29
Tries: S Williams, M Williams
Cons: S Jones (2)
Pens: Hook (3), S Jones (2)
France (6) 12
Pens: Elissalde (3), Yachvili
Wales: Byrne, M. Jones, Shanklin, Henson, S. Williams, Hook, Phillips, Jenkins, Bennett, A. Jones, Gough, A. Jones, Thomas, M. Williams, R. Jones
Replacements: S. Jones for Hook (56), Rees for Bennett (56), D. Jones for A. Jones (71), Evans for Gough (71). Not Used: Delve, Peel, Parker
Sin Bin: Henson (40)
France:Â Floch, Clerc, Jauzion, Traille, Malzieu, Skrela, Elissalde, Barcella, Szarzewski, Mas, Nallet, Thion, Dusautoir, Ouedraogo, Bonnaire
Replacements: Heymans for Floch (67), Trinh-Duc for Skrela (63), Yachvili for Elissalde (67), Servat for Szarzewski (44), Poux for Mas (62), Mela for Thion (75), Vermeulen for Ouedraogo (62)
Att: 75,000
Referee: Marius Jonker (South Africa)
