All Blacks won’t be losing any sleep

ALL’S well that ends well. Twickenham was a great place to be last Saturday. For the countless thousands of Irish people working across the water, Saturday’s game was all the sweeter. To win a Triple Crown at any stage is a welcome achievement. To do so with the last play of the game at the home of the reigning world champions made it more noteworthy.

The quality of the championship as a whole was very disappointing, with massed rugby league style defences dominating.

The fact that France won the honours outright without ever reaching anything like their true potential must be a concern for the other competing sides. The absence of Yannick Jauzion in the centre for the entire tournament had a far greater effect on their attacking potential than one would have thought.