Edwards predicts Ireland v Wales Grand Slam showdown

UNCERTAINTY may be key to the Six Nations’ perpetual allure but Gareth Edwards believes that a last day Grand Slam showdown between the form teams, Ireland and Wales, will still be on the cards after this weekend’s round of fixtures.

“The Wales game in Paris, I won’t say it is a banana skin because that underestimates it, but you never know how the French will turn up,” said the Welsh legend, who was in Dublin yesterday for a British & Irish Lions/HSBC promotional event.

“Wales are playing confidently enough to beat France, if they play well. However, as I know from experience, that could easily make you look foolish but I would still put a small bet on that (an Ireland v Wales Grand Slam showdown) because they are the two form teams. It is heading that way.”

The Hall of Fame scrum-half’s opinion on tomorrow’s game at Croke Park is more succinct and assured. England may have improved, he reasoned, but not by enough to overcome their hosts on this occasion.

Such a two-tiered championship is nothing new. France and England dominated the remaining nations to an embarrassing level in the recent past but Edwards has been taken aback by the apparent split so far this season.

“At the beginning of the season I didn’t feel that there was any side that would show the kind of form that would make a Grand Slam possible. Having said that, Wales and Ireland have proven they are the two best sides in the championship.”

That hint of uncertainty is more apparent in the voice of former Irish captain Fergus Slattery, who toured New Zealand and South Africa with Edwards and the Lions in 1971 and ‘74.

“On paper, it looks like it will come down to a Grand Slam. Of the two games this weekend, I would be more surprised to see Wales beat France than Ireland beat England. I think Ireland will beat England comfortably. The France-Wales game will be a lot more closely contested and I wouldn’t be surprised if the French won it.”

With Ireland to face Scotland next week and Wales up against Italy, it would be a surprise if both teams were not making a play for the title, at the very least, when they wrap up their Six Nations duties in Cardiff.

What cannot be disputed is the improvement in the Irish team Slattery believes this current side should not be taken for granted regardless of what happens in the weeks to come.

“I’ve been very impressed. Declan Kidney has done a good job.

“The key areas of concern for Ireland in the last few years — front row and out-half in particular — could still be problems. They could still come back to haunt us but neither area seems as frail as they were.”