History is made, not deserved

ONLY once in my career did I arrive at the last day of the Championship with a Grand Slam on the table for Ireland. Having secured a first Triple Crown since 1949 against Scotland in Lansdowne Road there was a four-week break before our final game against France in Paris. That proved three weeks too long.

Back in 1982 the country, not unlike now, was in the midst of a recession and any good news was welcome. The Irish rugby team provided that. Unfortunately, euphoria took over in the intervening weeks with celebrations aplenty. It was no surprise that we were well beaten by an inferior team.

At the time, success on the rugby field was hard to come by and for some strange reason the Triple Crown was the be-all and end-all. The focus on the Grand Slam was less than it should have been as the squad — and indeed the country — were content with our lot which included winning the championship outright. To this day, I think all the players involved regret that we allowed that to happen. Grand Slams are hard to come by.