No Grand Slam (again) no bad thing for a Six Nations alive with possibility

The Irish team celebrate after Jamie Osborne's try against Wales. Pic: Inpho

Eddie Jones described a Grand Slam as an opportunity to “beat your chest a little bit” before his England clinched one on the last day of the Six Nations in Paris 10 years ago. Antoine Dupont cried a river of tears when France claimed theirs in 2022.

When Garry Ringrose and Sam Warburton won Slams with Ireland and Wales in the past they spoke about having watched their predecessors doing just that years before, and how the dream as schoolboys looking on had been to do the same.

This is the Championship where winning the title is never quite enough.

Think back to the last day two years ago when, having lost to a late Marcus Smith drop goal in Twickenham the week before, Ireland stuttered to a nervy four-point win over Scotland before lifting the trophy at a muted Aviva Stadium.

The contrast with the scenes 12 months earlier, when Ireland beat England to claim their fifth win of the spring, was palpable. Andy Farrell had described the prospect of doing that Slam at home against England, on St Patrick’s week, as the stuff “dreams are made of”.

That’s the difference. No-one dreams of just winning the title anymore. But… Ireland would gladly take a mere Championship now as they sit third in the table behind France and Scotland, and with their hopes of topping the table resting on a win against the buoyant Scots and an unlikely defeat for France at home to England.

How the French react to their own shattered dreams after last week’s shellacking in Murrayfield remains to be seen, but lose ‘Le Crunch’, and the trophy with it, and the mood across the Channel could turn from sour to ugly.

Whatever the outcome there, it won’t be what Fabien Galthie or his opposite number wanted given Steve Borthwick had set out his stall at the Edinburgh launch by challenging his players to make it to that last dance with everything still on the line.

Little did he know that ‘everything’ could mean his own job.

Disappointed as they both may be, their respective games so far have fed into a tournament that, by common consent, has been up there with the best ever. Even Wales, winless and with just one bonus point to show for their troubles, have had their moments.

The result of this much is that, for just the second time since the 1970s, this Championship, which has delivered 13 Slams in its first 26 years, will go three years on the trot without doing the clean sweep. That’s no bad thing.

The result of this much unpredictability is that, for just the second time since the 1970s, a Five or Six Nations will go three years on the trot without someone doing the clean sweep. And we’ve had a rate of one every two years since Italy joined in 2000.

This is no bad thing. Maybe a change in mindset is needed here.

The Rugby Championship rarely delivers perfection. New Zealand did win all three games in the truncated tournament in 2023, but it’s ten years since the All Blacks were the last side to win it out on the back of six straight victories.

Go back to 2022 and Ian Foster found himself needing a win against the Springboks in Johannesburg to, supposedly, hang on to his job. Two weeks later and the Pumas were beating them on Kiwi soil and Foster was back under the pump.

And this in a season where they eventually finished top.

Maybe it’s the constricted span and scope of these tournaments that raises the temperatures and the stakes, real and imagined, to such levels. Just think of this Six Nations and the speed with which fortunes and perceptions have changed.

Gregor Townsend was batting off questions (again) about his future after Scotland’s opening loss to Italy. Now he is one win away from legendary status. Borthwick was on a 12-game winning run. Now he’s needing votes of confidence from the RFU.

Ireland have experienced their own mixed emotions: from the depths of despair after Paris on opening night, to the elation of that record win in Twickenham, and with the wins against Italy and Wales resting somewhere on the spectrum in between.

All of which feeds into Saturday’s showdowns in Dublin, Cardiff and Paris.

Conditioned as we in this country are now to success on the Test stage, it’s worth remembering that Ireland still holds the unwanted record for the number of wooden spoon: 25. Failure has been a far more frequent visitor than success.

We should remembers the thoughts Johnny Sexton shared before the team claimed a Grand Slam with a memorable win over England in London eight years ago when he reminded everyone that, while he had three titles at that point, he still hadn’t won a Triple Crown.

“I remember playing Scotland in Croke Park for a Triple Crown in 2010 and almost taking it for granted because I thought I’d have plenty more opportunities like this,” he said. Do we have to remind anyone of what Dan Parks did that day?

No Triple Crown should be sniffed at, and certainly not a Championship.