Well done Wales. The Grand Slam is a phenomenal achievement and I am still shocked about it if I am honest.
That's not because I am a bitter and twisted England supporter but because it was so unexpected and executed with such style. That is the single one aspect which has endeared everyone to this success; the manner of the rugby played.
It was the Welsh way, as everyone keeps saying. But they are right. It has been a style which has stunned their opponents, almost in a way rewriting the manuals on how to play international rugby. It had been assumed that you could not make too many mistakes and still win matches, but Wales have changed all that.
Some have said they have concentrated more on attack than defence - and they have thrown caution to the wind more often than not - but that would be to pay their excellent defence a serious disservice. At the crucial times - none more so than the dying minutes in Paris - they have tackled magnificently.
But of greater importance has been the fact that teams have just been unable to stop Wales winning quick ball, for that is an absolute necessity in the Welsh game plan. I am still not quite sure why or how that has happened but you can be assured that Martyn Williams has had something to do with it, as he has in slowing down the opposition's ball, a crucial factor in the win over England especially. Whatever has happened, it has been thrilling and will never be forgotten.
But I wish people would not get too carried away. Sadly, that too is the Welsh way. From one extreme to another. Talk of the next World Cup is ridiculously premature - Graham Henry had it spot on when he told the nation to "just enjoy the Grand Slam" - as is talk that everything is rosy in the Welsh rugby garden, that this success is built on solid foundations.
The Heineken Cup quarter- finals take place in a fortnight and there will be no Welsh region to be seen. The Wales Under-21s may have just won their Grand Slam - and well done to them too - but that is not an uncommon occurrence. Indeed, they have won it three times in the last seven years.
It is what happens to them afterwards that is the key. Dick Best was wrong to say Wales' success was "built on sand" but, please, what a brouhaha about nothing! Do you honestly think the English press would have made such a fuss if a Welshman had disparaged the English team in a time of success? They would have just laughed it off.
Best actually had some good points to make under his acid front - he is not known as "sulphuric" for nothing - especially regarding the make up of the Lions. It is highly unlikely the Test side will be dominated by Welshmen, simply because to play the Welsh way against New Zealand would be folly.
They play that way already and are a damn sight better at it than Wales. Yes, you can argue that Wales ran them close at the Millennium Stadium in the autumn, but that All Blacks side bore little resemblance to the one which hammered France a week later. There was a strong element of experimentation on that tour. There will be none of that in the summer. It will be full-on, proper stuff.
There will be a strong Welsh representation in the tour party - as many as 15 I reckon - but we should not be surprised by that. There were ten Welshmen (eleven when Scott Gibbs joined as a replacement) on the last trip to Australia. And that was obviously a smaller party.
What Sir Clive Woodward is going to have to do is merge the English and Welsh ways of play to find a suitable balance. Many of the English players have won in New Zealand before, and that is important (one of Best's points in fact) as long as many of them can find fitness and form before the party is announced, especially in the front five where the All Blacks are undoubtedly vulnerable.
There could be some surprises in the party though. Don't be surprised to see the name of Ospreys hooker Barry Williams or Irish lock/flanker Trevor Brennan, now playing with Gareth Thomas in Toulouse, or English retirees Lawrence Dallaglio and Neil Back. I'm not sure I agree with players who have retired from international rugby going, because if I was a player who had slogged my guts out in the Six Nations and narrowly missed out to one of them I'd be pretty narked.
Anyway, here's my Lions Test XV. I've made a couple of changes from my original selection, most notably the inclusion of two more Welshmen, Gavin Henson at centre for Gordon D'Arcy because of D'Arcy's continued fitness struggles and, if I'm frank, a lack of alternatives, and Dwayne Peel, who improved dramatically as the tournament went on, for England's Harry Ellis, who had a thoroughly disappointing campaign.
Colin Charvis' ongoing foot trouble means I've gone for Lawrence Dallaglio (begrudgingly, but he is still a fine player and all the indications are that Woodward will pick him) at number eight with Martin Corry moving to blindside, where he started two Lions Tests on the last trip.
My Test line-up Josh Lewsey; Gareth Thomas, Brian O'Driscoll (captain), Gavin Henson, Jason Robinson; Jonny Wilkinson (if not fit, Stephen Jones), Dwayne Peel; Gethin Jenkins, Steve Thompson, Julian White, Paul O'Connell, Ben Kay, Martin Corry, Lawrence Dallaglio, Martyn Williams
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