WALES captain Michael Owen, the Newport Gwent Dragons number eight, is still marvelling at the way Wales have turned around a Six Nations whitewash to the Grand Slam in two years.

"It's a brilliant achievement for me and I'm very proud of everyone who's been involved," he said. "Two years ago we were labelled the worst Welsh team in history, but now we've turned it right around.

"Everyone has played a part, including the people who were not there on Saturday. I suppose Steve Hansen started it, good values were instilled, and Andrew Hore has been phenomenal, opening our eyes, and we learnt how discipline was needed.

"Mike Ruddock carried on, leaving things as they are, as well as bringing in some new ideas.

The players are now growing, gaining in leadership qualities and gaining more confidence.

"And all the way through this season we have lost important players like Gareth Thomas and Colin Charvis, but Kevin Morgan and Martyn Williams have come in and played brilliant rugby.

"It won't sink in for a couple of weeks that we've won the Grand Slam. It was a fantastic day, with so many emotions I feel exhausted and elated."

Owen says this can only be the start of something really big, and how far and how quickly they move on from here is down to the players, but he is convinced they will do just that.

"It's up to us. We've got something really special here, too often we run things down in Wales and are too negative, now we can be confident and build from here," he said.

"We can't see this as a one-off, this can't be the climax, but the start of something, the catalyst to go forward. The players are here, we've won the Grand Slam, which doesn't mean we're perfect, but if we continue to work hard we can be much better."

Owen is confident a lot of Welsh players will make the British Lions tour to New Zealand in the summer.

"None of us had been thinking about that because it's a long time away, but after winning the Grand Slam hopefully a lot will go," he said.

"It would be brilliant to go, unbelievable, and the boys who do will have even more confidence in their ability."