MIKE Ruddock has proved he's got the golden touch, for in successive seasons he has taken two completely different teams either to the brink of glory or the whole way.

Last year he guided a Newport Gwent Dragons team labelled "a bunch of rejects" to within touching distance of the Celtic League title, and now he has coached Wales to the Grand Slam for the first time for 27 years.

But he hands the praise to the players and to the back-room staff rather than himself. He even found the time to praise Saturday's victims, Ireland.

"The strength of this team is they have been through the hard times, they've been out the other side and everyone has worked so hard," he said.

"The big thing is they went out and played all season with no fear and now they've got the rewards.

"Looking at the France game when we were 15-6 down and had lost Alfie (skipper Gareth Thomas) and had our backs to the wall against the Six Nations champions, then we showed a lot of character, skill and team spirit. I thought that maybe we had a chance of doing something special.

"We saw glimpses during the World Cup. Let's give Steve Hansen credit, while Scott Johnson has been the architect of the way we play, Clive Griffiths has been awesome and Andrew Hore superb.

"I felt the style we started to see in the World Cup was definitely the way forward and I encouraged the players to play that way and gave them a licence to thrill.

"I'm delighted we've won the Grand Slam, it's brilliant. When Hal Luscombe had a reaction to his hamstring and Rhys Williams' calf cramped up Mark Taylor stepped up and did a superb job, which shows the strength in depth and the team spirit.

"Colin Charvis, Dafydd Jones and Gareth Cooper have all been injured (as well as Sonny Parker) and then we lost our captain halfway through. But Michael (Owen) stepped up to the mark and then Kevin Morgan and Mark Taylor did the same, which all says a lot for the team spirit.

"But as delighted as we are you have got to give credit to Ireland for the way they came back and scored two tries and put us on the edge of our seats.

"It wasn't until the last minute, when I thought they'd never score two tries, that I felt we'd won it.

"They wanted to put the ball behind us, to challenge our line-out and play for territory, but we wanted to get the ball away from the tackle area and get some momentum going.

"It was a slightly contrasting style, but Ireland were magnificent, they never gave up to allow us the opportunity to rejoice in the final few minutes.

"It's been easy assisting the boys in their goal, they deserve the plaudits and I hope many of them go with the Lions (to New Zealand this summer) so we can take the youngsters to North America.

"I was delighted for Kevin (Morgan) and Gethin (Jenkins). His charge-down and dribble will have John Toshack watching, while Kevin did the business with his support, but it's really about the team, a brotherhood, it's easy for us to encourage them to play like that.

"This has been a long time coming. A lot of these guys are too young to remember the Seventies, but this has brought back all those memories, and the support has also been brilliant."

Ruddock revealed that one of the key motivational tools for the Six Nations had been the majority view of the pundits that they wouldn't provide any members of the British Lions team this summer.

"There has been a very consistent level of performance, and when I pick my team I want to plan from that, which is what I'm sure Clive Woodward is looking for with the Lions," he said.

"The Welsh players have stood up to be counted. On their noticeboard in the Barn at the Vale of Glamorgan is the pundits' Lions team at the start of the championship, with not one Welshman in it. I think we'll tear that down on Monday."

Ruddock aims to build on this success and make sure it's not an isolated occasion, while he feels the past glories can now be laid to rest.

"We hope to continue to be a success, we've got a very dedicated group of players with a big commitment to each other," he said.

"We certainly don't want to let our standards slip. There's a lot more to come from this team and we'll have to set new standards.

"We are very proud of our past players, but the game has changed and we've moved on. This is the first team of the professional era to show us that quality."