Frances's Grand Chelem coup at the Stade de France on Saturday was thoroughly deserved, a fair reflection on an outstanding season. While it certainly constituted the most important celebration, it's fair to say that France were celebrating on several different levels over the weekend, literally.
France triumph at all levels
Not only did they win the Six Nations game on Saturday, the preceding evening France thwarted Ireland at A (30-20), Under-21 (22-21) and Student (27-21) levels. Only one side could save Irish rugby's blushes, the Schools side that squared up to their opponents on Saturday night at Rodez.
Unfortunately, they fared no better than any of the other Irish sides, losing 39-13. Ireland's points came from a try by St Michael's number eight Jonathan Rockett (left), converted by Eamon Fitzgerald, with the remainder coming from the boot of scrumhalf and captain David Connellan.
So for France it was a Grand Chelem on the double, as they would say in Dún Laoghaire.
Team of the year
The Irish Times/AIB Team of the year will be announced in this column on Monday week. The lunch to celebrate the team will take place on Wednesday, May 8th, four days after the AIB League final.
Let us hail A-team success
On a hugely disappointing weekend for Ireland rugby, it would be wrong not to alight on the one positive ... the fact that Ireland won the Six Nations Championship at A level. Despite losing their final game 30-20 to France at La Roche sur Yon, Ireland pipped their conquerors and Wales on points difference to claim the honours.
It proved an excellent campaign and credit should go to the management team of Matt Williams, Steph Nel, Mark McCall and Joe Miles along with the players. It will be interesting to note how many of the shadow side force their way onto the squad to tour New Zealand during the summer.
For those who prefer an anorak to a coat, the following were all the results from the A internationals this season (they start with the last round of matches and work back).
Week 5: Italy A 22 England A 21; France A 30 Ireland A 20; Wales A 30 Scotland A 23.
Week 4: England A 21 Wales A 29; Ireland A 59 Italy A 5; Scotland A 13 France A 19.
Week 3: France A 19 England A 10 ; Ireland A 60 Scotland A 3; Wales A 50 Italy A 23.
Week 2: England A 18 Ireland A 25; Italy A 29 Scotland A 30; Wales A 17 France A 6.
Week 1: France A 28 Italy A 13; Ireland A 55 Wales A 22; Scotland A 6 England A 6.
Other Paris pummellings ...
Because this column has a fascination with the macabre, I decided to peek at the last two occasions on which Ireland conceded over 40 points in Paris.
The last time was on February 17th, 1996. Ireland lost 45-10. It was the day that Peter Clohessy was cited and subsequently banned for 26 weeks. David Humphreys (below), another survivor to the present day, had a tough baptism. Simon Geoghegan cried off beforehand with a hamstring injury, Jim Staples was taken off concussed and Ireland conceded tries to Emile N'tamack (2), Richard Castel (2), Philippe Saint-Andre, Olivier Campan and Guy Accoceberry.
The other occasion in the 1990s was on March 21st, 1992. Brendan Mullin must have had a premonition of things to come because he retired from international rugby three weeks prior to the match. Derek McAleese was winning his first and last cap, a fate he shared with Garryowen flanker Paul Hogan. McAleese was preferred to Ralph Keyes, the latter dropping to the bench, while Hogan came in for the injured Philip Matthews.
Philip Danaher captained Ireland for the first time. Once again, Ireland conceded seven tries, through Sebastien Viars (2), Alain Penaud (2), Marc Cecillion, Laurent Cabannes, Jean Luc Sadourny.
Kevin puts it right for Natal
Kevin Putt has made a quick and telling impression on his return to South Africa. The New Zealand-born scrumhalf returned to the South African province for whom he had starred for several seasons, Natal, and guided them to their first victory in this season's Super 12 competition. Natal beat the Auckland Blues 20-13 in Durban.
Up until a fortnight ago Putt had been playing for and coaching Terenure College in the AIB League Division One but decided to take up the offer to coach Natal. He wasn't expecting too much in his first game in charge as the team has been hit by a fairly lengthy injury situation.
Vintage malt for the Voice
It was a fitting and appropriate manner in which to bring the curtain down on one of the most distinguished careers in sports broadcasting. Bill McLaren's (below) 50-year BBC stint came to an end after Saturday's Wales v Scotland clash at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.
The Famous Grouse whisky company decided to mark the occasion by presenting McLaren with a 1951 bottle of The Macallan Malt whisky, one of only 632 bottles of that vintage. The presentation was made by Scotland players Gregor Townsend and Chris Paterson, who both hail from McLaren's Borders homeland.
Murray Calder, global marketing manager for The Famous Grouse, who was at the Millennium Stadium presentation, neatly encapsulated McLaren's appeal: "Bill McLaren is renowned all over the world as the "Voice of Rugby". His love for the game has endeared him to millions of TV viewers and there can be no more respected figure in the world of rugby. The Famous Grouse is delighted to present Bill with a bottle of the limited edition 1951 Macallan Malt whisky to show our appreciation for all he has done for the game of rugby."
Just how much of a void McLaren has left could be gleaned from the commentary of Nick Mullins from the Stade de France yesterday. He will need to work a little harder statistically and be less obvious in his attempts to mimic the great man by coining screwball similes. In fairness, he is new and certainly has an ideal voice but he might just try and get the score right as a start.
Ireland's lot was bad enough without having Mullins deduct a couple of points in several references to the score: he kept saying that France led XX-3 when of course it should have been XX-5. Alright, it's petty but it does grate.
