Wales are Grand Slam champs - now bring on the All Blacks!

Wales and the Williams boys are kings of European rugby. And now the message from the Grand Slam champions is: ’Bring on the Springboks and the All Blacks - and we’ll show you who’s the best rugby team in the world.’’

But while no one can possibly dispute the right of rookie captain Ryan Jones and his men to the Six Nations crown, Wales simply would not have done it without the Englishman in their camp.

Because the masterly skills of defence coach Shaun Edwards was arguably the key to it all.

Wily Wiganer Edwards - in his playing days one of the greatest scrum halves to grace Rugby League - moved in on a part-time basis as Warren Gatland’s sidekick after the Kiwi’s appointment as coach before the start of the campaign.

And he has been so effective  in organising the Welsh defence that they conceded just TWO tries in the entire five-match campaign.

Now the battle is on to keep the man who also coaches Wasps in the Guinness Premiership involved in Wales’s international renaissance.

‘’My contract’s still up in the air - but I’ve more or less agreed everything with Wasps and Wales,’’ he said after the game. England, take note…nothing has been signed yet and Edwards is an Englishman, after all. Could he be the key to reviving your fortunes after an unimpressive Six Nations campaign? I hope not with all the patriotism of a true Cardiffian!

Never was Edwards’s influence more in evidence than in this evening’s 29-12 victory over France - a result that proved beyond doubt that Wales are now the best team in the Northern Hemisphere.

Not once in the entire 80 minutes did a Frenchman breach the home defence - and the simple fact is they wouldn’t have got through had the game gone on all night. The only way Les Bleus were ever going to get behind that unbreachable red wall was by kicking over the top into space. And when they did that, there was invariably cover behind to keep the blue tide at bay.

Ultimately, two opportunist tries by the Williams boys - Shane and Martyn - proved the difference between the sides (pointwise, anyway). Both men have been immense all season and no one deserved those scores more.

The decisive score was the lightning strike by Shane, 5ft 8in of dynamite, which took him past Gareth Thomas to become his country’s record tryscorer with 41. And Martyn’s dash to the line in the dying minutes sealed the Dragons’ second Slam in four seasons.

It also had former Wales fly-half Jonathan Davies drooling in the BBC commentary boss that the Cardiff flanker is ‘’the best No.7 in the world‘’. Richie McCaw and New Zealand, eat your hearts out!

Come to think of it, after taking on world champions South Africa in a two-Test summer tour, Wales ARE planning to eat those All Blacks’ hearts out in the autumn to demonstrate that they are now serious contenders on the world stage. Five months ago, France shocked McCaw’s men in the World Cup on the same Millennium Stadium pitch that Wales tamed Les Bleus today.

The memory of that French glory day prompted goal-kicker Jean-Baptiste Elissalde to scoff before the Grand Slam decider that his team were ''not playing New Zealand or Australia - we’re only playing Wales.’’

Only Wales, Jean-Baptiste? If only your lads were in the same class.