So far, so good, with seven of the nine games to date having been successfully converted into clean sweeps. Only one of them, however, has been in Paris.
When the French first came onto the international scene in 1906 they were easy beats for many years. They won only eight of their first 50 international matches (1906-24) and two of them were against the USA and Romania.
They didn’t notch a win over Wales until 1928 – two decades on from their first meeting in 1908. The disappeared from the Championship between 1931-47 because of a dispute, but quickly developed into a major force after WW2.
They had a four-way share of the Five Nations title in 1954, and two-way share with Wales in 1955. A record crowd of 62,000 turned out at Stade Colombes on 26 March, 1955, when Wales arrived for what was France’s first shot at a Grand Slam.
Tries from Alun Thomas and Haydn Morris, and 10 points from the boot of Garfield Owen, were enough to see Wales home to a 16-11 triumph that enabled them to share the title and dash French dreams of a first Grand Chelem.
They won the Five Nations title outright for the first time in 1959 and were unbeaten for the first time in 1960, when only a draw with England stopped them from making a clean sweep. They topped the table again in 1961 and 1962, lost 9-8 at home to Scotland in 1967 in their opening game in Paris before beating everyone else to win again and then arrived in Cardiff on 23 March, 1968, to play for the Grand Slam once again.
This time they reached their goal with a 14-9 victory over a Welsh side captained by Gareth Edwards. The Camberabero brothers, Lilian and Guy at half back, controlled the game perfectly and came up with 11 of the points and skipper Christian Carrere scored a try.
As for Wales and the Grand Slam, they became the first nation to complete a clean sweep of four wins in one season in 1908. They followed that up with a second Slam in 1909 and a third in 1911 in what became known as the ‘Golden Era’.
WELSH GRAND SLAM TEAMS IN THE GOLDEN ERA
1908: Ireland 5 – 11 Wales
Wales: Bert Winfield (Cardiff, captain); Reggie Gibbs (Cardiff), Billy Trew (Swansea), Rhys Gabe (Cardiff), Johnnie Williams (Cardiff); Dick Jones (Swansea), Dickie Owen (Swansea); Billy O’Neill (Cardiff), George Travers (Pill Harriers), Bill Dowell (Pontypool), Jim Watts (Llanelli), Tom Evans (Llanelli), Jim Webb (Abertillery), George Hayward (Swansea), Dick Thomas (Mountain Ash)1909: Wales 18 – 5 Ireland
Wales: Jack Bancroft (Swansea); Johnnie Williams (Cardiff), Jack Jones (Newport), Billy Trew (captain), Phil Hopkins (Swansea); Dick Jones (Swansea), Dickie Owen (Swansea); Jim Webb (Abertillery), George Travers (Pill Harriers), Phil Waller (Newport), Edwin Thomas (Newport), Tom Evans (Llanelli), Jim Watts (Llanelli), Rees Thomas (Pontypool), Ivor Morgan (Swansea)1911: Wales 16 – 0 Ireland
Wales: Jack Bancroft (Swansea); Reggie Gibbs (Cardiff), Billy Spiller (Cardiff), Louis Dyke (Cardiff), Johnnie Williams (Cardiff); Billy Trew (Swansea, captain), Dickie Owen (Swansea); Percy Coldrick (Newport), George Travers (Newport), Jim Webb (Abertillery), Tom Evans (Llanelli), Joe Pugsley (Cardiff), William Evans (Brynmawr), David Thomas (Swansea), Ivor Morgan (Swansea)THREE GRAND SLAMS
Billy Trew 12 / 12 7t 1c
Jim Webb 12 / 12 1t
Johnnie Williams 11 / 12 9t
Dickie Owen 10 / 12 1t
George Travers 10 / 12
Tom Evans 9 / 12 1t
* Games Played / Max Matches / Pts Scored
The first two are registered as Grand Slams even though France weren’t officially a part of the Championship at that stage. The Five Nations, as a tournament, began in 1910, so the 1911 team, led by Billy Trew, can claim to be the first to record an official Grand Slam.
Billy Trew
Trew had scored four tries in the 1908 campaign and only failed to cross the opposition line in the Triple Crown win over Ireland at the Balmoral Showgrounds in Belfast on 14 March, 1908.
The honour of leading Wales to victory on that fell to the Cardiff full back Bert Winfield, who was the fourth captain of the season.
The Irish were once again the final hurdle in 1909 and 1911, but both games turned into routine victories, 18-5 and 16-0, in Swansea and then Cardiff.
There was then a 39-year wait before a Welsh side completed another Grand Slam.
John Gwilliam was the victorious captain in both 1950 and 1952, when the final act on both occasions were games against France at home. It was 21-0 to Wales in Cardiff in 1950 and then 9-5 at St Helen’s two years later.
GRAND SLAM DOUBLE IN THE FIFTIES
1950: Wales 21 – 0 France
Wales: Gerwyn Williams (London Welsh); Ken Jones (Newport), Jack Matthews (Cardiff), Lewis Jones (Devonport Services), Malcolm Thomas (Devonport Services); Billy Cleaver (Cardiff), Rex Willis (Cardiff); John Robins (Birkenhead Park), Dai Davies (Somerset Police), Cliff Davies (Cardiff), Don Hayward (Newbridge), Roy John (Neath), Ray Cale (Pontypool), Bob Evans (Newport), John Gwilliam (Edinburgh Wanderers, captain)1952: Wales 9 – 5 France
Wales: Gerwyn Williams (Llanelli); Ken Jones (Newport), Malcolm Thomas (Newport), Lewis Jones (Llanelli), Horace Phillips (Swansea); Alun Thomas (Cardiff), Billy Williams (Newport); Billy Williams (Swansea), Dai Davies (Somerset Police), Don Hayward (Newbridge), Roy John (Neath), Rees Stephens (Neath), Clem Thomas (Swansea), Allen Forward (Pontypool), John Gwilliam (Edinburgh Wanderers, captain)TWO GRAND SLAMS
John Gwilliam 8 / 8
Roy John 8 / 8 1t
Don Hayward 8 / 8
Ken Jones 8 / 8 8t
Dai Davies 8 / 8
Lewis Jones 7 / 8 5c 5p
Rex Willis 6 / 8
Gerwyn Williams 6 / 8
* Games Played / Max Matches / Pts Scored
It would be another 13 years before Wales would challenge again, and it was to prove to be an unlucky bid. Having secured the Triple Crown in 1965, Clive Rowland’s side had to travel to Paris to meet the French at Stade Colombes in their last game.
In what proved to be the last of his 14 games as captain he found his plans in tatters at half-time with France leading 19-0, much to the pleasure of the French Prime Minister, Georges Pompidou, who had delayed his departure from Paris to hit the election trail so he could watch the game.
WATCH HIGHLIGHTS OF FRANCE V WALES 1965
“It was probably a game too far for us. We had shared the title with Scotland in 1964 and then gone on tour to South Africa,” recalled Rowlands.
“We’d played a lot of rugby and we were blown apart by the French in the first-half in Paris. We were 19 points down at the break, then it went to 22, but we hit back to score three tries. Alun Pask was magnificent and, in the end, I thought might even have nicked it.”
It didn’t help the Welsh cause that Irish referee, Ronnie Gilliland, had to be replaced by the French touch judge, Bernard Marie, after half-an-hour. It was the first time this had happened in a Five Nations fixture.
Gilliland burst a blood vessel in his calf and Marie came on to make history as the first Frenchman to officiate in an official Five Nations fixture. He went on to become a member of parliament and the mayor of Biarritz.
“We scored three tries in the second half, but it was a great shame to have missed out on a Grand Slam having won the Triple Crown and the title. The French had some great players – the Boniface brothers, Jean Gachassin, Walter Spanghero, Benoit Dauga and Michel Crauste – and were building into a good side,” added Rowlands.
By the time Wales were next on a roll heading to Paris, Rowlands was the coach. That was in 1969, and an 8-8 was the only blemish in another Triple Crown season for Wales. Two years later things got even better.
“The 1969 Championship was the beginning of a great period for Welsh rugby. We had a hell of a game in Paris – and it was pretty brutal two years later,” recalled Rowlands.
The draw in 1969 ended a nightmare run of 10 consecutive defeats for the French side in all fixtures. They went from Grand Slam heroes in 1968 to bottom of the table a year later.
When Wales headed to Stade Colombes in 1971 they had won the Triple Crown, while the French were also unbeaten after a win over the Scots and draws in Ireland and England. It was the first heavyweight battle of many between the two nations in the Seventies when they won four Grand Slams between them and six titles out of nine, sharing two others.
“I think the 1971 Grand Slam was the sweetest of the three I won in my time with Wales, not just because it was the first, but because of the quality of the rugby we played,” admitted Gareth Edwards.
“There were no complications in our game or our approach. As Clive Rowlands used to say to me before we went onto the field, ‘Gar, if it’s good ball, pass it, if it isn’t, kick it’. The time we spent together at the Afan Lido in Aberavon paid off because we grew closer and knew what everyone around us needed.
“I learned how the hooker wanted the ball fed into the scrum, the line-out jumpers let the throwers know where to put the ball and we all became comfortable with each other.”
Rowlands made only one change to his side over the four matches that year, Ian hall coming in against Scotland for the injured Arthur Lewis at centre. Lewis then returned for the third round match.
There were nine players in the side who had featured in the draw in Paris two years earlier. They had also experienced the highs and lows of the tour to New Zealand, Australia and Fiji in the summer of 1969.
When they ran out at Stade Colombes they were as ready as they could be to end a 19 year wait for Wales’ sixth Grand Slam.
“To be honest, when I was growing up we only ever talked about the Triple Crown. That was what we played for in the streets and gardens to Gwaun-cae-Gurwen,” explained Edwards.
“I think that was because the French hadn’t always been as competitive in the past. By the Sixties and Seventies they certainly were.
“The scoreline, 9-5, might not suggest it, but it was a great game in Paris in 1971. They took the lead and we hit back with two tries.
“It was Barry John’s match – he scored a try, kicked a penalty and broke his nose with a tackle on the giant Benoit Dauga. I still laugh every time I think of him with two bits of cotton wool shoved up his nostrils.”
Edwards, of course, played his part with an epic try in the left corner after JPR Williams had broken clear from his 22 and sprinted 60 metres up the touchline. His pass to the supporting Edwards allowed the scrum half to beat the super-fast Roger Bougarel to the left corner.
Had there been a TMO that day the French try would not have stood as the giant Dauga clearly lost the ball in the tackle as he dived for the Welsh line. And after the Welsh Grand Slam had been secured?
“I helped Arthur Lewis chair our captain, John Dawes, off the field and that was about it – no cups, no medals and not much fuss,” said Edwards.
“I think that success in 1971, along with what followed in 1976 and 1978, got everyone in Wales finally talking about the Grand Slam. Wouldn’t it be great if we could get another one in Paris this weekend.
“It really is something for everyone to look forward to and it would be nice to pass on the baton to Alun Wyn Jones and see him got out on his own with four Slams. What a player and what a leader!”
The French theme in the Welsh quest for more Grand Slams continued throughout the Seventies. In both 1976 and 1978 the last game of the championship was against France in Cardiff – with the 1978 game being the first in history to be a winner-takes-all decider.
THE SECOND GOLDEN ERA – THE SUPER SEVENTIES
1971: France 5 – 9 Wales
Wales: JPR Williams (London Welsh); Gerald Davies (London Welsh), Arthur Lewis (Ebbw Vale), John Dawes (London Welsh, captain), John Bevan (Cardiff); Barry John (Cardiff), Gareth Edwards (Cardiff); Denzil Williams (Ebbw Vale), Jeff Young (Harrogate), Barry Llewellyn (Llanelli), Mike Roberts (London Welsh), Delme Thomas (Llanelli), Dai Morris (Neath), John Taylor (London Welsh), Mervyn Davies (London Welsh)1976: Wales 19 – 13 France
Wales: JPR Williams (Bridgend); Gerald Davies (Cardiff), Ray Gravell (Llanelli), Steve Fenwick (Bridgend), JJ Williams (Llanelli); Phil Bennett (Llanelli), Gareth Edwards (Cardiff); Tony Faulkner (Pontypool), Bobby Windsor (Pontypool), Graham Price (Pontypool), Allan Martin (Aberavon), Geoff Wheel (Swansea), Tom David (Llanelli), Trevor Evans (Swansea), Mervyn Davies (Swansea)
Rep Used: Mike Knill (Cardiff)1978: Wales 16 – 7 France
Wales: JPR Williams (Bridgend); JJ Williams (Llanelli), Ray Gravell (Llanelli), Steve Fenwick (Bridgend), Gareth Evans (Newport); Phil Bennett (Llanelli, captain), Gareth Edwards (Cardiff); Tony Faulkner (Pontypool), Bobby Windsor (Pontypool), Graham Price (Pontypool, rep: Mike Knill (Cardiff), Allan Martin (Aberavon), Geoff Wheel (Swansea), Jeff Squire (Newport), Terry Cobner (Pontypool), Derek Quinnell (Llanelli)THREE GRAND SLAMS
Gareth Edwards 12 / 12 8t 1dg
JPR Williams 12 / 12 2t
Gerald Davies 11 / 11 7tTWO GRAND SLAMS (1971-76)
Mervyn Davies 8 / 8TWO GRAND SLAMS (1976-78)
Phil Bennett 8 / 8 3t 6c 12p 1dg
Tony Faulkner 8 / 8
Steve Fenwick 8 / 8 2t 3c 6p 2dg
Ray Gravell 8 / 8 1t
Allan Martin 8 / 8 3p
Graham Price 8 / 8
Geoff Wheel 8 / 8
JJ Williams 8 / 8 3t
Bobby Windsor 8 / 8
Terry Cobner 6 / 8
There was another long wait until Mike Ruddock’s team in 2005 shocked everyone by setting up a shot at Wales’ first five match Grand Slam. This time the Irish were the visitors, as they were in 2019, and with a try by current Wales defence coach Gethin Jenkins, Wales marched to a significant 32-20 victory to spark a new Golden Era.
Warren Gatland took up the coaching reins in 2008 and was an immediate hit with a Slam in his first season. France were once again the final hurdle, as they were in 2012. Both games were won by Gatland’s heroes at Millennium Stadium amid great scenes.
21ST CENTURY GRAND SLAMS
2005: Wales 32 – 20 Ireland
Wales: Kevin Morgan (Dragons); Mark Taylor, Tom Shanklin (Blues), Gavin Henson (Ospreys), Shane Williams (Ospreys); Stephen Jones (Scarlets), Dwayne Peel (Scarlets); Gethin Jenkins (Blues), Mefin Davies (Ospreys), Adam Jones (Ospreys), Brent Cockbain (Ospreys), Rob Sidoli (Dragons), Ryan Jones (Ospreys), Martyn Williams (Blues), Michael Owen (Dragons, captain)
Reps Used: Robin McBryde (Scarlets), John Yapp (Blues)2008: Wales 29 – 12 France
Wales: Lee Byrne (Ospreys); Mark Jones (Scarlets), Tom Shanklin (Blues), Gavin Henson (Ospreys), Shane Williams (Ospreys); James Hook (Ospreys), Mike Phillips (Ospreys); Gethin Jenkins (Blues), Huw Bennett (Ospreys), Adam Jones (Ospreys), Ian Gough (Ospreys), Alun Wyn Jones (Ospreys), Jon Thomas (Ospreys), Martyn Williams (Blues), Ryan Jones (Ospreys, captain)
Reps Used: Duncan Jones (Ospreys), Matthew Rees (Scarlets), Ian Evans (Ospreys), Stephen Jones (Scarlets)2012: Wales 16 – 9 France
Wales: Leigh Halfpenny (Blues); Alex Cuthbert (Blues), Jonathan Davies (Scarlets), Jamie Roberts (Blues), George North (Scarlets); Rhys Priestland (Scarlets), Mike Phillips (Ospreys); Gethin Jenkins (Blues), Matthew Rees (Scarlets), Adam Jones (Ospreys), Alun Wyn Jones (Ospreys), Ian Evans (Ospreys), Dan Lydiate (Dragons), Sam Warburton (Blues, captain)
Reps Used: Ken Owens (Scarlets), Ryan Jones (Ospreys), Luke Charteris (Dragons), Lloyd Williams (Blues)2019: Wales 25 – 7 Ireland
Wales: Liam Williams (Saracens); George North (Ospreys), Jonathan Davies (Scarlets), Hadleigh Parkes (Scarlets), Josh Adams (Worcester Warriors); Gareth Anscombe (Blues), Gareth Davies (Scarlets); Rob Evans (Scarlets), Ken Owens (Scarlets), Tomas Francis (Exeter Chiefs), Adam Beard (Ospreys), Alun Wyn Jones (Ospreys, captain), Josh Navidi (Blues), Justin Tipuric (Ospreys), Ross Moriarty (Dragons)
Reps Used: Elliot Dee (Dragons), Nicky Smith (Ospreys), Dillon Lewis (Blues), Jake Ball (Scarlets), Aaron Wainwright (Dragons), Aled Davies (Ospreys), Dan Biggar (Ospreys), Owen Watkin (Ospreys)Gethin Jenkins, Ryan Jones and Adam Jones
THREE GRAND SLAMS
Adam Jones (05, 08, 12) 14 / 15
Alun Wyn Jones (08, 12, 19) 11+1 / 15
Ryan Jones (05, 08, 12) 10+4 / 15 1t
Gethin Jenkins (05, 08, 12) 12+2 / 15 1tTWO GRAND SLAMS (2005-2008)
Ian Gough 5+1 / 10
Gavin Henson 10 / 10 2p 1dg
Stephen Jones 7+2 / 10 19c 20p
Dwayne Peel 7 / 10
Tom Shanklin 9+1 / 10 2t
Jonathan Thomas 6+3 / 10 1t
Martyn Williams 10 / 10 4t
Shane Williams 10 / 10 9tTWO GRAND SLAMS (2008-2012)
Huw Bennett 5+1 / 10
Ian Evans 7+2 / 10
Mike Phillips 9+1 / 10 1t
Matthew Rees 4+3 / 10
Jamie Roberts 6 / 10 1tTWO GRAND SLAMS (2012-2019)
Jonathan Davies 10 / 10 3t
George North 10 / 10 3t
Ken Owens 5+3 / 10
Justin Tipuric 4+1 / 10
But as well as the glory days, there have also been some near misses. In addition to the disappointment in Paris in 1965, Wales just missed out on clean sweeps in the Five Nations in 1988 and 1994.
France spoiled the party in Cardiff in 1988, winning 10-9 to share the title with Wales, while England beat Ieuan Evans’ side 15-8 at Twickenham in 1994. That may have stopped a Welsh Grand Slam, but it didn’t stop Evans becoming the first Welsh captain to receive the Five Nations Trophy, and from the Queen no less.
“We were a really good footballing side in 1988, but none of us had any experience of playing in Grand Slam matches. We’d beaten England at Twickenham, where Jonathan Davies had given Mickey Skinner the run around, and clinched the Triple Crown in Ireland, but didn’t have the experience of the French,” admitted Evans, nowadays a National Representative and WRU board member.
“With players like Rob Jones, Jonathan, Bleddyn Bowen and Mark Ring in the side, it really was a question of whether or not we could win enough ball for them. We relied very heavily on Rob Norster’s line-out capabilities.
“The conditions were dreadful on the big day and the level of hope and expectation as off the scale. I’d grown up watching Wales winning the Grand Slam three times in the Seventies and I can remember the very special feeling of playing in one myself a decade later.
“The disappointing thing was we didn’t produce our best. We could have done with the experience of having a few players who had been in that position before.
“It was pretty much the same at Twickenham six years later. We simply didn’t play to our level against England and it was a massive anti-climax.
“It was nice to win the trophy for the first time, but I think you can tell from the look on my face as I received the trophy what I really thought at the time.”
WELSH GRAND SLAM SUCCESSES
14 March, 1908: Ireland 5 – 11 Wales – Balmoral Showgrounds, Belfast
3 March, 1909: Wales 18 – 5 Ireland – St Helen’s, Swansea
11 March, 1911: Wales 16 – 0 Ireland – Cardiff Arms Park
25 March, 1950: Wales 21 – 0 France – Cardiff Arms Park
22 March, 1952: Wales 9 – 5 France – St Helen’s, Swansea
27 March, 1971: France 5 – 9 Wales – Stade Colombes
6 March, 1976: Wales 19 – 13 France – Cardiff Arms Park
18 March, 1978: Wales 16 – 7 France – Cardiff Arms Park
19 March, 2005: Wales 32 – 20 Ireland – Millennium Stadium
15 March, 2008: Wales 29 – 12 France – Millennium Stadium
17 March, 2012: Wales 16 – 9 France – Millennium Stadium
16 March, 2019: Wales 25 – 7 Ireland – Principality Stadium
WELSH GRAND SLAM FAILURES
27 March, 1965: France 22 – 13 Wales – Stade Colombes
19 March, 1988: Wales 9 – 10 France – Cardiff Arms Park
19 March, 1994: England 15 – 8 Wales – Twickenham
22 SEASONS OF THE SIX NATIONS
Wales won their fourth Six Nations Grand Slam in 2019 to move ahead of France and this season notched a record equalling fifth Triple Crown in what is the 22nd season of the tournament. Victory in Italy in the last round set-up a shot at a sixth Grand Slam in Paris this weekend.
Titles GS TC WS
England 7 2 5 0
France 5 3 – 1
Ireland 4 2 5 0
Italy 0 0 – 15
Scotland 0 0 0 4
Wales 5 4 5 1
Welsh Grand Slams
1908, 1909, 1911, 1950, 1952, 1971, 1976, 1978, 2005, 2008, 2012, 2019 (12)
Welsh Triple Crowns
1893, 1900, 1902, 1905, 1908, 1909, 1911, 1950, 1952, 1965, 1969, 1971, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1988, 2005, 2008, 2012, 2019, 2021 (22)
Welsh Outright Titles
1893, 1900, 1902, 1905, 1908, 1909, 1911, 1922, 1931, 1936, 1950, 1952, 1956, 1965, 1966, 1969, 1971, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1994, 2005, 2008, 2012, 2013, 2019 (27)
1882-2020 ENG SCO IRE WAL FRA ITA
Tournaments 118 118 118 118 88 21
Outright Wins 29 14 14 27 17 0
Shared Wins 10 8 8 11 8 0
Grand Slams 13 3 3 12 9 0
Triple Crowns 25 10 11 22 0 0
GRAND SLAMS ON FOREIGN FIELDS
1908: Wales at Balmoral Showgrounds, Belfast
1914: England at Stade Colombes, Paris
1921: England at Stade Colombes, Paris
1923: England at Stade Colombes, Paris
1968: France at Cardiff Arms Park
1971: Wales at Stade Colombes, Paris
1977: France at Lansdowne Road, Dublin
1980: England at Murrayfield, Edinburgh
1987: France at Lansdowne Road, Dublin
1998: France at Wembley (Wales home game)
2003: England at Lansdowne Road, Dublin
2009: Ireland at Millennium Stadium, Cardiff
2016: England at Stade de France, Paris
2018: Ireland at Twickenham
