A Long, Long Wait

When Wales beat England at the start of the Six Nations I smiled quietly - but did not get overexcited. There have been plenty of false dawns over the years. In any case, the game against France would be the one. And so it proved; the best game of the whole championship by far and a sign of the times. Well, we can now celebrate the first Welsh grand slam for twenty-seven years. And the boys played with such verve: quick hands, intelligent running, instinctive support and plenty of insouciance. The current team can't yet compare with their 1978 ancestors; that team had already achieved greatness but was on the verge of breaking up. The 2005 team still has so much potential.

In his own tribute, Norm surprised me by pinning his flag to the Welsh mast - I never knew. But since he's in the mood for revealing sporting affinities here are mine: Wales at rugby (my dad wouldn't have it any other way), West Indies at cricket (Sobers and Kanhai at The Oval as a kid), and, um, Colchester United at football (the first game after we arrived in England was at Layer Road and we did once famously beat Leeds United in the Cup).