What a finale! Ireland and Wales battled for all their worth in Cardiff on Saturday night with a Ronan O'Gara drop goal in the final two minutes of the game winning it for Ireland and helping them claim their first Grand Slam title for 61 years. They have it all - Six Nations Cup, Triple Crown, Grand Slam. Ireland have it all. And they won it all with three glorious minutes.

History does repeat itself. Sometimes it takes a bit longer but it gets round to it. This time it took 61 years to get it right and sitting in the stand at Millennium Stadium was Jackie Kyle, the great Irish player of his generation, to see this Irish team do it, led by Brian O'Driscoll, the best Irish player of his generation, as his team had done it in 1948.

The Irish have never forgotten in 1948, nor will they ever forget 2009 - the hour, the day, the power and the glory.

Duw, it was hard. The victory was hard and not sealed till quite a bit after the 80 minutes had run. Those last five minutes were filled with racking excitement, an agony of hope and despair. With five minutes to play Stephen Jones kicked a drop to make the score 15-14 in Wales's favour. With two and a half minutes to play Ronan O'Gara kicked a drop to make the score 17-15 in Ireland's favour. Time was up when Ireland were penalised and from 48 metres out Stephen Jones kicked the penalty. It was straight but dropped just under the crossbar and Geordan Murphy made the ball dead to end the game.

It was not just the scoring which made the match so frantically exciting and not just the possibility of the great prize. The match was in itself a thriller, played at a frantic pace with fortunes fluctuating all the time. In a period of three minutes early in the second half Ireland scored two tries, 14 points. Were they going to run away with it?

No, the Welsh came back with determination, aided by Ireland's folly. The penalty count was 15-5 against Ireland. That is huge and potentially fatal. And the Welsh made them pay. Ireland aimed only one penalty goal at posts and that was in the opening minutes when Ryan Jones tripped O'Gara and O'Gara missed that. But Wales kicked four at goal and goaled all four.

But Ireland had strings to its fiddle - a line-out which worked so well that they stole seven from Wales and loose forwards who won the scrap for the loose ball. Wales on the other hand scrummed better and both sides tackled with deadly intent. It was not a match for softies.

Oddly, it was missed tackles that nearly cost Ireland the match. They made the Welsh line-out messy but suddenly big Mike Phillips came bursting away, ploughing through three Irishmen on his way to the line till Peter Stringer brought him down from behind. Wales kept that ball and it was the one Stephen Jones used to goal the drop that so nearly won Wales the match.

There were few points in the first half for lots of eager activity. The Welsh ran at O'Gara as a perceived breach in the Irish line, but that did not work. Ireland came closest to scoring, especially from a five-metre scrum. Indeed Luke Fitzgerald was over in the left corner but the pass from O'Driscoll was forward. Ireland battered but Tomas O'Leary was penalised.

Lee Byrne took an up-and-under and countered. Gavin Henson got a pass to Ian Gough in a tackle and Stephen Jones was off but Ireland won a turnover and relieved the pressure.

It took 32 minutes before any points were scored. Denis Leamy, who had replaced Stephen Ferris, was penalised at a tackle and Stephen Jones scored. Bread of Heaven rang out at Millennium Stadium. Six minutes later Tommy Bowe was penalised for one of those crossing obstructions and again Stephen Jones goaled, and this time Delilah rang out. That made the half-time score 6-0.

Ireland started the second half flying. First Bowe raced on a long run down the right. Then a diagonal kick by O'Gara to the left produced a five-, metre line-out for Ireland. Ireland battered away - a slow and ponderous battering that made progress in centimetres till they got close to the line and somehow O'Driscoll was on hand to plunge and touch the ball to the Welsh goal-line. The television match official advised that a try had been scored. O'Gara converted. 7-6 to Ireland after 43 minutes.

From a scrum in midfield O'Gara kicked a diagonal to the right. Bowe chased, got to it first, juggled and then raced from 40 metres out on a bee line for the posts. O'Gara converted. 14-6 after 46 minutes.

Bowe was freed up again but when he chipped ahead Henson got the ball near his own line and started a counterattack.

The match had had early moments of emotion, usually with Donncha O'Callaghan involved. The referee had spoken to him early on. Then he started Wales back on scoring. There was a line-out to Wales. It was messy and Phillips knocked on. O'Callaghan was physical and verbal and the referee penalised him. Stephen Jones scored. 14-9. Jamie Heaslip obstructed deep in aline-out and Stephen Jones made it 14-12 after 55 minutes.

Bowe was free from an O'Leary chip. He chipped over Henson but then shoved the Welshman on his way to the ball and Ireland had lost another chance.

Henson aimed a kick at goal from about the half-way line and about seven metres in from touch but was well short.

Then Geordan Murphy, on for Rob Kearney, dropped the ball. It looked as if the ball was dropped backwards but the referee blew for a knock-on. This was a long way downfield from where Wales had kicked and it set up the position that became the Phillips charge and the Stephen Jones drop, and Hymns and Arias rang out.

Wales were under pressure just outside their 22. Phillips passed a long way back to Stephen Jones who kicked out on the full. This gave Ireland a line-out well inside the Welsh 22, and they mauled until they had O'Gara in front of the posts and he dropped the goal that won it all - Six Nations Cup, Triple Crown and Grand Slam - and Fields of Athenry sounded in Millennium Stadium.

At the end of the match, Stephen Jones and Ronan O'Gara put their arms around each other and then swapped jerseys before O'Connell was handed the Triple Crown plate with its green and white ribbons, the players received their medals from Prince William and a kiss from Mary McAleese, the president of Ireland and then O'Driscoll received the Six Nations Cup from Sir David Pickering. There is no tangible reward for the most esteemed achievement of them all - the Grand Slam but everybody was aware that 61 years were now a closed chapter.

Man of the Match: To the victor the spoils. There were great perfomances by many of the victors, most obviously Paul O'Connell in the forwards and Brian O'Driscoll in the backs. The choice falls on Brian O'Driscoll, the captain and the greatest Irish player of his time.

Moment of the match: The drama of the final five minutes was what international rugby is all about. Breathtaking.

Villian of the match: No villian in this tale.

The Scorers:

For Wales:
Pen: S Jones 4
DG: S Jones

For Ireland:
Tries: O'Driscoll, Bowe
Cons: O'Gara
DG: O'Gara

Wales: 15 Lee Byrne, 14 Mark Jones, 13 Tom Shanklin, 12 Gavin Henson, 11 Shane Williams, 10 Stephen Jones, 9 Mike Phillips, 8 Ryan Jones (captain), 7 Martyn Williams, 6 Dafydd Jones, 5 Alun-Wyn Jones, 4 Ian Gough, 3 Adam Jones, 2 Matthew Rees, 1 Gethin Jenkins
Replacements: 16 Huw Bennett, 17 John Yapp, 18 Luke Charteris, 19 Jonathan Thomas, 20 Warren Fury, 21 James Hook, 22 Jamie Roberts

Ireland: 15 Robert Kearney, 14 Tommy Bowe, 13 Brian O'Driscoll (captain), 12 Gordon D'Arcy, 11 Luke Fitzgerald, 10 Ronan O'Gara, 9 Tomas O'Leary, 8 Jamie Heaslip, 7 David Wallace, 6 Stephen Ferris, 5 Paul O'Connell, 4 Donncha O'Callaghan, 3 John Hayes, 2 Jerry Flannery, 1 Marcus Horan
Replacements: 16 Rory Best, 17 Tom Court, 18 Mick O'Driscoll, 19 Denis Leamy, 20 Peter Stringer, 21 Paddy Wallace, 22 Geordan Murphy

365

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