Wales 15 - 17 Ireland: O'Gara drops Ireland into history

BRIAN O'Driscoll punched the Cardiff sky with both fists, his face contorted into a grimace teetering between sheer relief and unbridled joy.

The Grand Slam was Ireland's for the first time since 1948 and only the second time in history.

The Millennium Stadium was a jumping mass of green.

And a new chapter in Ireland's rugby history had been written in blood and sweat and finally in tears of ecstasy.

This is what sport is all about.

You might get better rugby matches than Ireland's 17-15 victory over Wales.

But rarely do they come laced with more thrills, more edge-of-the-seat tension and more drama than we witnessed as a Six Nations of mediocrity served up a finale to remember.

An epic finale which saw Ronan O'Gara score the winning drop goal two minutes from time. And then the Millennium Stadium fell silent as Welsh fly-half Stephen Jones had a last-ditch penalty to wrest the championship with the last kick of the match from the half-way line.

It sailed agonisingly short and a match of stirring effort and genuine passion had deserved victors on one of sport's truly memorable occasions.

A helicopter had flown over the stadium just moments before kick-off trawling a banner promoting a poker website.

But this was not a game of poker, nor one of those rugby versions of tennis when the ball is kicked aimlessly to and fro with neither side prepared to attack.

This was full-frontal rugby. Savage at times but utterly compelling.

Indeed, the tension came to the boil within two minutes when Welsh No.8 Ryan Jones and Irish lock Donncha O'Callaghan squared up and a mass punch-up ensued.

With so much at stake it was always going to be that sort of match. Physical. Frantic. Full of huge collisions between men whose courage at times exceeded their sense.

The Irish began in dynamic fashion. They pounded the Welsh defence. Paul O'Connell was superb in the line-out. Jamie Heaslip, one of the players of the tournament, was everywhere in the loose.

Wherever you looked there was a green shirt ready to lay his body on the line. And, it has to be said, Wales met Irish fire with mighty muscle of their own.

If there is a feistier contest in the whole of sport than the clash of opposing number sevens David Wallace and Martyn Williams then I would like to see it.

It hardly mattered that the scoreboard was not troubled until the 33rd minute, Stephen Jones slotting over a penalty after the Welsh forwards had ridden the storm and ratcheted up pressure of their own.

The action was absorbing, if the rugby not always free-flowing.

Let's face it, Ireland had not arrived on the cusp of history in Cardiff by playing dancing rugby.

They had got there by bumping and grinding, scrapping in attritional fashion for every inch. It had been downright ugly at times, in many ways epitomising the 2009 Six Nations.

They knew, however, that if they were to lift the Grand Slam then their big guns had to have perhaps the biggest games of their careers.

In a second half of sheer Irish magnificence they delivered. O'Connell was an inspiration.

And when Ireland needed that shaft of brilliance which separates genuine greatness from the rest it came from "you know who". O'Driscoll, the Irishman who has done more for his country on the rugby field than perhaps any other player.

Not this time with one of those searing breaks which have become his hallmark, but with a brave and burrowing thrust from the base of a ruck which saw him touchdown in a blur of bodies.

Cue O'Gara – whose earlier kicking had been little short of abysmal – with an exquisite chip over the top which was collected by Tommy Bowe who ran in for Ireland's second try.

Wales, as we knew they would, came again. And Jones slotted over penalties to bring Wales within two points at 14-12. All spurred on by a Millennium stadium of thunderous noise.

The Irish defence clung on but then, with 75 minutes on the clock, Jones composed himself once more to score the drop goal which took Wales ahead.

It looked as if history was to be denied. But then came O'Gara and a drop goal and even Jones the boot was unable to come up with the magic to save Wales, who finished the championship in an undeservedly lowly fourth place.

Tough on the Welsh, but this was Ireland's night. O'Driscoll's night. One which set Irish rugby eyes smiling in a manner not witnessed for 61 years.

Wales: Byrne; M. Jones, Shanklin, Henson, S. Williams; S. Jones, Phillips; Jenkins, Rees, A. Jones, Gough, A. Jones, R. Jones, M. Williams, Powell. Replacements: Bennett, Yapp, Charteris, D. Jones, Fury, Hook, Roberts.

Ireland: Kearney; Bowe, B. O'Driscoll, D'Arcy, Fitzgerald; O'Gara, O'Leary; Horan, Flannery, Hayes, O'Callaghan, O'Connell, Ferris, D. Wallace, Heaslip. Replacements: Best, Court, M. O'Driscoll, Leamy, Stringer, P. Wallace, Murphy.

Scorers: Wales – Pen: S. Jones 4. DG: Jones. Ireland – Tries: O'Driscoll, Bowe. Cons: O'Gara 2. DG: O'Gara.

Referee: W Barnes (RFU).