What a brilliant finish that was to the 2021 Six Nations! Scotland were superb and deserved their victory in France. Even if they hadn't won at the death in Paris, the champagne corks had already started popping in Wales!
Gregor Townsend's side had done every Welsh supporter, Wayne Pivac, and his team a huge favour by ensuring France were never in danger of winning by the huge margin they required to deny Wales the title. And for them to win in Paris in the 86th minute was the icing on the cake.
Scotland had a never-say-die attitude, showed pure guts, and played right to the end to give them the victory they deserved. France looked nervous and flustered at times.
Fabien Galthie's side were nowhere near their best and their performance was uncharacteristic compared to their recent displays.
They obviously had a mountain to climb to seal a 21-point win margin and score four tries and it took its toll at times as I thought they played a little too much rugby in areas where they just needed to clear their lines and take the pressure off. That was noticeable at the start of the game when Scotland put in a lovely kick to touch and then Brice Dulin took a quick lineout throw almost on his own line. It gave off a sense of desperation which never left them.
Even when Finn Russell was sent off, Scotland were still aggressive in defence and forced France into making poor decisions. Their frustration turned to poor discipline.
Antoine Dupont was kept very quiet by his very high standards, and didn't have the freedom he has been used to. It meant that by the time the teams got to the hour mark in Paris, I was confident Wales had the title in the bag regardless of what happened in the final quarter.
What I wasn't banking on was more late drama at the Stade de France as Scotland won it through Duhan van der Merwe's second try of the evening.
I'm sure the Wales boys would have been going mad on their sofas when the winger scored in the corner and Adam Hastings converted to end another memorable game. France and Scotland produced another superb match. It was fantastic entertainment. This really has been a superb Six Nations. Whatever country you support, as a rugby fan there has been brilliant action on show and that is a huge boost to the game. We have to remember, too, how bad some of the rugby was in last year's Autumn Nations Cup so the turnaround in quality has been remarkable.
Players from all nations deserve a lot of credit for producing the level of rugby we've seen in empty stadiums and after spending so long in Covid-19 bubbles.
No team sums up the chaos and entertainment of the 2021 Championship more than the eventual winners – Wales. I never thought I'd be writing that at the start of the year I must admit.
The Welsh campaign has had everything; three opposition red cards, a record number of tries, a record win over England, a dramatic loss to France which ruined a Grand Slam and a nervous wait for the title. Phew!
It would have been very, very strange for the players to lift the Six Nations trophy at the Vale Hotel yesterday with no one there. It was also a real shame that the English-based players couldn't be there and that the squad wasn't together to celebrate. For example, Dan Biggar, who has been absolutely brilliant for the last two months, was playing for Northampton at Worcester.
I'm sure he'd have loved to have been involved with the rest of the boys in lifting the trophy, but I guess that's the way it is.
I'm sure Wayne, Alun Wyn Jones and the rest of the squad are still hurting from losing to France. But once the dust settles in the next six to eight weeks, they will realise they have done brilliantly to win the Championship. Silverware is everything to a rugby player, but regardless of whether Wales had won the title or not, the biggest positive for me is the huge strides Wayne's team made across the Six Nations. If you compare it to their struggles of 2020, it is like chalk and cheese. Wales now look a really dangerous attacking side and will only get better from here. That's a hugely exciting prospect for any Welsh supporter.
Wayne can hold his head up high and he fully deserves the plaudits after winning the title. He made some big calls in the Six Nations and was rewarded for them.
Credit, too, to his assistants Stephen Jones, Jonathan Humphreys and Gethin Jenkins. There have been real improvements to the Welsh attack, set-piece, and defence in recent weeks. The challenge now is to use this Six Nations title win as a springboard.
