Ireland win the triple crown in a memorable test match against Scotland.

David Corkery

Oh my god.

What a day, what a weekend, what a final game and what a kick.

I could go on and on about all the superlatives that the final game in this years Six Nations treated us to, but if I had all the columns and inches that the Echo offers, I still wouldn’t have enough space to describe the excitement that was bestowed upon us in Paris as the French somehow snatched victory from the deepest trenches that despair offers.

I don’t think I’ve ever enjoyed watching three games of rugby in a single day as I did this weekend.

After the excitement and unpredictability that we were treated to last week, many thought it was going to be impossible to match it, but not only was it matched, it was surpassed and done so in style.

After 15 games and 1099 days, Wales finally brought an end to the misery they have been enduring by beating the ever improving Italians, but their troubles are far from over. With deep financial worries and dwindling playing numbers, our Celtic cousins have a very steep climb before them, but for now they should be allowed enjoy this victory before they look to tackle what lies ahead.

For Ireland it wasn’t quite the fairytale finish that everyone had hoped it was going to be, but when your fate is dictated by someone else, all you can do, is do your best and just hope that luck is on your side.

Unfortunately the English couldn’t do us a favour, but they did give it one hell of a shot and they will be kicking themselves for letting a there game against the much favoured French be snatched from them deep into injury time.

Maybe if players like Tommy Freeman and Henry Pollock didn’t start celebrating too soon and instead of making stupid and childish gestures towards the French supporters concentrated on their individual roles for a few more minutes, England might have just held on for what would have been a historical victory.

I can tell you one thing that if I were the English coach, I would have read the riot act to Freeman and especially Pollock in the dressing room.

Both players are amazing talents, but if they think inciting and goading their opponents supporters is clever especially with the game still very much in the balance, may I suggest they look at switching codes to soccer. Bloody Idiots !

As a result of this loss England have now signed off on their worst ever Six Nations campaign by losing four games on the bounce and whilst it would have been great if they could have helped us in becoming Six Nations champions, much of me was delighted to see France win.

In a fascinating Six Nations season where the only certainty turned out to be uncertainty, Andy Farrell and his players managed to flip some very below performances into a Triple Crown winning campaign. Which in layman’s terms is, a very good outcome.

Apart from the opening game against France where Ireland found themselves completely out-classed and out-played, Farrell will look back on this campaign and lament on his sides failure to pick up a try scoring bonus point against Italy and a losing bonus point against France.

With only two points separating Ireland and France in the final competition league table, Ireland will look back at much of this campaign and wish they could approach the Italian and especially the French game again with the same kind of attitude that they took into Saturdays tie.

Maybe it was because the players took to the field with a greater degree of freedom or maybe it was because Scotland were under a little bit more pressure to perform, but whatever it was I hope that Farrell and co find ways of simulating this kind of performance when it matters most.

Now that Farrell has identified his number one play maker in Jack Crowley maybe Ireland can look to develop and expand their blue print on how they want to play.

I’d really like to think that Sam Prendergast will be part of the Irish squad for years to come, but for now Crowley is the man and it is imperative that Farrell looks at his style of play and fabricates a strategy around the values that he brings to the game and not Prendergast.

Both players offer very different styles of play and just like Johnny Sexton and Ronan O’Gara in times of old, Ireland must look at Crowley’s strengths and imagine a formula that guides us to a World Cup semi-final.

Tripple Crowns, Six Nations Championships and once off victories against the big boys from below the equator are brilliant and are hard fought for however, if Ireland ever are going to reach the Everest of the game by competing in a World Cup final, they will have to first learn how to deal with the mental pressures that come hand in hand with knockout rugby.

Maybe it’s just me, but I’d happily sacrifice every game from now until the 2027 World Cup if Ireland could somehow find a way to make it to the final day of the tournament.

We know they have all the ingredients that are needed, but when it comes to the World Cup, ingredients are worthless unless they are blended correctly.

Big congrats to the U-20s also.

Triple Crowns at their level are almost harder to come by.