Well played Wales - Is this a start of a golden era?

[tigerburnie]

Well done to them on another Grand Slam... but Golden Era? Isn't that just media bull****? We've heard it all before.

Perhaps a definition of 'Golden Era' needs to be agreed.

Wales have certainly been more succesful then Ireland's 'Golden Generation'.

Firstly,nice to see you back DW,second,I would define the era as a continued period of success.Now how long it is,that is a matter of conjecture as the game has changed dramatically since the '70's.I don't see any nation in the world dominating for years and say wining and then successfully defending a world cup for example.The standards are generally higher now,the "stars" or more to the point "individuls with flair",seem to have that either stiffled or coached out of them by their respective coaching teams.Teams are better "teams" now in my opinion,odd moments of individual skill and enterprise will continue,we saw a couple of examples of that this weekend.But mostly we saw it snuffed out,an example was every time Manu got the ball he also got at least two offside Irishmen with it.

[RoadtoRode]

Grand slams in 2005, 2008 and 2012.
Winners of three of the last five slams.
England, by contrast, have failed to win a slam since the RWC.

Clearly a flash in the pan.

This. Is there ever any such thing as a 'Golden Era'? (And how long is an era?) England's team of 2003 won a Grand Slam and a RWC but blew 3 or 4 Grand Slams on the way there.

For a country with Wales's playing and financial resources, 3 Grand Slams in 8 years is a great achievement.

But this is a Leicester forum, so any praise (dw aside) is going to be either: a) Qualified or b) Non-existent!

Fortune favours the brave...

[Kinoulton]

Grand slams in 2005, 2008 and 2012.
Winners of three of the last five slams.
England, by contrast, have failed to win a slam since the RWC.

I have to agree whole heartedly.

I am not in the least bit Welsh (I think the milkman was Irish)but every time we try to knock the Welsh they bounce back and do something amazing.

[Nailsworthstiger]

Golden era? It reminds me of way back when Crystal Palace were going to be the team of the 80's... look what happened next!!!

[RoadtoRode]

Golden era? It reminds me of way back when Crystal Palace were going to be the team of the 80's... look what happened next!!!

QED.

[beech]

Well done to Wales but the term 'Golden Era' must be OTT. They were the best of a poor lot and if England and Ireland had played well there would be no grand slam. Much as I hope they do well in the southern hemisphere if they don't up their game I can see the Golden Era coming to an abrupt end.

[Jeremy Anderson]

Well done to Wales but the term 'Golden Era' must be OTT. They were the best of a poor lot and if England and Ireland had played well there would be no grand slam. Much as I hope they do well in the southern hemisphere if they don't up their game I can see the Golden Era coming to an abrupt end.

Agreed Wales got the lucky breaks that won them the grand slam but in a far from convincing fashion. Fair play to them but very far from a great side who have yet to register sucess against the SH teams. IMO over-hyped.
Also like Ireland how would they look without Adam Jones who will be too old by next RWC.

[Bill W (2)]

IMO over-hyped.
.

A flash in the pan then?

[DickyP]

If it's great to win 3 Slams in 8 years (Wales) and England had their golden era in 2003 it means I'm confused about what really constitutes a golden era.

Yes we blew a few slams in the years before 2003 but we were hugely consistent. The only year between 1990 and 2003 in which we lost more than a single 5/6N game was 1993. No-one else has ever got near that sustained level of performance. Even in our 'bad years' since then we have only had a single season when we've had a record worse than 50% (2006). Wales, for instance, have had some very iffy years between the Grand Slams - 4 years in which they had worse than 50% records.

We also won 3 Grand Slams in 5 years - 1991, 1992 and 1995 - no one else has ever done that either, but that team aren't even mentioned by the pundits.

[dailywaffle]

If it's great to win 3 Slams in 8 years (Wales) and England had their golden era in 2003 it means I'm confused about what really constitutes a golden era.

Yes we blew a few slams in the years before 2003 but we were hugely consistent. The only year between 1990 and 2003 in which we lost more than a single 5/6N game was 1993. No-one else has ever got near that sustained level of performance. Even in our 'bad years' since then we have only had a single season when we've had a record worse than 50% (2006). Wales, for instance, have had some very iffy years between the Grand Slams - 4 years in which they had worse than 50% records.

We also won 3 Grand Slams in 5 years - 1991, 1992 and 1995 - no one else has ever done that either, but that team aren't even mentioned by the pundits.

The term 'Golden Era', clearly disliked by some but really just media shorthand for 'sustained period of success' is inevitably subjective. TBH, I think some on here are a little too hung-up on the phrase. However, what is clear to me is that 'consistently over 50%' is far less memorable than '3 Grand Slams and some crud in between'.

Anyhow, I think one can reasonably make a case that the Will Carling teams and their consistent success can reasonably be called something of a, ahem, 'Golden Era'.

[shedster]

It may well be another golden era for the Welsh but how many will continue to play in Wales . Especially the Blues it seems a mass exodus from Cardiff at the moment . One departure in particular is getting us excited in Tractor land .