Well done Ireland!

It was certainly a thrilling finish to the match against Wales and a well deserved Grand Slam - as they all are. When the Five Nations became the Six Nations one might have expected that Grand Slams would become rarer, but that has not come to pass. My prediction last year of an Irish decline was certainly wide of the mark. Erin go brath!

Cymru am byth!

Congratulations to the Welsh on the Grand Slam: two in three years is very impressive bearing in mind that the Welsh teams of the seventies came up with three Grand Slams and ever since have been looked on as representing the golden age of Welsh rugby. It was fitting that Shane Williams should score the try that marked the turning point in the match against France: he makes things happen when the ball comes his way.

England's second place may be the best finish since 2003 but losing two matches in a season means that it still feels flat. Could Ireland be starting a period of relative decline as the generation of Brian O'Driscoll and Ronan O'Gara fades away?

Anyway, the days are getting longer and thoughts start to turn to the smell of newly-mown grass and the crack of leather on willow...

Why don't we see tap penalty moves nowadays?

Mompesson has been enjoying the Six Nations tournament, but struck by an insistent question - whatever happened to tapped penalty moves in international rugby? Pivot moves were a staple at club level in my playing days, but seem to have died out. Perhaps they became too predictable and easily countered. Can it be that the change in 1992 (I think) to award the put-in at line-outs to the kicking side after a penalty kick into touch made touch-kicking a better option in most cases? This afternoon for example, Italy kicked for touch inside the French 22-metre line.