Grand Slam Man Read Online Free Page A

deserves.
    It's an awesome experience to be involved with our squad. We work hard, but we always have a good laugh. Everyone enjoys good company and to have a good bunch of mates around you all the time is important. If we didn't like each other I think that would show on the pitch. It would become hard work. It's odd – because the squad is so young it doesn't feel like a proper international team. It feels more as if we're an agegroup side, where everyone's working for each other. Putting on the jersey means so much to all of us and because we spend so much time with each other
    â€“ not just players but the coaches and everyone else – we all become good mates, on and off the field. I think that is why we gel so well as a team. It's almost a family environment.
    Things just seemed to click for us last season. Even if there were holes in our game, because everyone was working hard it gelled together so that it looked as though we were impenetrable. If someone had a weakness, someone else would be covering it. That's a sign of a good team. If I miss a tackle, I know my opponent's not going to get far, because there is always someone else coming across.
    We were pretty rock solid again versus Italy. We managed another clean sheet in terms of tries. And although we had to work hard for our own tries, they came in the end. Jamie's touchdown gave us breathing space and then Alex Cuthbert sprinted home to seal the win late on.
    Alex came from pretty much nowhere to be one of the stars of the Six Nations, scoring three tries in all. I remember the first time I saw him was about two years earlier, when I was out having a meal and one of the boys said hello to him. He knew him because he was on the Sevens circuit. I didn't know a lot about him. I just remember thinking what a big guy he was, especially for a wing. He only started playing for the Blues last season, but he soon caught the eye with his try-scoring and forced his way into the Wales squad. He loved being in that environment, playing with that calibre of players, and he went from strength to strength.
    I think he's only going to get better. I thought he was a lot older than me when I first saw him, but in fact he's more than two years younger! I just can't believe how quick he is. I would back him one on one against anyone. And powerful. When we work in the gym, the forwards are usually renowned for being a lot stronger, but some of the backs are lifting bigger weights than us. They are so young coming through, as well. It's very good for Welsh rugby.
    With Alex scoring late on, we ended up winning 24–3 and we were happy with the result. It was ‘job done' in terms of moving a step closer to the Grand Slam. But we knew the performance hadn't been up to scratch. There were a lot of errors in the game. It was something we had to put right because we knew we would need a far more clinical performance against France if we were to complete the Slam.

Chapter Six
    SEALING THE SLAM
    There had been a lot of hype surrounding us ever since coming back from the World Cup, but it reached a new level ahead of the France game. I'd never experienced anything like it. There was a lot more media interest, but we didn't want to treat the run-up any differently from earlier weeks. The previous year, when we went out to France for the final game of the championship, the boys had said to the coaches that they felt a bit tired, and as a result we had a lighter week, and ended up getting slaughtered. So after the Italy game, Warren Gatland said that wasn't going to happen again and to be ready for a hard week. We had some tough training. We treated it no different to what we had done for any of the other games. We had to make sure we played well. But it was good preparation. I remember that the last team run was quite relaxed, but we were ready. We'd taken our defence coach Shaun Edwards's advice to keep cool heads, and not get wound up too early. It's all about switching on