"I was just 18 when I made my first-team debut," recalls Leicester legend Lewis Moody. "When I walked in, all my heroes were there. 'Deano' stood up and I thought he was going to welcome me to the club. 'Lad', he said, pointing through the door, 'the youth team changing room is down the other end of the corridor.'"

It is a revealing snapshot of the forbidding, clannish culture that has made Leicester the most enduring English team of the professional era and carried them to an eighth successive Premiership final, against Harlequins at Twickenham on Saturday.

"It might sound to outsiders like a horrible place to be, but it draws you closer as a team," says former Tigers lock Ben Kay. "It's not the most comfortable environment to be in. But if you're driven by success, it's exactly where you want to be."

Martin Johnson and Lewis Moody cut loose against great rivals Wasps in 2001

"A player is only at Leicester for a short period of time, on loan almost," says Moody, a World Cup winner in 2003. "It's never your club or your position. The culture is drilled into you as a 14-year-old: no-one is a star and no-one is bigger than the team. Everyone understands you're here to work, you're here to win, and that's the end of it.

"Some players that come through from the Tigers academy are talked up as the next big thing and they've very soon departed because of a lack of application. And some guys that came from other English clubs or from overseas who don't buy into the philosophy will leave quite quickly.

"It's not about bringing in big-name players and buying trophies, they'll create a squad from players that you wouldn't consider to be the best in the world. Look at Geoff Parling: he had been at Newcastle for six years, came to Leicester having had no real recognition and all of a sudden he's an international player. He's a great example of how players can suddenly thrive in the Leicester environment."

"When did Leicester last have a genuine superstar, like a Jonny Wilkinson, a Shane Williams or a Richie McCaw?" says World Cup-winning England scrum-half Matt Dawson, who waged many battles with Leicester for East Midlands rivals Northampton and as part of Wasps' great side of the mid-2000s.

"It's never about that with Leicester, it's just about winning trophies and being part of a winning team. That seems to flick a Leicester player's switch, being more than an individual. And if anyone does step out of line, they get it verbally and physically."

Leicester's feared front row of Rowntree, Cockerill and Garforth

Dawson's views are informed by myriad bar room tales from Leicester pals of training ground spats and legendary, character-testing hazings. "Even if it was a game of touch, you knew at some stage a scuffle would break out," says Moody, who spent 14 years at Welford Road before two years at Bath and retirement in March.

"It was an intimidating environment for a young man but it was about fronting up at every opportunity and not taking a backward step. If someone confronted you, you had to confront them back. It was like a test of your manhood.

"I remember fights between Neil Back and Fritz van Heerden, Julian White and [current Leicester head coach] Richard Cockerill. I didn't really have a fight with 'Johnno', more of a disagreement - he hit me and I fell over.

"One day we were having a ruck and maul session and someone landed on Will Johnson's ankle and broke it. Everybody heard the crack, he was in a lot of bother. 'Wellsy' [John Wells] just moved us about 20 metres to the right and we continued as if nothing had happened. If one player went down, another one came in and replaced him. Nothing ever got in the way of us succeeding."

Kay, who made 281 appearances for the Tigers between 1999 and 2010 and was also part of England's World Cup-winning team, recalls: "It would erupt and there would be no referee to stop it. I never got punched by Johnno. Lewis did, but he was never exactly the brainiest member of the squad.

Teenage fly-half George Ford is part of an exciting back-line at Leicester

"It was like a tempestuous relationship you might have with a sibling that you love more than anything. But if the guys were prepared to do that to each other in training they would do twice as much in a game for each other."

While Revie's Leeds were simply labelled "dirty" by fans of rival teams for their robust style of play, Leicester, as is the way in the sometimes wilfully myopic world of rugby, are rather more charitably lauded as "masters of the dark arts".

"There was always something going on when you played against Leicester," says Dawson. "Darren Garforth, Graham Rowntree and Cockerill - the old 'ABC Club' - wouldn't have finished a game in this present climate, they would have been sin-binned or sent off because of all the little bits and pieces and the niggle.

"And Welford Road is a hell of a place to play rugby, right up there with some international stadiums because it is so oppressive. I only remember winning once or twice at Leicester, it was a very, very intimidating place to go."

What now seems an almost organic connection between players and fans was in actual fact man-made. A succession of wily businessmen and administrators took a side that attracted gates of less than 1,000 in the early 1970s and built it into a forward-thinking, cup-winning amateur outfit before steering it, full-mast, into the professional era.

A compliant council saw Welford Road swell to 24,000 fans by 2009, with another 6,000 seats planned, making it the largest purpose-built club rugby ground in England. Compare with Wasps, nominally of London but who play their home games in Wycombe and whose prospective new owners want to move to a site off the M40.

Financial reasons apart, Kay cites more spiritual reasons as to why Wasps, whose two Heineken Cup triumphs match Leicester's back-to-back victories in 2001 and 2002, have fallen off the pace, to the extent they were nearly relegated last season.

"It's not so much that Wasps were a team of players who thought they were big stars," says Kay, "but they certainly built a team on a lot of very good individuals. When a lot of those players retired there wasn't that natural succession. At Leicester, it's ruthless: as soon as you're not good enough, no matter how big a name you are, it's a case of 'thank-you very much, we'll find someone else who's on the way up'."

While Moody talks of the Leicester ethos and history being "continually churned through", with the likes of Cockerill and executive director and front-row great Peter Wheeler tangible links to a glorious past, Dawson is keen to point out that all that churning serves another purpose, namely to keep the ingredients fresh.

"One of the strengths of Leicester has been their ability to move on," says Dawson. "They can still play that tight game if they want to. But when they want to counter-attack and offload they've got the likes of Geordan Murphy, Manu Tuilagi, Anthony Allen, Toby Flood, Ben Youngs, real international-class players.

"They had a couple of years of being a little bit more attritional but they didn't want all their old titles to become history, they wanted to stay in the present and that means a team that plays from 1-15. Conversely, it was plain for everyone to see how Wasps played in their heyday and no-one could stop us. But this year and last, Wasps didn't move on and tried to do the same things they'd done for years and years."

So while Wasps face a period of rebuilding - both literally and metaphorically - Leicester carry on as they always have done: taking the path of Duty to Glory, through "stubborn thistle, bursting into glossy purples". Or as Cockerill puts it: "Just hard work." Prose over poetry, spoken like the Leicester front-row he was and always will be.

It may have a been a hot topic among the blue hordes trooping deliriously out of Twickenham, after seeing their heroes win an unprecedented third European title in four years.

But it wasn't a question occupying the minds of the players who had just delivered a record-breaking margin of victory in the final of rugby's most passionately charged club competition.

No doubt when they reflect on their season's work a week on Monday, and start to contemplate what next year might hold, they might be persuaded to indulge in a little fantasy.

A 'home' Heineken Cup final at Dublin's Aviva Stadium, the possibility of equalling Toulouse's record haul of four titles. The perfect motivation to re-scale the heights?

For the next seven days at least though, the need to confirm their status as the best team in the RaboDirect Pro 12 league, having finished top by 10 points after the regular season, will be the prime goal, with the Ospreys awaiting them in next Sunday's final at their Royal Dublin Showground home.

Last year Leinster followed up their remarkable Heineken Cup victory over Northampton by losing to provincial rivals Munster in the final of their domestic competition. It didn't go down well.

"We have an opportunity now to do something special," said full-back Rob Kearney, as if their five-try, record 42-14 dismantling of Ulster, did not deserve such consideration.

"We have worked really hard in the 'Rabo' [Pro 12] this year, it has been a full squad effort. If we can achieve that win, it could be more of a testament to Leinster rugby than this week."

And therein perhaps lies the secret of their success, and why it is likely to continue.
Leinster have used 49 players in their domestic campaign. The tremendous strength in depth of the local talent coming through, blended into a thriving and successful structure, allows the top-of-the-bill acts like Kearney to take a rest periodically, and peak for the big occasions.

But the big names appreciate the hard yards done in their absence, and want to do their bit in return.

But let's just consider "this week" first.

Saturday's stunning rout - which was harsh on Ulster, but a rout nonetheless - means that since the start of the 2008-2009 season, Leinster have won 28 and drawn two of their 35 Heineken Cup matches, losing only one - to Toulouse in the 2010 semis - in the knock-out stages.

Since losing to Clermont away in the group stages last season, they are undefeated in their last 15 Heineken matches, winning 14 of them.

Statistically, Toulouse remain out front, with four titles from six finals. But strangely, the game in which the French aristocrats lifted the spirits most was in one of the finals they lost to Wasps in 2004.

That was perhaps the last time Twickenham witnessed such an uplifting brand of attacking rugby from a club side, with due respect to the demolition job Wasps did on Leicester in 2007.

Wasps, with a 100% record from their two Heineken finals, also had a completeness about them in terms of power, tactical nous and cussedness, but perhaps not quite the same attacking brio.

Munster made the knock-out stages for 12 years in a row from 2000, winning two of their four finals, and reaching five other semi-finals, a phenomenally consistent sequence.

Leicester, whose five finals are second only to Toulouse, were the only previous side to have successfully defended the trophy.

But Leinster are rapidly re-defining the boundaries of ambition for Europe's leading club sides.

When it was put to coach Joe Schmidt that his charges had perhaps converted every try-scoring opportunity they created (their five tries was another final record), it wasn't a prospect the genial New Zealander seemed comfortable with.

"I'm happy we got five tries, but I'll have to look at the video. I'm sure I'll find something," he said.

This relentless pursuit of perfection and improvement means it is unlikely the "dynasty" that Brian O'Driscoll alluded to afterwards will end anytime soon.

Ulster, for their part, were as defiant after the match as they had been for large parts during it. They had their chances to make it a closer game, but didn't take them.

Against Leinster - "If you give them an inch, they take a mile; they are an exceptional rugby side," noted Brian McLaughlin, ruefully - that proved fatal.

The departing coach was insistent the players he bequeaths - if such a term is appropriate when you have been removed from your post - to New Zealander Mark Anscombe will learn sufficiently swiftly to "make sure that days like this are the norm for Ulster rugby, not the exception."

With two former Ulster players - Lions wing Tommy Bowe and Northampton number eight Roger Wilson - returning to the ranks next season, they should be stronger. This may not have been their only shot at glory.

It is only natural a player nurtured in the culture of a particular club or province has a particular interest in seeing that team become successful, as Leinster captain Leo Cullen - the first man to lift the Heineken Cup three times - alluded to.

"I was at Leicester for a while and I learnt a huge amount and I loved playing for them," he said. "But there is something special about playing for a team that you grew up supporting. To have success with this team means the most to me."

Were Ulster naïve to think they could take Leinster on at their own game and win?

Most observers felt the underdogs' best hope of victory lay in making it a dogfight.
The trouble is, Leinster - as they showed in their semi-final win against Clermont in Bordeaux - are not the sort of side to be bullied into submission.

As soon as it became apparent that Ulster were keen to play an expansive game themselves, there looked to be only winner, and so it proved.

Ulster's high-tempo attacking game put them under pressure for periods, but crucially - Dan Tuohy's second-half try aside when they were already 24-9 up - Leinster's scramble defence was equal to it.

Would a predominantly territorial kicking game have proved any more successful? As McLaughlin noted, when Leinster have Rob Kearney and Isa Nacewa as their gate-keepers, both superb under the high ball and devastating on the counter-attack, why would you play to their strengths?

And then of course, they have Brian O'Driscoll. This latest addition to his growing legend came eight days after he "had a little cartilage trimmed" from his knee. Wouldn't a coach be within his rights to question whether his prized centre could really be 100% fit, given such a limited recovery time?

"The fact he is so mentally tough means you don't have to get too concerned about him," Schmidt told BBC Sport. "You just know he is going to turn up and play."
A bit like Leinster themselves.

And right now, they are playing better than anyone else in Europe has possibly ever done.

When I was a kid growing up in Malaysia a trip to the UK seemed a lifetime away. Rather, it was a boat trip across the Indian ocean, up through the Suez canal, over the length of the Mediterranean, and then up a short section of the Atlantic Ocean to Southampton and a train trip to Glasgow via London.

It took weeks.

Nowadays a 12-hour plane trip gets you from Kuala Lumpur to London, cooped up in a cabin breathing everyone else's air.

Edinburgh's Dutch wing Tim Visser has been given a call-up to the Scotland squad. Pic: SNS.

The point I am making is that people move around the world more easily than they used to. Or rather, the majority do as the greater part of the world's history is tied up with the movement of people looking for pastures, food, territory or water.

And that's probably had a role to play in the eligibility of people to represent a country when it comes to sport.

Saracens' South African number eight Ernst Joubert is the latest to declare himself available to England if they wish to field him as he becomes eligible this June. He follows the recent English additions like Mouritz Botha and Manu Tuilagi.

In Scotland in the past we have fielded David Hilton, who despite believing his grandfather was Scottish actually had no Scottish qualifications, Budge Pountney, who could choose his county as he was from the Channel Islands, and more recently Matt Mustchin, the New Zealander who played for Edinburgh and qualified on residency rules.

And going back to ancient history if you believe that you have to be born in a country to play for it then I never qualified to play for Scotland - Borneo stopped being a suburb of Glasgow a long time ago.

So, a bit of introspection from me: My father reminded me often that I was Scottish. Both my parents were from Glasgow. That was never in doubt. But, as I was born in what is now Malaysia, I think I would have liked to represent Malaysia. It's a beautiful country and there is something about where you are born that tugs at your heart.

My grandfather was South African. Er, I'd never have been good enough for the Springboks your honour.

But what if I'd moved to the USA aged 25 and then lined up against Scotland aged 28? Could I really have lined up against my own country if the USA were to take on Scotland?

Can I be honest? I'm from a different generation so it would have been difficult. I'm just not sure I could have done it. But there's a new breed of professional rugby player who is loyal, with immediate effect, to the club that pays him.

And, let's face it, if you're not good enough for the Springboks or New Zealand you are probably still good enough, in some cases, to play for Scotland.

And that probably applies in national terms as well. The more countries you live in as a rugby player, the less you are tied to the very first country you experienced.

Where I see this all becoming a problem is if countries start offering school scholarships to promising players from Samoa, Tonga, Fiji and perhaps even to a lesser extent New Zealand and South Africa before they play for their own countries.

I have no issue with it at professional level as in the case of Edinburgh's recent signing of the Free State's WP Nel, a promising prop who is on the fringe of the Springbok set-up but who will be able to play for Scotland in three years.

But if it ever becomes a full blown national strategy with schools involved then, frankly, count me out.

A nightmare scenario would be national strategies with future teams full of 20-somethings who were brought to Scotland (or England or any other country) in their teens and who mean that there are no places for players with firmer links.

So, good luck to Tim Visser, a plainly decent bloke. I've interviewed him a few times and he says directly that he's not Scottish but he also says how proud he is to play for his adopted country.

I find it hard to put myself in his shoes, I don't believe I could play for a country with which I have no real tie other than having lived in it for three years but, as they say, rules are rules and the world gets smaller and smaller.

I say it's acceptable - unless it becomes a widespread national strategy.

What do you think?

John presents Sport Nation on TV and radio for BBC Scotland.

Follow those programmes on Twitter: @BBCSportNation

You can also follow John: @BBCJohnBeattie

Leinster, aiming for a third title in four years to join Toulouse as the only other team to have won it more than twice, start favourites against Ulster, who triumphed back in 1999.

BBC Sport has taken the opinions of two former Ireland captains - Phillip Matthews (38 caps from 1984 to 1991 and an ex-Ulster flanker) and Keith Wood (58 caps from 1994 to 2003 and a Heineken Cup finalist with Munster in 2000) - for some insight into Saturday's proceedings.

Two former winners from the two provinces - Ulster's 1999-winning full-back Bryn Cunningham and Leinster lock Malcolm O'Kelly, who played in their 2009 triumph, also weigh in with their thoughts.

In order to see this content you need to have both Javascript enabled and Flash installed. Visit BBC Webwise for full instructions. If you're reading via RSS, you'll need to visit the blog to access this content.

So, an all-Irish final... how did that happen?

Well, it's no surprise Leinster are here again. They are a team of all talents, they finished top of the Pro 12 league by 10 points, and they play some of the finest attacking rugby to be found anywhere in the world.

They can also slug it out with the best of them, as they showed in winning a pulsating semi-final over French giants Clermont Auvergne in Bordeaux.

Ulster, it's fair to say, were not being tipped by many at the outset, despite reaching the last eight a year ago for the first time since 1999.

They came through a very tough group which included Leicester and Clermont, stunned two-time champions Munster in their Limerick fortress in the quarter-finals, and held off Edinburgh in a tight semi-final in Dublin to make it through.

How come the Irish sides have become so dominant in Europe?

Certainly a fifth Irish winner in the last seven years - whoever prevails on Saturday - suggests they are doing something right.

A variety of reasons have been put forward, ranging from player management, lack of relegation in the Pro 12 allowing teams to develop a more expansive style, the influence of some innovative Antipodean coaches, to the essential 'spirit' of the provinces.

Irish players certainly play fewer matches in a season than their English counterparts slugging it out in the Premiership, allowing them to rest at certain times and peak for the Heineken Cup.

"In England, clubs are king. In Ireland, country is king, and the country has control of the Heineken Cup teams, because they contract the players, so it is a very different structure," observes Matthews, who nevertheless gives short shrift to the notion that English and French clubs, who provided nine out of the first 10 European champions, are now at a disadvantage.

"I don't buy this theory about the over-intensity of the English season and relegation stopping teams from playing a certain way. I think it comes down to attitude and the tradition of each country.

"England have had quite size-orientated, forward-based teams, since the days of Will Carling's side, and they feel they have to play to their strengths. To a large extent, successful teams in the Premiership, like Leicester, still play that way.

"But if someone matches you physically, what do you do then? If you haven't had to find that something extra in the Premiership, you can't suddenly find it in Europe. To be successful in Europe now, you have to play more of a 15-man game, as Leinster have."

Leinster beat Northampton Saints in last year's Heineken Cup final. Photo: Getty

A few blue-chip imports can't do any harm either?

As well as a fine group of locally-produced players led by the thunderous Stephen Ferris, Ulster have benefited hugely from the influence of an All Blacks prop (John Afoa) and a quartet of Springboks: full-back Stefan Terblanche, lock Johann Muller, number eight Pedrie Wannenburg and scrum-half Ruan Pienaar, the latter kicking 14 points in the quarter-final and 17 in the semi.

"Pienaar is just the calmest man in the world," says Wood. "He is slotting kicks from 55m and banging them 20 yards over the bar. He just doesn't seem to feel the pressure."

Cunningham adds: "He is probably the most humble guy you will ever come across, for one of the best players in the world. He has no airs or graces, despite what he has achieved, and gives time to all the young players coming through. On and off the pitch he has been outstanding for Ulster."

Leinster have also recruited wisely. Wallaby flanker Rocky Elsom was the star of their first Heineken triumph in 2009 before returning to Australia. This year, needing an experienced lock as cover while captain Leo Cullen recovered from surgery, they turned to All Black Brad Thorn, who at 37 will become the oldest player to feature in a Heineken Cup final.

"They wanted to make certain they got a leader, and a heavy ball-carrier with a big work-rate, and that is what they got," says Wood. "New Zealanders in particular can have such an influence on the younger guys." Adds O'Kelly: "Watching him lately, I think he is getting better as he gets older."

Why are so many pundits purring about Leinster?

Former England centre Will Greenwood described the first 45 minutes of their quarter-final win over Cardiff Blues, in which they racked up four tries and a 34-3 lead, as "absolute brilliance". Ulster coach Brian McLaughlin calls them a "smashing rugby side".

"Because it is a less structured system where individuals use their own inventiveness, it is difficult to play against and you can't over-analyse it, because they are likely to pull something else off that you haven't planned for," says Matthews.

"They have reached a sort of rugby nirvana, which perhaps only New Zealand, and lately Wales, have reached, where it looks like it has all been thrown together and everyone is doing their own thing. But it's all done within a particular system."

Ruan Pienaar kicked five penalties and a conversion in the 22-19 semi-final win over Edinburgh. Photo: Getty

Doesn't sound like Ulster have much of a chance then?

Not necessarily, if you listen to coach McLaughlin, for whom Saturday could be a bitter-sweet final game in charge, having been told mid-season that he is being replaced by unheralded New Zealander, Mark Anscombe, next season.

"We are not going to Twickenham to make up the numbers. We are going to make sure we perform and show we are a quality side as well," he says.

Recent meetings between the two sides don't bode well for Ulster though. Their last win came in October 2009, while Leinster have won the last five, including home and away for the last two seasons.

"Psychologically, that is probably the biggest battle for Ulster," says Cunningham. "If they are going to win, it is not just on the pitch but in their minds before the game."

But once they get on to the Twickenham turf, will their renowned defence be able to cope with Leinster's all-singing, all-dancing attack?

"I don't think they can shut them out completely," says Matthews. "They can't afford to think they can squeeze the life out of them and score penalties to win it. They will have to score tries as well. They can put Leinster under pressure and make them doubt themselves.

"But I think Leinster have too many leaders - Brian O'Driscoll, Brad Thorn, Jamie Heaslip, Gordon D'Arcy, Jonny Sexton - who can pick it up when they need to. I can't see Ulster suppressing that."

O'Driscoll? We haven't even mentioned him yet. Didn't he have an operation last week?

A little trim of the knee cartilage apparently, although most mortals wouldn't contemplate playing in a major final eight days later.

"As soon as he came out of the hospital he said, 'I am playing'," says Wood. "I played with him and the great thing about him, even as young man, was that if he declared himself fit, he was fit enough. If he wasn't fit, he was man enough not to play."

So more glory for BoD and Leinster beckons then?

"I would fully expect Leinster to win," says O'Kelly. "They are overwhelming favourites but that brings a certain weight on the shoulders."

Wood concurs. "It should be Leinster's title again. But if Ulster turn up and Leinster are not quite up to the mark, it could be very tight."

And BoD's thoughts? "You realise that when you get to a final, all bets are off. Anything can happen."

The last few weeks of rugby have been magnificent.

The English premiership has reached it's climax, the French clubs have been going at it like mad things on obscure satellite channels, and both Glasgow and Edinburgh have done special things in the league and cup respectively.

Ulster, or as should now call them "the Springboks", have played great rugby and they fill one half of a Heineken Cup final - otherwise known as a pint - and take on Leinster who contained 13 Ireland qualified players the last time the sides met.

And it was while sitting in the Aviva stadium in Dublin as Ulster prepared to play Edinburgh that I tried to analayse why I was enjoying it so much.

The answer? Partly it's because the games were good. Some of the top club games now are as good, if not better, than internationals. But the main reason: There was no phoney, ritualised, and carefully choreographed war going on before the match.

Oh the Italian anthem is wonderful, as is the French, but analysis of the others is worth while.

The Welsh national anthem, in all its admitted glory, was written just three of my lifetimes ago in the mid 1800's by father and son Evan and James James of Pontypridd.

Our sporting anthem, Flower of Scotland, was written in 1967 by Roy Williamson of the folk group the Corries, Ireland's "Four Proud Provinces' was penned as recently as 1995 by Phil Coulter whose earlier successes included Sandie Shaw's "Puppet on a string" and "Congratulations" for Cliff Richard, while God Save the Queen lays claim to be the oldest coming from the mid 1700s and written by Thomas Augustine Arne.

Those of you who know me know that I love music, and play in a rock band myself, deafening people all all over Scotland in the process.

But the more international matches I go to, the less inclined I am to watch jingoistic behaviour and sing at the same time, tears rolling down my cheeks, to relatively modern tunes.

Maybe it's because I am always stone cold sober at the time.

I suppose it's all wrapped up in the question: What exactly is international rugby? Is it, for instance, a strange substitute for an annual war at pre-defined locations?

Maybe that's why we wear blue, the others wear their colours, and we start with the rituals.

First of all we beat our drums, play our national music - the bagpipes in our case - and then we sing our anthems as loudly as we can at each other, hoping, no doubt, for some fear-inducing sentiment to travel across the pitch.

It's a replacement for an aerial bombardment of some kind. Or flag waving from a distant hill.

Oh and there have been some terrible foul ups in the past.

The French band in Paris playing the wrong sheet of music by mistake, the PA system not working at age group games, and the obligatory opera singer taking it all to a level, or key, that we can never reach.

Each country has some military input too, though not, admittedly, at a level anywhere near that of your average US sporting occasion.

The rugby players in the Six Nations, then, are the stand-in soldiers. Sent out there to kick lumps out of each other but within certain rules, and all for their country.

And, as they listen to the anthems, lined up in front of us, their right hands cross their chests to clutch their national emblem - sewn into the jersey to cover the heart - and some of them break down and cry in the process or make aggressive faces.

Now, I'm not convinced by all this behaviour. Having been out there a few times I remember the stress, but every player asks himself: "How am I supposed to behave, and what does the crowd expect me to do here?"

So those who feel angry faces are required put on angry faces, and the rest of what you see, aside from outright fear and floods of tears, is a bit of an act.

The beauty of the big games I've been to see recently has been in their lack of pre-match ceremony.

At the Aviva for Ulster's game against Edinburgh there were no dignitaries, many of whom haven't a clue about rugby but feel they need to be seen, sent out to shake hands.

No great big military bands playing their old tunes, and no national anthems.

Instead the players came out, warmed up, went back inside while we were entertained to some dancing on the pitch, came back out and got stuck right into each other.

I liked that. I liked the lack of jingoism, of nationalism, of tribal rivalry.

I liked it being a game. A sporting event. It wasn't a substitute for war. There were no national anthems. The modern world is ever more international, why do we bay our national anthems at each other?

But then again, you probably disagree. Do we really need national anthems at rugby internationals?

Because, if you fancy a wee bit of burglary on 19 May then pick Dublin or Belfast on the Heineken Cup final weekend as most of the residents will be in London. Can I have a Ferrari please?

Well done to Ulster and Leinster as they progress to the final thanks to "S.E.X": scrummaging, experience, and the X-factor.

Glasgow have a chance to make amends in the league, but at the highest level of European rugby Scottish teams have been lacking in the most marginal sense.

I thought Edinburgh played superbly in Dublin when they took on Ulster but the first scrum of the game sent a very obvious warning. Both packs went down, it was Ulster's put in, and the Ulstermen marched forward. Oh dear, it was going to be a long afternoon at set-piece and that's what happened.

In Bordeaux where Leinster took on Clermont Auvergne the Irish scrum started by creaking, but by the end of the game Leinster's eight were holding their own.

Scrums still win or lose matches.

Ulster beat Edinburgh 22-19 in the Heineken Cup semi-final

Experience counts for everything and here's where the two Irish provinces scored over their rivals. Ulster fielded four Springboks, whereas Edinburgh had Tom Brown and Matt Scott in the back division, and, while both played well, nobody, save themselves, would have guessed during the summer that they would have starting berths for Edinburgh. Matt is a law student.

I can't criticise anything Edinburgh did and I am on record as saying that Michael Bradley has helped them toughen up and play a more direct game.

Edinburgh were valiant but Ulster's power and experience through Ruan Pienaar and Johann Muller proved key. Leinster fielded Brian O'Driscoll, Jamie Heaslip, All Black Brad Thorn, Isa Nacewa, and Richardt Strauss.

Scottish teams have not been able to sign that calibre of player at the top of their game since Todd Blackadder was in his pomp.

The X-factor is harder to define.

At one level players like Rob Kearney and Sean O'Brien for Leinster appear to be "talented". You could say the same about Rory Best and Stefan Terblanche. But I suspect they have superb coaching and when you look at both Ulster and Leinster they do a lot of the simple things very well, above all keeping the ball when they have it, and disrupting possession.

I like the way Irish teams play. I think Irish teams are well coached and well prepared and I am guessing at a big pool of talent to support and threaten the top players. When I was in Dublin at the weekend they were showing Garryowen taking on Ballymena in the Irish cup and, if I am honest, those guys looked closer to the professional level than Scottish club players.

The Irish X factor isn't Elaine C Smith playing Susan Boyle in her life story in a Dublin theatre (as she was this weekend) no, it's a strength in depth and a coaching pool of talent that is multi-national and highly paid.

Other teams have to learn from Ireland. There's a motivated grass roots. A handy number of provinces in four, they do their best to keep their best players in the country, and it looks to me as though they are a step ahead of the rest of us.

Edinburgh had nothing to be ashamed of, Glasgow have a chance to turn over Connacht and challenge for the league, but the Irish teams are moving ahead.

How do the rest of us catch them? Give me your ideas and I'll have a think.

As Edinburgh fans scramble around borrowing money for a trip to Dublin, my mind started wandering.

Will the Scottish rugby team hit winning ways soon, who was the biggest person ever to play for Scotland (Richard Metcalfe I think) and will Donald Trump buy Murrayfield, call it Trump and Grind, and stick a couple of wind turbines on the back pitch?

Actually I wasn't really, I was thinking about going back to Ireland's capital and packing light. Yes, Dublin's fair city where the girls are so pretty but it's not much use if you're in your fifties, or something like that.

And from there my mind raced to all the places I've played rugby in, or had the luck to go to and watch games. You and me, we like away trips.

I've been tweeting to try to get Edinburgh fans to come to our Sport Nation programme on Saturday morning and I hope that plenty make the journey to the Aviva stadium or it'll be like going to a new branch of a fast food restaurant called Little Belfast. All red and white and "Stand up for the Ulstermen..." and the rest of it.

Rugby fans have always been fond of an "away day" (pic: SNS)

As a kid the first trips were on "tours" to the Borders of Scotland to get bits of my body kicked by players from Hawick, Kelso, Jedburgh and Melrose. Those were excellent weekends. In fact, I think we nearly won a game once.

The older I got the more travel beckoned: Dublin and Aurrilac with the then Scotland "B" team, the other home nations and a tour of France and Spain with Scotland. Spain as part of a, yes, football World Cup, and then two southern hemisphere trips with the Lions.

In the middle of all that was a game against Australia where, at the post-match function, I sat beside a really outgoing young stand-off called Michael Lynagh and I just want to put in writing that I really hope he's Okay. To heck with the rugby he played, that is a decent man.

And then with the Beeb, and I know I'm one of the luckiest blokes in the world, there have been some amazing times.

Do you know what though? See when you step off a plane anywhere in the world I'm kind of proud that my game is rugby. Fans will rib each other without real bitterness, there is no segregation.

I remember being in a bar in Brisbane and some Aussie found out who we worked for and asked who we were. I said that the person to my left was my producer. "Oh." said the Aussie. "And just what kind of films exactly is it you star in?" with a wink.

On the same trip I was woken by kids surfing at half five in the morning, I've had monkeys throw dates onto my hotel's tin roof outside Durban in South Africa, and I've sat with a Scottish team on tour in the middle of France as they dished up octopus stew - and nobody touched it.

There is something about a rugby town that sticks with you. Dublin this weekend will put on its green hat and welcome the folks from Edinburgh and Belfast.

It'll be Guinness and buskers and Grafton Street and walking and laughs and food and very little sleep.

When the Leinster men go to Bordeaux to play Clermont Auvergne it'll be wine and warmth and smoky sausage barbecues, baguettes and funny hats and a language barrier.

All are equally lovable, and all marvellous, which is how an Edinburgh win would be this weekend.

For Edinburgh to reach the Heineken Cup final they have to get that game plan working and keep the ball from Ulster who are a good side. Can Edinburgh win? Possibly...

I'm not going to be fancy. The best ruby trip of my life was to the Scottish Borders. The first time for most things is the best. I was 17, in a car being driven by an older team-mate and crammed to the limits by anything up to five players and their kit and golf clubs, passing Carstairs and Carluke, down through Peebles, and then into a land of green I'd never seen before.

The hospitality was as amazing as the physicality on the pitch. And then there's that pint in your hand, a hotel bed (I know, extravagance) a hungover breakfast full of smiles and memories, a day off on the Saturday, a repeat performance in the shape of being kicked to bits on the Sunday, and then back up the road to get ready for another hopelessly out-of-sorts Monday at University.

Man it's been a good life.

So if you're in Dublin I'll see you there - but, before you go let me know the best rugby trip you've ever been on.

So, there I was watching the Melrose Sevens and tuning up my guitar for the gig in the tent afterwards, during which Kelly Brown would joins us for a song.

The game that caught my eye was a Jedforest one. Two tall, young, fairly skinny twin brothers called Lewis and Gregor Young were outstanding. Boy, do they have pace. Jed progressed to the semi-final and promptly knocked out holders and hosts Melrose, the Young brothers to the fore.

And it got me thinking: Having watched Kelly Brown play sevens as a lad I could only compare them to him. It was great to see two young players that looked as though they had the attributes to go all the way.

It doesn't mean they will, but they might. They'd already helped Jed to win the Gala sevens, now they were in the Melrose final, although Saracens were just too professional and too strong.

Saracens, by the way, were wearing red - which, according to leading researchers, is the colour that helps you win. And that explains just why so many politicians wear red ties too. There are even suggestions that leaving red out of the Olympic kit to such a degree means team GB will win fewer medals that might be expected.

But I'm digressing...

When I was a kid I played alongside a wing forward called Iain Jarvie who should have played for Scotland. Of all the players I've ever come into contact with he's the one where I've thought: he slipped through the net. Big, fast, and with a hand-off as fierce as a steam train's piston, he probably just played for the wrong club - mine.

As coach at West of Scotland a few years ago I saw Robert Harley, Murray McConnell and Pat McArthur play senior rugby very early on and in the case of the first two they were both still at school and running rings round grown men. Or, in Harley's case, tackling them backwards with the force of a couple of neutron bombs.

All over the UK there are players who are good enough, but never make it. Perhaps it's one of life's mysteries as to why some youngsters drop out the game and others, of lesser talent but perhaps a better work ethic or support structure, go on to win.

At every club in the county there is probably a player who could, if captured early enough by the system, go on to play international rugby.

I got that feeling when I saw Duncan Weir play as a schoolboy in a losing team but he was a stand-out, Jon Welsh in his first game for West as a young pro, and Mark Bennett when he played for a Scotland age group team on the pitch across from my house.

And it's the kind of pressure they may or not cope with but when you see two young blokes with size and speed in the shape of the Young brothers from Jed then you have to think that they might just make it. There were other great young players around too of course.

There you are, a couple of tips for the top from me. So I want to hear from you, not matter how old, who have you played alongside or seen play that you think deserves a cap one day?

Can I make one request? I want Glasgow and Edinburgh to play each other one more time, at Murrayfield, all guns blazing. I'm not sure the argument is settled yet, Scottish Rugby should put on one more glorious fixture.

In life, there are ups and downs, good and bad and yin and yang; not the pandas currently unable to mate in Edinburgh Zoo, but the opposing life forces the Chinese believe exist in the universe.

Greig Laidlaw's Edinburgh beat Toulouse in front of a record 37,881 crowd. Pic: SNS

In rugby, the world has exactly the same opposing forces in the shape of leagues and cups. After a dismal Six Nations, one Scottish team, Glasgow, is doing well in the league in fourth place and could well be in a play-off place.

But Edinburgh stormed the barricades on Saturday and beat Toulouse in front of a record crowd to reach the semi-finals of the Heineken Cup.

Can I confess? I didn't go to the game but watched it on TV like a nervous kitten unable to sit still. Arise Sir Michael Bradley as that was a game of sheer magnificence.

Edinburgh have a simple smash-up game that combines pick and go with one out runners and then they move it wide. Sometimes they go wide straight from set piece to get the ball to Tim Visser in two passes, but directness and pride are the orders of the day.

When Edinburgh last beat Toulouse, in 2003 at Meadowbank, a crowd of 3,000 turned up to watch Nathan Hines, Brendan Laney and Marcus Di Rollo do the business. A year ago I would not have predicted that nearly 40,000 would come to Murrayfield to watch the same fixture.

And the bite that was there nine years ago came again as Allan Jacobsen, Ross Ford, David Denton and crew bared their teeth.

It was probably the biggest 'club' game in Scottish rugby history. I can't overstate how important that win was.

Glasgow, at the other end of the M8, have shown much more consistency in the league. They have a 'Warrior Nation' of fans and there's a buzz you can see among the players.

There are probably two players for each position but now they have a scrum that destroys most teams and, like Edinburgh, a simple game-plan that deviates from one pass smash-up and then move wide to their three pod system.

Could Glasgow attract nearly 40,000 fans? Not at Firhill as it doesn't have that many seats, but let's just leave that question hanging.

The grass roots of the game are greener in Edinburgh as next year there will be no Glasgow teams in the top flight of our domestic amateur game. Speaking of which, in my opinion, we make a daft mistake in making that top amateur league smaller.

'Amateur' club rugby is about lots of games and beers at the bar and making money, not trying to create six or eight elite clubs.

But back to Glasgow and Edinburgh, both teams play simple rugby. Hand on heart I'm not sure that's what Scotland do at times.

But as I sat there watching Edinburgh I wondered: what is more important? Is a league and its consistency of performance a better indicator of success than the knock-out blows delivered by Edinburgh and their clashes with Toulouse and before that Racing Metro 92 in Paris?

My opinion? Success in the Heineken Cup is more important than in the league and always will be while a Scottish team can come bottom of the league and still qualify for the Cup which will always provide the bigger moments.

A league with no relegation is never as serious as a winner-take-all game in a knock-out cup.

Have Glasgow or Edinburgh been more successful? Come on Scottish Rugby, set up another extra game, pick a sunny day, open the bars and we will fill the stadium for you and winner takes all. Go on.

He calls it a transfer fee. As you'll read later it's the Kiwis who have the biggest cheek in all of this though.

The country Hore thinks is losing players at the moment is Wales who, thanks to Warren Gatland, a simple game plan, and some tough fitness stuff, have won a Grand Slam.

The theory is that one country, in this case Wales, has developed a player and then he's plucked away from them to play somewhere else.

It is a complete load of nonsense. Just because it's happening to Wales doesn't mean it becomes an international crisis.

Scotland lock Richie Gray will be playing in England next season

What everyone seems to forget in all of this is that the other country now pays for your players. They are off your wage bill. And that frees up money to develop others and to a greater extent the players you've lost are still available to play for you.

Wales is not losing its stars because of some skullduggery, it's because the Welsh money men aren't ploughing enough into the regions and the Welsh Rugby Union isn't paying the players as much as it might on its central contracts.

Cardiff Blues prop Gethin Jenkins, Dragons lock Luke Charteris and Ospreys hooker Huw Bennett are the latest Welshmen heading for France, while flanker Dan Lydiate, wing George North, and centre Jamie Roberts are also said to be going overseas.

Welsh players are moving because they will be paid more money to play in France, simple as that.

The bigger picture is interesting in that it impacts Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, and Georgia to a large extent if the direction we are going is from smaller rugby nations to bigger ones, but the Kiwis have tabled this motion as New Zealand rugby loses on average 100 players every year. The IRB are to look at it.

The Kiwis, for generations, have been offering school scholarships to Samoans, Fijians and Tongans so that they can be used by the All Blacks and now they cry foul the other way.

It's a joke. And anyway, developing players are paid buttons.

One of the great things about the world is that people can move freely. People, if international laws allow, can work where there is money to pay them.

On the flip side, there is logic in each country deciding how many overseas players can play in its league - as long as it complies with international trade laws - but to allow another layer of bureaucracy where agents take their cut of another layer of transfer money sounds illogical.

So, if I were the SRU for instance, I'd let players who wish to leave do just that so that someone else might pay the bill and a few hundred thousand pounds are freed up to develop players.

And as far as both Edinburgh and Glasgow are concerned, the next bit of spending they'll need to monitor is the signing of overseas players as a quick fix rather than trusting the youngsters coming through.

But international business has to be transparent, and if the New Zealanders really want paying for the players they are losing just now then they should pay billions to the islands from which they have taken players for thirty years.

As for the Welsh, if they want to keep their players, their union needs to cough up more money. It's a free market in rugby players.

Or am I being unfair?

A third Grand Slam in eight years for Wales. Plaudits for runners-up England. Misgivings over Ireland and France, a win for Italy and a third Wooden Spoon in nine years for Scotland.

Time for a few awards, and a team of the tournament.

I canvassed the views of the BBC’s main television analysts – former Wales fly-half Jonathan Davies (JD), ex-England centre Jeremy Guscott (JG), former Scotland scrum-half Andy Nicol (AN) and ex-Ireland hooker Keith Wood (KW) – for their highlights, and asked them for a mark out of 10 for their respective home nations, as well as their composite teams.

While Scotland lock Richie Gray, Ireland flanker Stephen Ferris, France centre Wesley Fofana and Wales full-back Leigh Halfpenny all had deserved mentions, our BBC team’s award goes to Wales flanker Dan Lydiate.

The 24-year-old missed the opening game against Ireland, but returned with a man-of-the-match display against Scotland, and earned another award for his stunning performance in the Grand Slam decider against France.

Previously perceived as an unsung hero whose sterling efforts went largely unseen, Lydiate lived up to his “Chopper” and “Silent Ninja” nicknames in a superbly destructive display. As Jonathan Davies put it: “He does all the dirty work, and his work-rate is phenomenal. And he put in his biggest performance when it mattered most .”

Stand-out moment:

Unanimous agreement from our BBC analysts on this. It came on the opening weekend, Ireland v Wales in Dublin. From a tap-down from flanker Justin Tipuric at the tail of a line-out, Wales – through half-backs Mike Phillips and Rhys Priestland – launched the giant George North off his left wing.

The teenage wing wonder skipped around Gordon D’Arcy and bumped off Fergus McFadden before unleashing the deftest of offloads out the back of his right hand to Jonathan Davies, who shredded the remaining defence to score at the posts. Brutal and beautiful in equal measure, an exquisitely timed move executed with power, pace and precision.

Best try/tries:

The aforementioned Jonathan Davies try against Ireland featured highly, as did Scott Williams’s winning solo try for Wales at Twickenham.

Keith Wood opted for a third Welsh try, Alex Cuthbert’s side-stepping effort that proved the difference against France, purely for its significance alone.

Andy Nicol picked out Stuart Hogg’s against France as “the first of many for a future star of Scottish rugby”.

The others both came in England’s stirring victory over France in Paris, Jonathan Davies and Jeremy Guscott both picking out Manu Tuilagi’s arcing run to the right corner, after a thumping hit from Chris Ashton and clever offload from Owen Farrell.

Nicol also enjoyed the way Tom Croft “put the after-burners on and scorched across the 22” for the winning try.

Biggest disappointment:

Scotland. “Started with so much promise but delivered very little other than a few stand-out performances from some of the young lads.” (AN)

Scotland’s discipline. “They performed well against England, Wales and France, yet they couldn’t go to Italy and win. A lot of that was down to their own indiscipline.” (JD)

“France’s unwillingness to play with the ambition that’s instinctive within them.” (JG)

“The Irish scrum's performance at Twickenham.” (KW)

Marks out of 10:

England: 7.5/10. “Winning all three away games was a massive achievement for this new, inexperienced squad. I had them down to finish fourth; they exceeded my expectations and, I bet, many others.” (JG)

Ireland: 6/10. “They struggled to find leadership. Senior players didn’t step up in the absence of the injured Brian O'Driscoll and Paul O'Connell.” (KW)

Scotland: 3/10. “Whitewashed, Wooden Spoon and only four tries says it all really!” (AN)

Wales: 9/10. “I would have given them a 10 after winning the Grand Slam, but I believe there is more to come offensively from this side.” (JD)

France: 5/10. “That is because I am a very kind person!” (Thomas Castaignede). “They didn’t produce what we expected of them in terms of attacking ambition. I expected a lot more.”

Anyone want to give Italy a mark out of 10?

Team of the Tournament:

15: Rob Kearney (Ireland). Leigh Halfpenny, the tournament’s top points-scorer with 66, enjoyed plenty of decisive moments – a match-winning penalty against Ireland, throwing himself at David Strettle’s feet to stop the England wing in the final play of the game – and earned JD’s vote. But the Irishman – safe as houses under the high ball, and rejuvenated in his counter-attacking from deep – took the other three. Likely to be rivals for the British & Irish Lions Test jersey next year.

14: Tommy Bowe (Ireland). Alex Cuthbert, who got stronger as the tournament went on and scored three tries including the crucial one against France, earned KW’s vote. But the County Monaghan man nabbed the other three, taking his five tries with the sharpness that made him a Lion in 2009.

13: Jonathan Davies (Wales). England’s Manu Tuilagi missed the first two games but swiftly brought his destructive power to bear when he did enter the fray. But the Welshman brought variety, intelligent angles, sharp passing and finishing power to the Welsh midfield. A midfield diamond.

12. Wesley Fofana (France). Jamie Roberts had a strong tournament for Wales and earned a vote, but France uncovered a new star in the shape of Fofana, who scored a try in each of his first four Tests. Cuts delicious angles and pace to burn. Wasted when he was moved to the wing against Wales.

11. George North (Wales). JD felt Cuthbert had edged his more celebrated wing partner by the end of the Championship, but the original giant Welsh wing was a constant threat every time the ball came in his direction. Just the one try against Ireland, but brings so much more. A game-breaker.

10. Owen Farrell (England). Centre for first two matches, he moved to 10 after Charlie Hodgson’s injury and remained there after a superb outing against Wales. Still work to be done on his attacking game, but with Jonny Sexton only impressing in patches and Rhys Priestland suffering a mid-tournament dip, the 20-year-old ’s defensive excellence and nerveless goal-kicking gave him the nod.

9. Mike Phillips (Wales). With “no outstanding candidate or no-one setting the world alight” (JD), Phillips took all four votes. Started off in superb form against Ireland, and a tower of strength when Wales were down to 14 men, particularly at Twickenham, he also frustrated at times with the speed of his distribution and decision-making. Honourable mentions to Mike Blair and Lee Dickson.

1. Gethin Jenkins (Wales). England’s Alex Corbisiero enhanced his growing reputation against some of the best scrummagers in the game, but the Welshman – now a three-time Welsh Grand Slam winner – remains the benchmark for modern-day props. Intelligence, strength, and leadership.

2. Rory Best (Ireland). Although part of a badly beaten Irish front row on the final day, the Ulster hooker enjoyed a consistently strong tournament, led the side well after Paul O’Connell succumbed to injury and weighed in with a couple of tries as well.

3. Adam Jones (Wales). England’s Dan Cole enjoyed two barnstorming displays against France and Ireland to finish strongly and earn a couple of votes, but the hair-bear Welshman, another triple Grand Slammer, gets the nod. The rock on which Wales success was built, and perhaps their most important player. Has made the Welsh scrum a source of strength, when he is there.

4. Richie Gray (Scotland). Unanimous choice and another Lion in the making. Dominant in the line-out, prodigious ball-carrier, great hands, pace and footballing ability, as he showed with his brilliant try against Ireland.  Shame Scots don’t have more like him.

5. Ian Evans (Wales). Ireland skipper Paul O’Connell earned a couple of votes but his campaign ended after three matches. Wales were without their two World Cup locks at the outset, but Evans unleashed a series of towering displays, after several years of injury misery, to deliver on the promise of his early career. Played in every minute of every game, and will take some shifting.

6. Dan Lydiate (Wales). Possibly the most hotly contested spot in this team, and the Lions Test team in Australia next year, with Ireland’s Stephen Ferris and England’s Tom Croft both enjoying excellent campaigns. But the unsung Welshman earned two man-of-the-match awards, the latter with a thundering display in the Grand Slam decider, to confirm his emergence as a world-class talent.

7. Thierry Dusautoir (France). Ross Rennie earned JD’s vote as one of several finds for Scotland, while Sam Warburton turned in a man-of-the-match display against England, but only played two other halves of rugby. The France captain, meanwhile, remained a totem figure and pillar of consistency even in a side struggling to find its true identity under Philippe Saint-Andre.

8. David Denton (Scotland). Toby Faletau built on the promise of the World Cup and finished strongly against France to confirm his reputation as another strong Lions prospect. But Zimbawe-born Denton began with a bullocking man-of-the-match performance against England, and was another revelation in a losing side.

I dislike witch doctors, fakirs, gully gully men, and any other human form that tries to pretend that sport is rocket science.

Rugby is actually simple. Whichever team has the best trained raw material with the best game plan wins.

The rest is smoke and mirrors.

Scotland completed a winless Six Nations with defeat in Italy. Pic: SNS.

You've all seen the game so you know what happened so let's try to look forward and guess scenarios.

The first thing we need to do as a country is speak to the Lions logistics man, Guy Richardson. He has been around the countries examining the ways the different teams prepare and we need to know why we are losing. He will know.

It's either the coaching or the players or a strange combination of both.

And that conversation must be part of an audit of rugby's health in Scotland.

The first possibility is that Andy Robinson quits. He brought huge success to Edinburgh but he might feel that as he hasn't given Scotland as many wins as he'd want.

He may even be sacked or negotiated out the door. Players like winning coaches.

He then walks into a plum job elsewhere and we need a new coach after building our systems and planning around him, which is awkward.

I genuinely feel that we should be looking from within for our coaches.

Sean Lineen always knew that he'd have a safer job if he never put himself forward for the national team, and yet for all his alleged failings in man-management and skills coaching, Sean is an organised, nippy, aggressive, targeting coach who, actually, would be better at the highest level than getting bogged down in keeping some players happy week in and week out at club level.

Lineen has grabbed a game plan that works for Glasgow Warriors this year after a poor season last year. He's actually the kind of bloke who would get the best out of a national team.

I think he's the strongest candidate. Remember he hasn't been sacked.

Beneath him we should have been promoting the likes of Craig Chalmers, Ally Donaldson and Peter Wright rather than the next trendy Aussie.

Shade Munro and Tom Smith are also waiting in the wings and the game needs a flow of coaches.

Warren Gatland, a Kiwi, is the exception that proves the rule. The grass is not greener. Though the New Zealand papers have got hold of the fact that we are now targeting players who might be just beneath All Black level but qualify for Scotland.

No matter what happens next we need to ensure that at both Glasgow and Edinburgh we have the best conditioning and skills coaches. And the same at every level beneath them.

Dropped passes in Rome aren't actually Andy Robinson's fault.

The second possibility is that Andy Robinson stays. His record is better than that of Frank Hadden and Matt Williams and better than the second spells of both Ian McGeechan and Jim Telfer.

If Andy does stay, his game plan needs to be questioned and, as in the first scenario, the best skills and conditioning coaches should be in Glasgow and Edinburgh and at all levels underneath.

Andy Robinson works with the raw material he is given. We need to give him better raw material.

We need to educate the next group of Scottish coaches and conditioners and equip them with the skills to produce better players.

My last point is that if you're trying to make things better then you have to move mountains. Why accept that you can't make the changes you have to make?

It's a long-term strategy but, as I said last week, it's becoming a numbers game so we need to increase our playing numbers - pay people to take school teams - and finally rugby, I'm afraid, has to become a summer sport in Scotland.

I just don't want us to be perpetually bottom of the table, we have some good players, and we need to move forward.

It's not rocket science.

So his comments about the team and its interim coach Stuart Lancaster after the 30-9 demolition of Ireland at Twickenham on Saturday were as telling as they were unusual.

"We've been born again as a new team under Stuart," he said. "We've come such a long way. We've made everyone proud of us again, and there's still loads more to come."

Even die-hards had written this Six Nations off as a time to experiment and rebuild for another distant day.

Lancaster has revitalised England's squad since taking charge. Photo - Getty

Four wins from five later, with three games won away from home for the first time in history, young players not just blooded but flourishing. With rousing victories taken against all recent odds in Paris and over Ireland, the jilted are starting to swoon once again. It is quite some renaissance.

Saturday's thumping was so emphatic by the end that it was easy to lose sight of the context. The men in green had won seven of their last eight meetings with England in this oldest of competitions, including three of the last four at Twickenham.

Even with storied stalwarts Paul O'Connell and Brian O'Driscoll missing they featured 616 caps in their starting XV, almost three times as many as England.

In a scrappy first half they had trailed by only three points yet had a superior kicking game and seemed to be playing the slippery, gloomy conditions rather more effectively.

All that changed in the last 40 minutes as the home pack dismantled the visitors' scrum in a way that hasn't happened since Andrew Sheridan smashed Australia to small green and gold pieces in the autumn of 2005.

Mike Ross, suffering from what coach Declan Kidney referred to, with kind understatement, as a "crick in the neck" was already struggling, but the hammering absorbed by his replacement Tom Court bordered on humiliation.

Court began his sporting career as a shot putter. He ended this game shot to pieces.

England won 11 scrums to Ireland's three, sticking on 21 second-half points as Ireland conceded 12 penalties - almost all of them from a set-piece going backwards and upwards and sidewards, anywhere but forward - one penalty try, and another seven points to a quick tap from another inevitable scrum capitulation.

Kidney's men had actually impressed at the breakdown, as we have come to expect. But elsewhere the wheels were coming off: 11 tackles missed, a debilitating 17 errors shipped as experienced and talented hands developed the grip of shovels shifting waste.

We should hope St Patrick was looking elsewhere on his big day.

England, too keen to run from too deep in the first half, took a rollicking from Rowntree at the interval and came out with a game-plan that made sense. Kick for territory, play for the set-piece, snatch at every inch of impetus and turn it into something better.

If Lee Dickson had a chastening afternoon behind the scrum, the man outside him, Owen Farrell, was near faultless, eight men in front of him outstanding.

Ben Morgan, in only his third international start, was a worthy man of the match. Tom Croft continued where he had left off at the Stade de France. The front row of Dan Cole, Dylan Hartley and Alex Corbisiero - average age: 24 - mangled their opposite numbers and celebrated with a grizzled bear-hug when the penalty try became their reward.

It was no sort of way for Ireland's skipper, the valiant Rory Best, to celebrate passing Keith Wood as his country's most capped hooker, and no sort of ending to a season that saw his side score more tries than in their Grand Slam year of 2009 but finish awash in what ifs and so nearlys rather than championship medals.

The last-gasp loss to Wales had been cruel, the draw in Paris, having held a double-digit lead at half-time, painful. But this was as chastening a display as Kidney's regime has witnessed.

England's forward momentum comes with no guarantees. With three summer Tests in South Africa and games against the All Blacks and Wallabies to follow in autumn, sterner tests and possibly tougher times may follow.

Whatever transpires, Lancaster should be at the helm to confront it.

Rumours late on Saturday from South Africa had Nick Mallett, the other man in the frame for the permanent England job, apparently all but conceding his candidacy.

But it is not just Lancaster's immediate future the RFU must decide. His assistant Andy Farrell is due to return to Saracens on Monday morning, his courtesy loan period over.

There have been suggestions that the RFU, even if they take Mallett at his supposed word, might seek to bring in some more international experience to the staff in the shape of former New Zealand assistant coach (and an avowed second in command) Wayne Smith. The caretaker, if given the job, would dearly love to keep the current triumvirate together.

"I just want to express my pride in the performance," said a smiling, almost dazed, Lancaster afterwards.

"We talked a lot about believing in in each other and self-belief, but when you think that this squad first came together eight weeks ago, at a League Two club in Leeds...

"I'm just delighted for the players, for the management and for the supporters. It was a great way to finish. It's probably exceeded most people's expectations but we've always believed in this group of players."

Does he feel he's done enough to secure the promotion full-time?

"I've known all along the timelines and the process. I understand what people need to do. I'll just enjoy the moment.

"Any team has to win in difficult conditions but also learn and improve. The most pleasing thing for us as a coaching team is that we can see that happening and see what we have worked on in training coming through in matches. It's been a great journey."

"I hope Wales is rocking at the moment," mused Warren Gatland, an hour or so after Rhys Priestland had booted the ball high into the stands to spark wild celebrations at the Millennium Stadium.

You can bet on it Warren. Rocking, rolling and revelling deep into another Grand Slam night, a third in eight years, and the second in five years on his watch.

It wasn't pretty at times, and there was little of the flowing rugby we have come to associate with his young side in the past year. But it was mightily effective, impressively composed, and their triumph was richly deserved.

There were several scary moments - Imanol Harinordoquy bearing down on Leigh Halfpenny metres from the Welsh line after a cheeky French line-out routine, and French replacement Jean-Marcellin Butin racing onto a quickly-taken cross-kick to the left touchline from a penalty chief among them.

Other moments combined to make the majority of the 74,178 present wonder if another red letter day was assured after all: the penalties from Rhys Priestland and Halfpenny that came back off an upright, the announcement that captain Sam Warburton would not be returning for the second half.

Wales celebrate their third Grand Slam in eight years, and their 11th overall. Photo: Getty

With France never less than a converted try away on the scoreboard, the tension ratcheted up into a deafening crescendo. Only when referee Craig Joubert raised his left hand to the air to signal the last of 23 penalties (10 against Wales, 13 against France) with seconds remaining, was the Cardiff amphitheatre finally drenched in blessed relief and the party officially started.

Ryan Jones, who replaced Warburton after the interval, carried his blonde baby son around the pitch; Halfpenny received a bear hug from Rob Howley. Shaun Edwards repeatedly punched the air in delight. Alun Wyn Jones donned a red bowler hat to set off his huge grin. Ian Evans attempted a robot dance on the touchline. Even Gatland couldn't wipe the smile off his face.

Wales had played at times as though intent on not losing the match, rather than going all out to win it.

As Howley observed, it was something of "throwback" game in terms of the aerial ping-pong, Priestland and Halfpenny launching the ball high into the Cardiff sky on at least a dozen occasions, often with little reward, and Lionel Beauxis replied in kind.

Even when Wales did find themselves in French territory, the favoured option - even for the likes of Jamie Roberts - was a chip ahead, a grubber kick to the corner. Game management, territory and field position were Wales' watchwords, the prize on offer - and the threat posed by a belligerent French side relishing the role as party-poopers - too great to indulge in fantasy rugby.

The gainline battle was ferocious, and some bodies laid on it did not last the course.
Captain Warburton's departure meant he only ended up playing one whole game - admittedly a man-of-the-match turn against England - in this campaign, and two other halves.

Such was the pain from his damaged shoulder that he could not even use his right hand for shaking others at the official presentation. He used his left to raise the Six Nations trophy aloft on one side, with Gethin Jenkins on the other.

It was appropriate that Jenkins - who led the side against Scotland and Italy, and took over the captaincy for the second half here - should be centre stage. Alongside Adam Jones and Ryan Jones, the 31-year-old two-time Lions prop has now joined some elite company - Gareth Edwards, JPR Williams, Gerald Davies - as a three-time Welsh Grand Slam winner.

Gatland was understandably reluctant to compare his own team to those revered sides - "different times, different eras" - and perhaps definitive judgement should wait until the scale of the current side's achievement is fully realised. With nine players aged 25 or under in the starting line-up, this is a side that should still have its best years ahead of it.

Leigh Halfpenny converted a try and added three penalties during the match. Photo: Reuters

Then again, they only had to win four matches to complete a clean sweep in those days. Winning a Slam in the Six Nations era is by definition harder because you have to win an extra game. Yet Wales' triumph is the eighth time in 13 years that one has been completed since 2000. And Wales have joined the French as three-time Grand Slammers in the Six Nations era.

Historically only England, who won four Grand Slams in eight years from 1921 to 1928 - and three in five years from 1991 to 1995 - and France, who won four Grand Slams in eight years from 1997 to 2004 - have done better. Wales, with 11 Slams, are now within one of England's record of 12.

Since Gatland's first season in 2008, Wales have now won 18 and lost seven in the Championship, a 72% success rate. The most exciting aspect for the whole Red Dragonhood is the promise of more.

Wales already had arguably five world-class players in Gethin Jenkins, Adam Jones, Sam Warburton, Mike Phillips and Jamie Roberts. The likes of Dan Lydiate, Toby Faletau, Luke Charteris, Ian Evans, Jonathan Davies, George North and Leigh Halfpenny have all the ingredients to achieve similar status, if some of them are not there already.

Wales now have a squad rich in quality and depth: 22 players started at least one game in this campaign, and 30 players were used in all. No longer are Wales irrevocably damaged by the loss of two or three frontline players to injury.

Jenkins, Warburton and Charteris were all missing at various times, but their absence did not affect performance levels or results.

While the line-out still creaked on occasions here, there was more evidence of the source of strength the Welsh scrum has become, while the defence was again heroic - a tribute to assistant coach Edwards, who described himself as "the conscience of the players".

Edwards had set his players a target of not conceding more than 11 points, and they surpassed that. Their total of 58 points conceded in five matches surpassed their Six Nations record of 66 in the 2008 campaign. They did not concede a try in their last three matches of this one.

Their work ethic was evident in the way Alun Wyn Jones fought to win the turnover on the floor that led to the all-important try. Wales' backs - who have scored all their 10 tries - have been pigeon-holed as all power and little pizzazz, but the way Alex Cuthbert cut a dash past three Frenchman with a devastating sidestep off the right touchline would have pleased Gerald Davies in his prime.

Gatland's next target is to start beating the three major southern hemisphere sides on a consistent basis in the run-up to the next World Cup in 2015.

"We are not at that level yet, and that is our big aim," said the New Zealander. "But we have got a young enough side that hopefully over the next few years can do that."
That is for the future. This particular Grand Slam party will be rocking for a while yet.

Has this been the toughest six months of his entire career?

"Definitely. Coming back from the World Cup... sometimes it just goes like that," he said.

"Your life is never going to keep going up and up - there will always be a bit where it plateaus out. It's dealing with that side of it that's harder than anything else. When we got back from New Zealand it just kept snowballing."

Chris Ashton scores a try in trademark fashion. Photo: Getty

Snowball it did. Ashton was that tournament's joint leading try-scorer, but as one of the players to crop up most frequently in photographs of that infamous night in Queenstown's Altitude bar, he returned from the southern hemisphere to anything but a hero's reception.

A subsequent autobiography was criticised by some as premature. When he returned to club action with Northampton, he was banned for pulling Leicester wing Alesana Tuilagi into touch by his hair, and then had a bust-up with coach Jim Mallinder after being dropped for the big European tie against Munster.

Having begun his international career with nine tries in nine matches, he went on to bag 15 in his first 17 Tests. But Ashton has now gone five matches without crossing the line.

Other wingers have suffered worse droughts - his former England team-mate Mark Cueto famously went 18 matches without one for the national side - but few have gone from feast to famine quite so dramatically.

So what has happened to the form that made him the most feared finisher in world rugby?

"When you've had success you feel like everything's going to come off," he says almost wistfully, "and almost inevitably it does. When it isn't happening, and you're trying to catch a break, it seems a lot harder to get that next try than the last one."

We are talking in the spring sunshine at England's training base at Pennyhill Park, two days before the final match of the 2012 Six Nations against Ireland. A year ago Ashton scored six tries in his first two matches. This time he is in real danger of going scoreless throughout the entire tournament.

"A lot of it comes down to chemistry, to continuity, just getting used to each other," he says, when I ask him where the disparity has sprung from.

"There's a little bit of us as a team getting to know each other, how we play. The first two games were pretty miserable conditions, lots of hard work, more of a slog.

"The Wales match - it's part of the tournament, but it doesn't help when you're stop-starting when you've got a new team. A week on, then two weeks without a game - you need to keep playing.

"I've been in the same place as always, making the same runs, and I've just been a bit unlucky with some of it, with that last pass hasn't been quite there. But that's going to happen - as long as I'm doing everything else right..."

Last season Ashton was forever popping up on the shoulder of fly-half Toby Flood, taking an inside pass to accelerate free. Has the absence of Flood this year, first through injury and then form, denied him his main ammunition?

"Toby has always been good at that - he does that a lot at Leicester," he tells me. "I also think defences are now covering that move a lot more. When you're new it's one thing, but then the opposition start to watch and start to expect.

"That will always happen. You've just got to change your game and carry on getting better and improving. I would like to think I'm doing that."

He scratches at his arm and looks uncomfortable. "As a team we haven't made too many line-breaks, either."

Six, I remind him, with just three in the first three matches.

"Yeah. That's not many at all. Scotland had seven just in the game against us. That's a factor in it. I'm always waiting sometimes for someone to make that break and some of the games have been pretty hard to get involved in."

Last month Ashton offered to move from his favoured right wing to the left to allow David Strettle his own favourite. Has that switch also inadvertently made his task harder?

"Yeah. I've just seen the game for so long from that side of the pitch that it makes more sense to you, just because you've been standing there for so long.

"You get used to everything being on that side of you, so it felt a bit different. The games have been pretty difficult ones to just throw yourself into the left wing.

"I thought I'd give it a go, try the left. After the Wales game I thought I'd like a go back on the right. I just felt much more comfortable, I got myself in the game more. I'm going back to the right again on Saturday."

Another theory has it that today's 24-year-old Ashton is carrying more timber than the fleet-footed, rosy-cheeked speedster who made his debut in Paris two years ago. Has he bulked up in the gym, or lost a little shape?

"Maybe. I don't know. It's pretty hard to work out, because in my head, I don't feel any different to when I was 17.

"You're up and down quite a lot of the time, because sometimes you're doing weights and sometimes you're not. Maybe, because I had four weeks' off at Christmas, not playing, you're not running as much and you're doing more weights, so maybe a little bit."

He shrugs and grins. "But I've always wanted to be a little bit heavier. Not fatter, mind, but heavier."

Some have called for Ashton to be dropped from Stuart Lancaster's starting XV. Cueto has been at the forefront of his former team-mate's defence.

"I don't think he is particularly out of form," Cueto told the BBC. "He is just not getting the opportunities and he is getting frustrated. He has not done anything wrong, and to pick someone out like that is just ridiculous."

There were signs against France of Ashton beginning to enjoy himself again, even if his most important impact was the crunching hit he made on Dmitri Szarzewski that led indirectly to England's first try.

"That was the first tackle I've made, ever," he says with a smile. "I knew I was on my own, so I knew I had to fly in. Luckily he wasn't looking. Although I'd rather Manu [Tuilagi] had tackled him and I'd been on the end of it, scoring the try.

"I'm pretty annoyed when I don't have an impact on the game. You expect yourself to be involved in a game at some point, and when that doesn't happen... Even when the team wins and you're pleased, you're not happy deep down with how you've played."

He was at his lowest, he says, when he couldn't even get a game for Northampton. "It was pretty hard to take. I just had to sit there and watch, through the biggest drought that I've had. That was pretty hard to deal with.

"Doing the simple things and not bothering about all the other stuff, just making sure you're in the team every week - you gain confidence that way. That's what you get from playing. So when you're not playing it's pretty hard. What can you do?

"I think now it's slowly getting better. It's just unfortunate that it has to end this weekend."

If he were he score against Ireland on Saturday, would Twickenham once again witness his "Ash Splash" celebration, or have those carefree days gone? He grins again. "I dunno mate. It might just have to be a dot it down, thank flip for that. Run back, give me another one. We'll have to see..."