Warren Gatland admits it would be a dream come true if Wales can claim a Grand Slam in his final Guinness Six Nations game in charge.
But if Wales are to down Ireland next weekend and claim the third clean sweep of Gatland’s 11-year reign – then it will take a classic Cardiff cauldron-like atmosphere.
And after a wall of noise helped lift England past Wales in Round Three, Gatland wants more of the same next weekend in the Welsh capital.
“It is St Patrick’s day next week, Ireland will be chomping at the bit. You won’t be able to get a ticket anywhere,” he said.
“It is going to be a great occasion. The competition is still open, England still have a chance of winning and Ireland will think the same.
“We want to win this Championship and the only way to do that now is to to win the Grand Slam.
“If we can do that I can promise you there will be some pretty serious celebrations afterwards.
“I am excited about it, it is a dream. We can fulfil something pretty special as a group of players. We are 13 in a row now and next week can be 14. I am a great believer in being the eternal optimist, you break records and no-one can ever take those away from you.
“You have to grasp these opportunities with both hands and not have any regrets and I have no doubt that these platers will not have any regrets come the final whistle.”
Wales were pushed all the way in Round Four by Scotland, before eventually emerging with an 18-11 victory at BT Murrayfield.
They had to dig deep in the second half as Darcy Graham went over and Scotland pushed hard before holding on.
“Any team that has won a Grand Slam, even Ireland last year with that Sexton drop goal, you look back on games and know that you have had a little bit of luck,” added Gatland.
“I don’t know if from a coaching perspective we needed to be a bit tougher at half-time. We were talking at half-time that we were pretty comfortable and as a result maybe we were thinking about that Irish game next week.”
And skipper Alun Wyn Jones admits his side need to up their game again if they are to complete a Grand Slam.
“All the way through we have been very real about our performances,” he said.
“We knew discipline would be a factor, but we did give a few easy ins to the Scotland. Sometimes the harder you try, the worse you look and we were trying maybe a bit too hard.”
