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Best of social as Ireland win a first home Grand Slam in 75 years

News

March 18, 2023 10:52 pm (GMT)

Best of social as Ireland win a first home Grand Slam in 75 years
Tom Masters

by Tom Masters

Super Saturday proved to be a real treat as always and throughout the day social media was inundated with content across all three matches.

Ireland sealed Grand Slam glory on home soil for the first time since 1948 with a 29-16 win over England at the Aviva Stadium.

Earlier on in the day France put the pressure on Ireland with a 41-28 win over Wales at the Stade de France, but Andy Farrell’s men proved too good for England to lift the Guinness Six Nations title for the first time since 2018 and the first time in Ireland since 1985.

Super Saturday started off with Scotland’s 26-14 win over Italy at BT Murrayfield as they themselves secured third spot for the first time in five years.

But on a Super Saturday to remember, much of the social world was concentrating on Ireland and their historic Grand Slam.

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This was a day for Ireland to finally win a Slam in Dublin, something they have never done before, with the last one coming in Belfast 75 years ago, but this was also a day where Johnny Sexton was the star of the show.

Ireland’s captain and fly-half was not only playing his final Guinness Six Nations match, but he also overtook Ronan O’Gara as the leading points scorer in Guinness Six Nations history, with Rugby Pass capturing how he has changed over the years, while Sexton himself could not hid his emotions post match.

This was a day all those Ireland players will remember for the rest of their lives, but perhaps none more so than Dan Sheehan, whose two tries saw him named Player of the Match.

And as ever, there was plenty of loving for Sheehan’s front row colleague Tadhg Furlong.

@kayleightrappe

Ireland V England “Gowan Tadhg Furlong” #fyp #foryou #sixnationsrugby #ireland #rugby

♬ original sound – Jonathon Morley 🐐

As ever, there was respect shown between the two sides, and on the day England made it a real contest.

And although they came out on the wrong side of the scoreline, there was a significant personal achievement for Dan Cole, who reached his 100th cap for England when coming onto the Aviva Stadium turf and received plenty of loving from teammates and opposition, including long time roommate Joe Marler.

But the big celebrations were taking place on the Dublin field, where the St. Patrick’s Day party looked set to continue deep into the night.

@irishrugby

GRAND SLAM CHAMPIONS! 🏆💚 #TeamOfUs #SixNationsRugby

♬ original sound – Irish Rugby

In the middle game of Super Saturday, France put the pressure on Ireland with a win over Wales in Paris, but there was some serious flair on show from both sides.

There was a moment of significance for Taulupe Faletau, who earned his 100th Wales cap in Paris and he was joined early in the game by George North, who became Wales’ all-time top try scorer in the Championship with his early score.

It was not long though until France showed their flair and ran in a memorable score and who else would it be other than Damian Penaud, who ended the Championship as top try-scorer with five, while Antoine Dupont’s long pass to his winger saw him finish joint-top of the assist charts with Finn Russell.

France went on to score plenty more excellent tries, with Gaël Fickou sealing the bonus point, while Uini Atonio also crossed, in a special moment for the prop as he scored his first ever France try on his 50th appearance.

It may have been a defeat for Wales, but there was significant support for Warren Gatland’s men and they showed their gratitude to the travelling Welsh support.

In the first game of the day were treated to some sensational individual skill as Duhan van der Merwe showed incredible acrobatic ability to dive into the corner before Blair Kinghorn’s hat-trick saw Scotland to a 26-14 win over Italy.

Van der Merwe’s try caught the attention of many on social media with comparisons to NRL stars and Superman alike coming to the Scotland wing, who scored his 17th try to equal Gregor Townsend’s tally.

@scottishrugby

A walking highlight reel #AsOne #SixNationsRugby

♬ original sound – Scottish Rugby

After Blair Kinghorn’s brace, Italy fought back and got themselves into a position where they trailed just 19-14 going into the final moments.

Scotland earned a scrum however and managed to quickly get the ball wide to Van der Merwe who in turn found Kinghorn, who was able to streak away for a hat-trick of tries to deny Italy and seal third spot for Scotland for the first time since 2018 – much to the relief of Scotland legend Jim Hamilton, whose podcast partner and former England fly-half Andy Goode enjoyed sitting behind him.

This Championship has been one in which Italy have competed across the five matches but not quite found a way to win, but there were plenty of bright sparks from a young and exciting team that suggest they have a very bright future.

 

 

 

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