Warren Gatland believes his Wales players have earned their place in history as they saw off Ireland to win a Grand Slam and the Guinness Six Nations.
The head coach made sure his final campaign in Rugby’s Greatest Championship was one which ended with a trophy, as his side registered a 25-7 triumph at Principality Stadium.
Wales’ triumph means Gatland has won three Grand Slams but he credited his players for delivering the trophy.
“I am proud of the players because it is not about me it is about them,” he said.
“We have spoken beforehand about them playing for themselves, their families, this crowd and Wales a whole and playing for a bit of history and you can’t take that away from them now.
“I thought it was a fantastic performance today.”
Hadleigh Parkes gave Wales a perfect start as he touched down within 70 seconds after gathering Gareth Anscombe’s kick.
The latter was then perfect off the tee in Cardiff as he kicked all seven attempts at the posts on his way to the Guinness Man of the Match award.
And Gatland says he was trying to build the confidence of his team game by game during the 2019 Championship – with their unbeaten streak in all Tests now stretching to 14 matches.
“That first tough game against France away was really important and then we thought If we can win the first two then we have got two weeks to prepare for the England game,” Gatland said.
“Our first game at home and then coming home here – I think for me it was about giving them confidence – if their coach says we can go on and win it, if that adds the belief in them then something like this can happen.”
Wales captain Alun Wyn Jones was full of praise for his coach as Gatland completed his final Guinness Six Nations campaign.
The lock, playing his 134th match for his country, led from the front as the hosts produced ruthless defence to keep Ireland out for almost the entire match.
Jones believes there is still room for improvement from Wales – despite the five wins and the Grand Slam.
“Everything filters down [from Warren Gatland], he is the man at the top,” Jones said.
“Don’t get me wrong we, and he, have been under pressure but he has been unwavering and pretty unflappable.
“It’s easy to say that now off the back of the win. He has a bit of time left on his contract but we will miss him when he is gone.
“Anything can happen when you work hard and you are a proud nation – I think we have shown that over the last nine weeks.
“We are not going to shy away that at times we have been pretty unconvincing. We like to think there is more potential in us as well.”
Gatland was full of praise for the veteran lock.
The Wales coach added: “He has really matured as a player and has done a great job of leading this team this teams and deserves all of the accolades that he gets.
“He is a fantastic person and a great player.”
