Making the most of the Grand Slam:
'The game will change - and we will have to adapt, we must learn from mistakes of 1978 when we sat back'
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Your support makes all the difference.The player: Martyn Williams
The player: Martyn Williams
The first thing that was said in the changing room after we beat Ireland was that we have to make this the start of something, not the climax. There has been no magic formula, just hard work, and we have to continue that, as the ultimate goal is to do well at the 2007 World Cup. A lot has been made about the way we played, but people forget we dogged it out against England, so we do have more than one gameplan. Still, the game will change over the next couple of years and we will have to adapt. It would definitely be good to keep the same coaching staff together.
Wales's Martyn Williams was RBS Player of the Six Nations
The coach: Clive Griffiths
We'll enjoy the moment, but we're up there to be shot at now. There are very few teams who have done back-to-back Grand Slams or Triple Crowns. We have a tour to the US and Canada in the summer, without the Lions, followed by a tough autumn, and Mike Ruddock may look to make more use of specialist coaches in scrum, line-out and kicking. I'm also looking for the regions to make a huge impression in Europe next season - it's important they develop and feed into the shop window which is the national side. There's too many good players and smart coaches out there for us to stand still.
Clive Griffiths is Wales defence coach
The administrator: Steve Lewis
The Grand Slam is a significant achievement and one which brings tangible rewards. We can plough financial support back into the grass-roots. But we have worked hard over the last two years to put a structure in place for sustained success. We got funding for academies and regionally organised competitions in Under-16, U18 and U20, which other national unions have started looking at as a model. The nation's on a buzz, we want to get more boys playing, more referees and more administrators. We will come up with a detailed plan, which is bottom up, not top down.
Steve Lewis is WRU group general manager
The development officer: Dale McIntosh
My club, Pontypridd, helped develop six members of the Grand Slam pack and we've had it tough adjusting to the semi-professional Premiership. But that's the way it is, and we must feed players through to the regional side and the national team. It's all about success and heroes. I did an Under-16s session on Monday and all the talk was of Wales. On Tuesday, the youngsters training for Ponty's Premiership team were upbeat. I have spent most of my development life trying to get by without money - my primary wish would be for funding to create a lot more good coaches.
Dale McIntosh, development officer Rhondda Cynon Taff
The supporter: Max Boyce
With the help of my two "backing singers" (Charlotte Church and Katharine Jenkins) it was great to perform at the Millennium Stadium on Grand Slam day. The audience is much younger now, with many more women and girls, and rarely have I seen a team held in such public affection. People the world over are glad to see Wales winning. We must learn from the mistakes of 1978, when we sat back and failed to maximise the feelgood factor. We have to get to the grass-roots and ensure our national sport never gets whitewashed again. And I've got to save my voice for the bookings which are flooding in!
Max Boyce led the pre-match entertainment in Cardiff
The sponsor: Gareth Davies
It's a great starting point for us that the team not only won, but did so with great plaudits for their style. Orders for replica garments more than trebled to 140,000 in the four months from mid-October, and we were happy to pay a bonus of £250,000 to the WRU on top of the contract of £1m a year. In renewing the contract last summer, the royalty rate was significantly up for grass-roots investment. We are producing commemorative T-shirts, but the red Wales jersey will stay the same until summer 2006, with the possible addition of a WRU 125th anniversary jersey in the autumn.
Gareth Davies is head of sports marketing at Reebok
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