Perfect blend

That team of Karl Mullen and Jack Kyle in 1948 was the jewel in the crown but the period was a golden era. Following a near miss for the Triple Crown in 1947, over the next four years there was that remarkable Five Nations Grand Slam, two Triple Crowns ('48 and '49) and two championship successes ('49 and '51).

Three Five Nations championships in four seasons surpassed anything in Ireland's rugby history and nothing remotely equalled it until full-time professionalism intruded in more recent times.

What had that 1948 team that made it so successful, so different and not just from Irish teams but among all the Five Nations? They were smaller and lighter than their opponents but they were a flying outfit of the greyhound breed.

They were the perfect blend. Excellent players, fitting, as has been said, like gloves in every position. It was as if some gifted spirit had drawn a deliberate blueprint and found the ideal personnel to fill every facet of the team.

They had tough, hard-working and speedy forwards, particularly the legendary back-row trio of Jim McCarthy, Des O'Brien and Bill McKay. But most of all there was the unearthing of a couple of 21-year-old geniuses, whose combined talents were as revolutionary and could be termed as comparable to Einstein's contribution to science.

And that wasn't just us bright-eyed youngsters as we viewed affairs from the terraces. Historical reporting has made it clear that Karl Mullen's hooking ensured a plethora of possession for Jack Kyle who, if you'll pardon a bit of self-indulgence, is the greatest out-half I've ever seen.

Master

In those days, 61 years ago, gaining possession in the set scrums was not the predictable affair it is today. Mullen was the master at gaining possession and it was said that his boots often invaded the opposition scrum as far as the number eight.

A Welsh journalist, after the Irish success at Ravenhill, wrote that the vital difference was that Mullen totally outhooked James the Welsh hooker and deprived Wales and their famous scrumhalf, Haydn Tanner, of any opportunity to exploit his famous skills.

Kyle, of course, was the natural genius. His handling was magical. He took passes off his toes or over his head. His speed off the mark had opponents in constant anxiety. His anticipation in defence was a particular feature of his play and his line and tactical kicking was the bane of his opponents.

He also had his dispatch riders, McCarthy, McKay and 0'Brien. That trio's influence was considerable. The red-haired dynamic McCarthy was the fittest man on the side, a perpetual headache to the opposition. McKay, a commando during the war, was big and fast and totally obsessed with crunching tackles, and in between was the elegant, deceptively gentle O'Brien but he was just as much of a buccaneer as his two raiding colleagues.

And so to Paris for the opening match. The game was held at Stade Colombes on New Year's Day, January 1, and hardly any of the Irish had ever seen Paris. Indeed, most had never been outside Ireland. So they assembled in Dublin, travelled by boat to Holyhead, train to London and, after an overnight in London, on by boat to France.

The heavy French pack attempted to steamroll the lighter Irish but as a Fleet Street paper reported: "Ireland exploited every error the French made and the Irish found breaches through which they sped like hares." As I said, the greyhound breed. Whippet speed around the pitch, impertinence in snatching chances, bonecrushing and utterly conclusive tackling.

Centre Paddy Reid, Jim McCarthy and Barney Mullan scored tries, winger Mullan converted two and the Irish won 13-6. The merit of that win was underlined when the French later beat the touring Australians and also England and Wales, losing only to Scotland by a single point. So it was home for the Irish via London, where a few of them played as guests for London Irish.

The match with England at Twickenham, six weeks later, was an 11-10 win and a lucky escape as a result of an error by, of all people, Kyle. Ireland led 11-5 in the closing minutes and were awarded a penalty which appeared to be an easy one for Barney Mullan to put the visitors 14-5 up.

But consternation. Mullan's kick came off the posts into Kyle's arms and he threw out a pass that was cleanly intercepted by Dickie Guest, the flying England wing who ran the length of the pitch to score at the posts and the full-back added the conversion.

One Irish reporter responding to the final seconds wrote: "It was a century or so later before the final whistle was blown." Centre Des McKee, Kyle and McKay scored the three Irish tries and Barney Mullan converted one of them. Guest, who played for England both before and after World War Two, scored both of England's tries.

Before leaving London, the Irish selectors decided on the team to play Scotland at Lansdowne Road and surprisingly dropped the highly skillful centre Paddy Reid and brought on in his place Mick O'Flanagan, the dual international soccer and rugby player, and brother of Dr Kevin 0'Flanagan. Hugh de Lacy was retained at scrum-half even though opinion generally was that Ernie Strathdee was a better partner for Kyle. Obviously the selectors felt that the lightning-fast sprinters McKee and O'Flanagan would pose problems.

As it happened, Strathdee and Reid were chosen for the final match with Wales even though both O'Flanagan and de Lacy had played well against the Scots. The Irish team at Lansdowne Road took over in the second half with their forwards well on top but in those days of low scoring, Ireland could only win by two tries to nil. A strong, typical burst by Barney Mullan and a irresistible bit of skill by Kyle got the scores, both unconverted.

Ravenhill

And so to Ravenhill for the final match, a bid for a Triple Crown for the first time in 49 years and a first Grand Slam. There were, they told us, 30,000 spectators, but such was the crush that even the sardines were laughing sarcastically.

The Irish were particularly wary about three Welsh players -- Tanner, the master tactician at scrumhalf, Ken Jones, the Olympic sprinter on the wing and the gifted centre Bleddyn Williams.

As it happened, Williams scored a fine try but Ireland matched that when Kyle, missing out his centres, sent a long pass to the left and wing Barney Mullen stormed over and it was 3-3.

Frank Trott, the Welsh full-back, was having a torrid time in the second half as the Irish forwards bore down on him. Then 10 minutes into the second half Trott failed to hold onto the ball, Des O'Brien kicked it ahead over the Welsh line and John Christopher Daly from Cobh and London Irish threw himself on the ball for the try. So it was 6-3 for the now rampant Irish and Daly, as he walked back to midfield, was alleged to have addressed his team-mates with: "If Wales don't scored again I'll be f***ing canonised"

Though the victory was only two tries to one, the laws of the game at the time made for low-scoring matches. As Arthur McWeeney wrote in this newspaper: "Behind the scrum the key men such as Haydn Tanner and Bleddyn Williams obviously had plenty of clever ideas but seldom time to execute them."

Although the 15 players who won at Ravenhill have been much photographed, there were in fact 21 players involved in that historic Grand Slam.

They were: Full-backs: Dudley Higgins (Civil Service), Jack Mattsson (Wanderers). Three-quarters: Bertie 0'Hanlon (Dolphin), Des McKee (NIFC), Paddy Reid (Garryowen), Mick 0'Flanagan (Lansdowne), Barney Mullan (Clontarf). Half-backs: Jack Kyle (Queen's Univ), Ernie Strathdee (Queen's Univ), Hugh de Lacy (London Irish). Forwards: Jim Corcoran (London Irish), J. C. Daly (London Irish), Karl Mullen (Old Belvedere), Bertie McConnell (Collegians), Colm Callan (Lansdowne), Jimmy Nelson (Malone), Ernie Keefe (Sunday's Well), Bob Agar (Malone), Bill McKay (Queen's Univ.), Jim McCarthy (Dolphin), Des O'Brien (London Irish).