This was the year of the Irish, if not London Irish who plunged back into the Championship at the first attempt. Ireland won the grand slam and beat New Zealand at home for the first time and Leinster secured the Pro14 and European Champions Cup double.
Ireland were named team of the year at World Rugby’s awards bash last month and Joe Schmidt and Johnny Sexton won the coach and player categories. It was the cleanest of sweeps and the question to be answered is whether it came a year too early.
Written by Paul Rees
This news first appeared on https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2018/dec/27/ireland-leinster-2018-breakdown-review-rugby-union under the title “The Breakdown | Ireland grand slam and Leinster double make it a green-tinted 2018”. Bolchha Nepal is not responsible or affiliated towards the opinion expressed in this news article.
