Winning ugly is all well and good but let's not lose sight of what attracted many to rugby in the first place

Beattie would also add that Wales had the same effect on him and that France were "incredibly frustrating" because, "they tried to copy Ireland and Wales".

Yet praise for trying to throw the ball about and letting your backs loose on the opposition was reserved for a team habitually accused of being 'anti-rugby'. England.

Ireland's first game with France aside, their grandslam-winning campaign seemed to be one gigantic battle royal with the team engaging largely on a war of attrition with their opponents, gradually wearing them down with their powerful pack with the fleeting bit of back play making an all too rare appearance.

Not to take anything away from their success - playing the fancy stuff had seen them be the bridesmaid at the final ceremony. Pragmatism on the other hand brought them their first grandslam in 61 years. Unattractive to the eye certainly but a prize to anyone who finds a rugby fan in Dublin, Belfast or Cork who cares.

Uneasy to the eye their majority of play might have been, there was something engrossing about the way they persisted in hammering away at the opposition before they inevitably cracked under the strain of such pressure.

Make no mistake, years of Magners and European success from Leinster, Ulster and in particular, Munster (especially them) have given the current Irish squad a knack hitherto unknown to many of their predecessors - the knack of winning.

If we look at the wider picture - namely expanding the growth of rugby's appeal around the world - one would hope that the Irish have seen this year's Six Nations plan of winning by whatever means just to break the grandslam hex that has dogged them for so long and use it as a platform to play a more expansive game next season.

Because as Beattie remarked earlier, the teams usually associated with champagne rugby, France and Wales, are starting to mimic the men in green.

Wales seemed to have found the right balance of attack and defence last year when they clinched the grandslam but seem to have retreated into a shell which led to them adopting a safety-first approach and no doubt coast them victory against Ireland and France this year.

Did the gaps ruthlessly exposed by South Africa and New Zealand in last Autumn's gruelling contests in Cardiff leave a mark? Even in the win against Australia, the Wallabies exposed chinks in the Welsh defence.

If so, it has only served to place a niggle of doubt which hampered them in the ground-out win over England and certainly proved crucial in Paris and last week against Ireland.

France, as Beattie pointed out, seemed to be obsessed with two-thirds of the Celtic brotherhood and at times tried to mimic them. A constant obsession of seeking to score by going around and around the opposition did make them somewhat predictable. The great French teams of years gone by would have exploited all angles available. And if there were none available, they would create them. Frustrating this current crop are indeed. Yes they ran in tries aplenty in Rome last week but this was against a poor Italy side with only two world class players of note. Even the Pacific Islands team found L'Azzurri to be easy pickings last Autumn.

Yet England seem to be cast as a leading light in playing open rugby. Truth be told, those of a Celtic/Gallic persuasion have been secretly dreading the day that they would finally cut their backs loose.

For far too long they've had the weapons at their disposal but seemed stuck on various wars of attrition up front with the purpose of grinding the opposition into submission (does this sound familiar Dublin?). Now, it seems they've told their backs they can throw away the scarves, woolly hats and gloves because there is a high chance that they'll see the ball - and plenty of it.

In fact, had it not been for the high penalty count against them - and some stupid sin-bins - Martin Johnson's men could (correction: should) have won a grandslam. They were certainly close to winning in Cardiff and Dublin and would have done so had they not shot themselves in the foot.

Second in the table, joint-highest points scorers, top try scorers and the meanest defence - English fans should really be slashing their wrists at this lost opportunity. However, given the thumpings dished out to them by all three Southern Hemisphere giants last Autumn, they are probably relieved to find out that their favourites have not only still got it, but have also shown encouraging signs of improvement.

As for Scotland. Beattie did express sympathy with Frank Hadden with players making wrong calls, misplaced passes and poor kicks at crucial times - after all, there's not a lot you can do when they step out onto the pitch.

There was also sympathy towards the issue of preparation time with many of Scotland's exiles not being released by their English/French/Irish clubs while the big boys had up to eight weeks in some cases of working with their players.

Admittedly, the rules on this are not likely to change and Hadden & Co should just get on with it. However, it is up to the SRU to up the ante in their lobbying to the IRB over this matter while striving to bring more of our exiles back home to play for either Glasgow or Edinburgh. Ireland - and their clubs - have certainly benefited from having their star names within their own shores. Munster and Ulster have both won the Heineken Cup while Leinster have had Magners League success. In Scotland, we simply pray for Glasgow and Edinburgh to try and sneak into the top half of the Magners and squeak past the opening Heineken Cup group stages. Not exactly the height of ambition is it.

With regards to the Scotland head coach, it is increasingly apparent that a change at the top is needed.

Granted Frank Hadden did well in applying a band aid over the Matt Williams fiasco in his first year but the three seasons since have been poor.

Whoever, the SRU chooses to replace must somehow instill has stronger sense of purpose and belief into the squad in that they can land a vast array of blows on the big boys and even knock them out. After all, when you look at the players available to Scotland, we don't have that bad a team. However, it would be a bonus if the new coach could not play players out of position, bench or drop the best ones or place misplaced loyalty on certain players because they once did the business in 19-oatcake.

After all, since winning the 1999 championship, Scotland fans have had very little to shout about. Hopefully the SRU can find a coach who will give them an excuse to exercise their scales once more.

MY TEAM OF THE 2009 SIX NATIONS

15. Lee Byrne (Wales)
14. Tommy Bowe (Ireland)
13. Brian O'Driscoll (Ireland - captain)
12. Rickey Flutey (England)
11. Ugo Monye (England)
10. Ronan O'Gara (Ireland)
9. Mike Phillips (Wales)

1. Gethin Jenkins (Wales)
2. Dimitri Szarzewski (France)
3. John Hayes (Ireland)
4. Alun Wyn Jones (Wales)
5. Paul O'Connell (Ireland)
6. James Haskell (England)
7. David Wallace (Ireland)
8. Sergio Parisse (Italy)

REPALCEMENTS

16. Jerry Flannery (Ireland)
17. Adam Jones (Wales)
18. Ian Gough (Wales)
19. Imanol Harinordoquy (France)
20. Harry Ellis (England)
21. Stephen Jones (Wales)
22. Thom Evans (Scotland)

PLAYERS OF THE TOURNAMENT

Brian O'Driscoll and Paul O'Connell of Ireland. Thankfully for the Irish, this pair stayed free of injury and their presence ultimately decided the destiny of this year's title.

BEST TRY

Brian O'Driscoll v France. As said in an earlier blog. O'Driscoll may have lost a yard of pace but they always say a boxer's punch is the last to go. In O'Driscoll's case, his skill.

BEST MATCH

Ireland v France - just a pity this pair retreated back into a shell after this opening day cracker. It still served Ireland well although France suffered by once again going against their nature.

WORST HOWLER

Scotland coach Frank Hadden may have played many folk out of position but for Italy coach Nick Mallet to humiliate a world class openside flanker in Mauro Bergamasco at scrum half against England on the opening day was absolutely shocking.

FUNNIEST MOMENT

England skipper Steve Borthwick getting all precious about those nasty Scots having the nerve to celebrate last year's Calcutta Cup victory. Dry your eyes son. You're the captain of England not some wee bairn whose just been told he can't have any rice pudding unless he eats his veg.