Former British & Irish Lions skipper Martin Johnson will join a very exclusive club if he can guide his England team to Grand Slam glory in Dublin this weekend.
Already recognised as one of the giants of the world game after a playing career that saw him lead the Lions to a series win in South Africa and England to the Rugby World Cup in Australia, he is now poised to become only the sixth person to taste Grand Slam success as both a player and coach.
His two Grand Slam successes as a player came in the World Cup years of 1995 and 2003, the latter as captain, but he has also learned about the pain of falling at the final hurdle.
England went into the final round of matches looking for the top honour in northern hemisphere rugby in 1999, 2000 and 2001. Johnson captained the side in both 1999 against Wales at Wembley and 2001 against Ireland in Dublin.
Now he is aiming to double-up and join two former Lions players and coaches, Wales’ John Dawes and fellow Englishman Clive Woodward, as well as the French trio of Jean-Claude Skrela, Jacques Fouroux and Marc Lievremont, in a very special Grand Slam ‘Hall of Fame’.
GRAND SLAM PLAYER / COACHES
John Dawes (Wales) 1971(P) 1976, 78(C)
Jacques Fouroux (France) 1977(P) 1981(C)
Jean-Cladue Skrela (France) 1977(P) 1997, 98(C)
Clive Woodward (England) 1980 (P) 2003(C)
Marc Lievremont (France) 1998 (P) 2010(C)
P = Player
C = Coach
