Elusive back-to-back grand slams remain rugby union’s holy grail

Whenever the Six Nations looms out of the wintry murk it is important to give a respectful nod to the gladiators of yesteryear. On Sunday, as it happens, one of the unsung heroes of English rugby also celebrated his 80th birthday in deepest Dorset, a suitable milestone for a man who coached his country to a grand slam in 1980, their first championship clean sweep since 1957.

Mike Davis is 80 now and has Parkinson’s disease, but can still sometimes be found practising a few wedge shots on the playing fields adjoining his home in Sherborne. Even in his coaching pomp – he also won 16 caps as an England lock forward – it was never about him, whether he was teaching clumsy kids like us the rudiments of basketball, or tutoring the country’s best rugby players. Only the snug purple tracksuit bearing a red rose offered a clue to his ‘other’ sporting life.

That all-conquering 1980 side, captained by Bill Beaumont, was deservedly feted – not least for allowing England to escape with some dignity from the 1970s when, at one point, they collected three wooden spoons in a row. Once again, though, the curtain was to fall with a dull thud. By the start of the 1990s, the 1980 triumph under Davis’s unselfish guidance was still only the second grand slam England had managed since 1928.

Which is why, 30 years on, it feels equally appropriate to remember the other great England side of the late 20th century who completed back-to-back grand slams in 1991 and 1992. In between they managed to lose a World Cup final but, in some respects, that adds a further dimension to their achievement. To place it into context, only one other men’s side in the past 98 years – France (1997 and 1998) – have captured the northern hemisphere holy grail twice in