The victory by Wales in Dublin leaves them one final step from completing a journey to the past. It is 30 years since Wales last faced (and beat) France in Cardiff to secure the Grand Slam and legendary status for some of Welsh rugby’s most familiar names. The Pontypool front row; the famous second-row partnership of Geoff Wheel, the iron man, and Allan Martin, the soaring panther of the lineout from Aberavon; those steely men of Gwent on the flank, Terry Cobner and Jeff Squire, with Scott’s dad, Derek Quinnell, packing down at No 8.

And then the names behind the scrum, some of them which have transcended rugby, none more so than Gareth Edwards, still arguably the greatest rugby player of living memory. His sidestepping genius of a partner at fly-half, Phil Bennett, was not far behind him and the by-then retired Barry John in the pantheon of Welsh greats, whilst JJ Williams and JPR Williams have never been forgotten and have frequently been criticised for not allowing the present tense of Welsh rugby to forget the past.

Gerald Davies was another whose legend has grown with each television replay of his slashing, sidestepping wizardry on the wing (although he missed the decider against France and was replaced by Newport’s Gareth Evans.) The late Ray Gravell and Steve Fenwick were hard-as-coal centres, supplying the glory boys with their width and plugging any defensive holes with Celtic fervour.

They had to be good; this was no ordinary French team. The front row was hewn of the finest virtues of French front-row play, big, bad and technically superb. Gerald Cholley was Fran Cotton with attitude, Alain Paco the hooker who held them together and Robert Paperemborde the darling of prop-forward aficionados the world over. And a back row of Jean-Pierre Rives, Jean-Claude Skrela and the man-mountain at No 8 – Jean-Pierre Bastiat. This was France near its vintage best. Yet it was not to be anywhere near good enough as Bennett inspired a team and a nation to a 16-7 victory, Grand Slam and national celebration, almost a thanksgiving back then.

It seemed Wales were blessed, destined to rule European rugby forever. Yet within a dozen years they had slumped to third-world rugby status, desperate rather than expectant for the gravy days when Triple Crowns were as uncomplicated as breathing. This great team was the dying throes of Wales, there was not to be another Grand Slam until 2005 and that Welsh Grand Slam has since been dismissed (primarily by English and French observers) as a poor year. The immediate return to mediocrity is regarded as proof of the one-off nature of this Welsh team.

And yet, three years on from 2005 and as many as eight of that team played their starting part in yesterday’s victory in Dublin, which sets Wales up for a shot at a second Grand Slam in four years. Just how good are the men who are on the verge of this tremendous achievement?

Gethin Jenkins and Adam Jones were bulwarks in the last Grand Slam front row, Martyn Williams and captain Ryan Jones were two-thirds of the back row with Stephen Jones moving his men from fly-half, Gavin Henson and Tom Shanklin were the best centre pairing in Europe that year and Shane Williams was looking every inch the descendent of not so much his namesake, the chip and chase king, JJ, but the suave and elegant Davies. Davies’s sidestep, in the nature of nostalgia, improves with age but can it really have been better than the lightning Osprey winger’s?

To claim the Grand Slam, this team must beat an embryonic French selection that is more Beaujolais nouveau than Pétrus. Are they worthy of mention in the same breath as the heroes of 1978? Jenkins will not have the dirty tricks campaign of that lovable rogue (until you propped against him, that is) Charlie Faulkner, but his speed and athleticism is light years ahead. Even giving Faulkner the benefit of professional preparation, the Cardiff prop would run the Pontypool legend out of the front row. He would be the only modern man in that trio. Bobby Windsor was a class apart from anything Huw Bennett has yet produced, while Graham Price is venerated as one of the finest props of them all, the world over. Consistent as Ian Gough is and for all the potential of Alun Wyn Jones, the balancing act of Wheel and Martin sways the second row towards the history boys as well.

The back row is the most complicated area of selection amongst the forwards; the old back row was more physical, the current crop infinitely more skilful. Perhaps Martyn Williams’s touch and vision would be highlighted by the raw strength of Jeff Squire and Quinnell. Ryan Jones may be on the verge of a fantastic captaincy achievement but it seems he has a way to go before laying the ghosts of Wales’s glorious past.

At half-back, the class of ’78 have it; there again, there are very few combinations in the history of Test rugby who are mentioned in the same breath. It appears a runaway verdict for the ’78 team but the debate heats up in the threequarter line. Gravell was a warrior but he and Fenwick lacked the subtlety and touch of Shanklin and Henson. For all the talk of the Henson hype, not many centre combinations win two Grand Slams in four years.

Wider still, Shane Williams’s try-scoring feats more than match the remembrance of things past from JJ and on the right wing, with Davies injured for the decider, Evans fails to oust Mark Jones, a traditionalist who runs like an extra from 1970s Welsh rugby.

JPR is another player far more limited than we like to recall; Lee Byrne has greater pace and an infinitely superior boot but JPR had an aura, intimidation and something akin to godliness under a high ball. He claims the full-back berth but only by a margin as wide as his 1970s sideburns.

So who wins the hypothetical Test match? Undoubtedly the team of 1978 because the pack was at its peak and behind them patrolled an immortal pair of half-backs. This current Welsh back-line would have caused more problems than the nostalgia-laden greybeards would have their grandchildren believe. Yes, all in all that was a great Grand Slam team back in 1978, but if the boys of 2005 add another Grand Slam in 2008 they deserve, at the very least, respect and comparison.

It is the nature of all of us to sniff the madeleine cake and by celebrating, accentuate the beauty of the past. It may well be that Wales will never produce a team to match that celebrated vintage. That team represented the dying throes of a rugby nation. The greatest thing about the contemporary Wales team might just be the fact that these are the men who could be heralding the rebirth of the red dragon.