And a very warm welcome to what is a special episode of The Good, The Bad and The Rugby.

It's a little rugby reacts, if you will, for those of you who've seen those shows before.

Today we are focusing on a story that is often overlooked because of events that happened

six months later in Australia.

But England's Grand Slam of 2003 was a tale and a half when you look back now.

There was tragedy, emotion, resilience, opportunism, brilliance, brutality, belligerence,

and finally a performance that came pretty close to perfection.

Over the course of this Good, Bad and Rugby special, we're going to take a walk down

memory lane to revisit what was England's first Grand Slam for eight years.

And remarkably, it's one of only two since 1995.

It was a triumph that settled old scores and put to bed a number of disappointments because

the four previous tournaments had all had their moments of utter despair.

The Welsh Wembley in 1999, the Mariffield downpour of 2000, a delayed disaster in Dublin

in 2001 and picked off in Paris the year after.

England had developed a habit of blowing big games.

But with consistent winds coming over the southern hemisphere sides and a World Cup on

the horizon, settling the six nations debate was the only target for Woodward side, a team

that was number one in the World Rankings at the time.

And alongside for the right down memory lane, three key members of that outfit and three

men who'd go on to become instrumental in that famous night in Sydney in November 2003,

Lawrence Delalio, Matt Dawson.

Welcome to both of you.

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