"Gambler" Byrne Says Scots Great Escape Sets Up France.

It was moments after one of the greatest test matches in the history of the RBS Six Nations had ended and the Welsh players sat in their Millennium Stadium dressing room emotionally exhausted after somehow snatching an unlikely victory over a Scottish side who led by ten points with just three minutes to go.

Shaun Edwards suddenly burst into the room and the players wondered whether the hair dryer treatment was about to be aministered after the defence coach saw two soft tries and almost a must-win game conceded. Instead the Wasps head coach smiled before beginning to sing the first sentence of Kenny Rogers' "The Gambler."

"You could feel the sense of relief in everyone when Shaun started to sing and in a few moments we all joined in with what Shaun has made our team song," recalled Lee Byrne, having played a huge part in last Saturday's Wales's 31-24 victory. "I've no idea what people must have thought as they passed our dressing room. It must have sounded like a country and western convention."

It's pretty much the first time Byrne had smiled since two weeks before the start of the Six Nations, a time before the tournament got underway in which he fought a ban for being the controversial 16th man for the Ospreys during their Heineken Cup win over Leicester in Swansea. It would have meant that Byrne, the initial first-choice Lions full-back, would have missed the Welsh opener against England at Twickenham but for a successful appeal days before the test.

"I was devastated when I thought I'd miss the England game and even though I managed to get out of the ban after being made a bit of a scapegoat for an incident which was no fault of mine it clearly wasn't the best preparation for a huge international. The defeat knocked our confidence, which explains why we started so poorly against the Scots. Luckily we found a way to dig ourselves out of a huge hole we made for ourselves."

Thanks, in no small part, to Byrne who not only scored a try but was the man who was judged to have been tripped by Phil Godman after he had chipped the ball and looked set to collect and score. Godman later insisted his yellow card and the subsequent, 80th minute penalty that gave Stephen Jones the chance to draw the scores level at 24-24, was incorrect. 
"It would have been nice to have collected the ball and scored under the posts to win the match," Byrne admitted. "There was definite contact from Godman's trailing leg so the penalty was right. When Stephen scored I was still disappointed because a draw was a result nobody wanted. I assumed that was that."

But there was still time, just, for the re-start, which Byrne caught, and one more attack. Later on in the move it was Byrne who caught Jones's cross-kick and, a couple of passes on, Shane Williams was diving over the line for the winning score, his arm punching the air moments before touching down. "You wouldn't have got the ball off Shane at that moment because, as we all know, he does like to score tries. But my heart missed a beat when I saw him celebrate before scoring the try."

Now, after that improbable win and improbably chorus of Kenny Rogers, Wales take on the impressive France on Friday night in Cardiff. They will have to do it without Andy Powell, after the Welsh flanker's drunken antics with a golf buggy and subsequent ban - a subject Byrne is under instructions not to comment on pending the court case - but the full-back believes the Scotland win changes everything.

"Our confidence is right back now and it needs to be if we are to beat France," he explained. "Start against them like we did against both England and Scotland and we'll commit sporting suicide. But we know that if we beat France we'll be right back in it and with a chance of winning the Six Nations title again. They like to throw the ball around and so do we so it promises to be quite a game." 
As good as last week? "Now that's going to take some beating," Byrne concluded. "But if people hear us singing "The Gambler" in the dressing room they'll know we've won again."

     
Lee Byrne was speaking on behalf of the Welsh Rugby team and POWERADE, the team's official hydration partner, who are offering fans the chance to win a once-in-a-lifetime experience at the Millennium Stadium. This amazing prize is up for grabs throughout February and includes tickets to a Wales test during the 2010 Autumn internationals. Visit: www.poweradegb.com/rugby