SLAM DREAM LIES IN TATTERS

THERE was a weary look from an English colleague as we arrived into the Twickenham press room yesterday afternoon.

‘So, you’re here for the coronation?’ was his opening gambit. We struggled to remember a visit to England HQ when Ireland were such overwhelming favourites.

Andy Farrell’s side weren’t just tipped to do the business yesterday, many were predicting that the defending champions would rack up a record score against a seemingly out-of-sorts and desperately limited England side.

This trip to London was merely a minor speed bump on the road to immortality. One last tricky assignment before back-to-back Grand Slams would be secured against the Scots. But Steve Borthwick and Co didn’t get the memo.

It took a Marcus Smith drop goal on the buzzer to get this one over the line. The foundations for victory, however, had been sown from the opening exchanges.

England, who had hailed Ireland as the best team in the world all week, tore into their illustrious opponents from the first whistle.

Ireland spent the majority of the contest on the ropes. Save for a few moments of attacking class in the build-up to James Lowe’s brace of tries, they were starved of possession and hunted by feral opponents in white jerseys.

England arrived with a plan to disrupt Ireland at every juncture. For the most part, it worked a treat. Much has been said about the lack of atmosphere at Twickenham of late, but the place was rocking after the final whistle.

The visitors were shell-shocked. Another Six Nations title is still on the cards with Scotland arriving in Dublin next weekend. The longterm effects of this defeat will linger for a lot longer, however.

No doubt, the Springboks will have watched on with interest. No guessing what the blueprint will be in the summer when Ireland arrive for a two-Test series.

Farrell will have to ask some hard questions in the wake of this loss. Is Peter O’Mahony still up to it? The Munster veteran was worryingly off the pace long before his costly late yellow card.

It’s never been about the stats when it comes to the Corkman’s contributions. O’Mahony’s biggest strengths are a lot more nuanced but this was one of those days when you wondered whether it’s finally time for Farrell to start thinking about the long term, especially when you saw the dynamism and sheer power of the English backrow. Ben Earl was the best back-row forward – by quite some distance – on the pitch yesterday.

Of course, plenty of others didn’t cover themselves in glory. It was just one of those days. A match when Ireland’s seemingly bulletproof veneer was punctured. Fears that Farrell’s troops had yet to be seriously tested in this tournament were realised. They remain a great team but the best ever in the Six Nations? The jury is out after this defeat, when some of the old demons returned.

Pre-match predictions that England would shut up shop and play the percentages proved utterly wide of the mark. They didn’t park the bus, they stuck it in fifth gear and rampaged up the pitch.

There was an intensity, sharpness and purpose about the hosts throughout the first half. Was this the same rabble who imploded in Murrayfield a fortnight ago?

Clearly stung by all the criticism in recent weeks they tore into Ireland from the first whistle, dominating in virtually every area. The half-time stats told their own story. A rampant England had the edge in possession, territory, carries and metres gained.

Yet when they looked up at the scoreboard after 40 minutes of toil, they found themselves four points down.

For all of their enthusiasm and endeavour, they had little to show for their efforts. They desperately needed some reward but when Ollie Lawrence’s second try of the afternoon got chalked off, you could sense a bit of doubt creeping into the home ranks.

Ireland were on the ropes but they boxed clever when required. Crowley’s quartet of penalties, one of which fell over the bar from long range kept them in the hunt.

You wondered how much fuel would be left in the English tank later in the game, particularly with Ireland’s stellar cast of forwards waiting in the wings.

The visitors, meanwhile, probably felt like they had weathered an early storm and had yet to fire a few shots themselves.

When Lowe skipped over in the corner just three minutes after the break, you could see the energy and belief drain out of the English players. Well, for a few moments anyway. Keenan laid the ground with a superb aerial take

but the handling and decision making from Crowley, Doris, Aki, Henshaw and Frawley picking up tired English defenders in that flowing attack was sublime.

It felt like game over, but England had other ideas. George Furbank had been having an interesting game. The Northampton full-back had been one of England’s shining lights during their first-half purple patch and was fully justifying his place in the team at the expense of Freddie Steward, the solid and dependable Leicester Tigers full-back.

Furbank then proceeded to make two clangers in the space of as many minutes. First, he spilled a ball from the impressive Immanuel Feyi-Waboso when the Irish defence was stretched.

Soon after, he got his bearings all wrong and put a foot in touch after fielding one of those raking kicks from Lowe – a brace of moments which handed momentum back to Ireland.

So, when Furbank applied that killer finish down the blindside a few minutes after Lowe’s try, the Saints man was back in credit.

Ireland, meanwhile, were shuffling their deck again. Much has been made of Farrell’s recent call to stack his bench with six forwards. You can see the logic of this move, given the compelling form of Ryan Baird and Jack Conan. The problem is it leaves you vulnerable out wide.

When Calvin Nash failed that early HIA, it left Conor Murray as the sole back left on the replacements bench as cover.

So, when Ciaran Frawley – who had replaced Nash after just six minutes – also failed a HIA, it meant Ireland would have to get creative in plugging the holes.

Jamison Gibson-Park shifted to the wing with Murray stepping in at scrum-half. That wouldn’t seem like an ideal scenario but then again Gibson-Park is not your average scrum-half.

He did a decent shift on the wing against the Scots in the World Cup and he repeated the trick here. Fittingly, it was he who gave the try-scoring pass to Lowe in the dying minutes. When you have a player of his talents, you can take risks with your bench selection. Saying that, Ireland could have done with a fresh Garry Ringrose off the bench yesterday.

This was England’s day. A sobering reality check for Farrell’s side. They were brought back down to earth in a big way.