What can be said about England’s performance on Sunday? Well, they didn’t play like the team we saw triumph over the Welsh a few weeks ago that’s for sure. A lack of discipline, no initial signs of desperation to win and the ever problematic slow start resulted in a dissapointing 19-9 defeat to Ireland. 60 minutes in it seemed like Lancaster’s side had finally woken up, with replacements like Mako Vunipola, Richard Wigglesworth and Billy Twelvetrees adding a refreshing dimension to what was a laboured game. Were these replacements effective? Some will argue that they didn’t do enough to lift the tiring pack and inspire a much-needed try, but they took England up into the next gear in a situation where the only way was up!
What Went Wrong for England in Dublin?
Whereas Ireland continued to pile on the pressure, despite having man-of-the-moment Jonny Sexton go off in the 55th minute, the men in white left it too late in the game to enforce an attack on a strong and clinical Irish team. As predicted, Ireland kept the ball high and hounded Alex Goode with an influx of aerial attacks. A few sparks of flair on Goode’s behalf brought some flavour to the game and so the inevitable comparison to Mike Brown unfolded, although perhaps even Brown would have struggled to give fans hope when the game was lost at the breakdown.
And this is where, arguably, the game was lost. Yes, the backs made silly mistakes, however allowing Ireland to turn over twice as many balls as they did and being scrappy at lineouts, England gave away control of the game where they are acclaimed as being most strong at. A 77% success rate at lineouts entails three throws of their own that they lost and two lineout steals by the Irish against them, without managing to steal any of Ireland’s lineouts at all. Kruis could have had a better day at the office, as could have Haskell, although the Wasps captain managed to make more tackles than any of the Ireland side (15) along with Robshaw (17) and Dave Attwood (19).
Things weren’t all that bad though; George Ford kicked well and, statistically, England were sound when it came to scrummaging too. 100% success rate looks great, until you read that it was only one scrum of their own for them to win anyway. Mistakes by players across the field led to a total of seven Ireland scrums, and even though England stood their ground and gave something for Graham Rowntree to be accredited for, there was a significant lack of power and reinforcement that the forwards displayed against Wales. Missing that brute force against a physically demanding side like Ireland was always going to be England’s downfall. England might have made more ball carries and tackled more, but Ireland relished and made the most of each component of their game, resulting in quick play and forcing England into making mistakes. These errors evolved into penalties, which was where Ireland racked up the points and gained advantage over the visitors.
The immense atmosphere at the Aviva Stadium also played into Ireland’s hands, the dynamic home crowd giving Lancaster’s side another hurdle to face and added pressure. It was always going to be a tough call, the game being previewed as one of the biggest and most compelling of this year’s tournament. A beasty brush-off of Cian Healy by Dan Cole’s head proved to be one of the most exhilarating of England’s play. More could have been expected from this game, and with the Gran Slam out of the window it seems Stuart Lancaster has plenty to work on before a clash with Scotland on March 14th. And with closest rivals Ireland and Wales playing each other on the same day, a Six Nations championship is most definitely still within reach for this England pack.
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