Ireland just not good enough

Oh well, now we know. England re-affirmed that they are a very good side, and in the process put their hosts in their place. Ireland are good, but not that good.

For once, at Lansdowne Road, England's need was greater. Ireland didn't go for a big, emotional performance; instead England did. They had probably never targeted the "Irish match" so much this decade.

For Ireland, after the mighty first-up effort against France, and then the win against Wales, even though it was the supposedly greatest enemy of them all, Saturday's match was pretty much left to its own devices. And it demonstrated that for all the significant and tangible progress of the last 12 months, Ireland are better than this effort but are still a rung of the ladder below England.

Where they had been emotionally devastated by the defeat to France, this time the Irish players were just stunned. They filed out of their dressing room in dribs and drabs, quietly. Some made eye contact, but kept on moving, others didn't. They actually had less to say for themselves. "It's flat in there," admitted Rob Henderson, "very flat. There are no tears."

The popular consensus was that Saturday's game debunked a bit of a myth about the Irish pack - a myth that has been allowed to mushroom, assisted on its way by Welsh coach Graham Henry's assertion that Ireland had the best tight five in the Five Nations. That was a red rag to the red rose's tight five.

There simply had to be a reaction, too, to England's effort against Scotland, and the need was duly expressed by Clive Woodward afterwards. Take too the example of Lawrence Dallaglio. Not only self-critical, he had to absorb criticism from outside, from pundits and former players who even questioned the English captain's worth to the team and the back-row. A wounded Dallaglio was always likely to be a dangerous Dallaglio and on Saturday he was the man.

Five minutes from time, Ireland were somehow knocking on England's door looking for a levelling try - Lansdowne Road couldn't quite believe it either - whereupon, as had been the case all along, England said "no entry" with Dallaglio the chief doorman. Augmenting his try-saving tackle on Conor O'Shea six minutes before, he enveloped Justin Bishop, obliging the Irish winger to play the ball on the deck to prevent the ensuing turnover and the well-positioned Paddy O'Brien gave England the relieving penalty. Game over. Lawrence said so.

It should never have come to that. England bossed Ireland on Saturday in a manner not many envisaged. It started with their greater need, was established by their split kick-offs - the first of which put Ireland on the back foot and kept them there - and was continued through their superior line-out, their superior back-row, Kyran Bracken having eminently more influence on things than Conor McGuinness, and Jonny Wilkinson being the best back on the pitch.

England did their homework too. They used their tall pack to contest the Irish throw, and throw it off kilter. But even here, not only was Keith Wood's radar awry, there seemed to be a lack of belief amongst the Irish jumpers; Paddy Johns and Jeremy Davidson flapping at balls until Davidson finally grabbed the nettle and the ball in the last quarter.

Most of all, they did their homework on Victor Costello. Tackled repeatedly around the ankles by Bracken or the flankers, big Vic got no momentum going at all. But his play lacked assurance, and the policy of taking an age over the pick-up was mystifying; even to the point of wasting a scrum on half-way on half-time.

With Neil Back also outplaying the off-colour Andy Ward in the continuity stakes, as was the case even on Ward's huge effort in Twickenham a year ago, England's back-row had way more balance. It's a good back-row, always has been, and their back five is a class unit.

Ireland's is better than it looked on Saturday, but the lack of a Neil Back-type open-side is imposing limitations on the team's attempt to broaden its breadth of vision. One of the telling moments of the match came 11 minutes into the second-half when Dan Luger presented the ball superbly in the tackle right beside the touch-line, and the first forward there by a street was Back to pick and ensure ruck ball.

The Irish loose trio were comparatively ponderous as a unit, with Dion O'Cuinneagain easily the pick of them. This contributed hugely to the regular sight of Irish target runners being swallowed up in not so splendid isolation by waves of white-shirted Englishmen.

Mind you, it didn't help that sometimes the entire back-row was being swallowed up at the base of the scrum in trying to provide clean ball, as was the case in the 59th minute. Whereupon, the ball was popped to Bishop, who was swamped well behind the gain line with ne'er a supporting forward in sight and he was duly penalised for not releasing. It was a prequel to the near identikit and decisive turnover five minutes from time.

That said, no-one will convince me that Ward or Costello were physically right on Saturday. Whether or not they were taking pain-killers before the game, both have been sidelined in the last month and neither were at full throttle.

With the benefit of hindsight, a Corkery-Miller-O'Cuinneagain trio would have to have been a better Irish unit on Saturday. However more than hindsight suggests Costello should have made way for Miller as early as halftime. In just doing things quicker, Miller did more in two minutes that Costello did in 65. Sad but true.

Arguably O'Cuinneagain's best Irish performance was as the open side against France, which even his brilliant 53rd-minute try-saving tackle on Bracken reinforced in a relatively patchy display.

Had Bracken offloaded the ball to Luger then it probably would have been the rout it should have been. But it was a rare error by the Skerries boy, and just to hammer home England's supremacy, on the gain line, they too were the masters. When asked what was his biggest problem on the day, David Humphreys immediately retorted: "Their defence. They just pushed up in a line and there were no gaps."

Perhaps Humphreys could have shown more faith in his restarts earlier (a recurring problem), maybe he could have used O'Shea more or kicked more, but the Ulster-man was quick-witted and quick-footed, and generated much out of little ball. He was one of the few Irishmen to illuminate a grey day.

On the other side of the battle line, both making the hits and the incisions, Jonny Wilkinson seemed to be calling the shots. And he's 19! What a find alright. When the mighty Will Greenwood returns from injury, Clive Woodward will have a welcome dilemma.

He'll assuredly resolve it by pushing Wilkinson in to out-half, so you wonder therefore why doesn't he just get it over with now in good time for the World Cup.

There's also the dilemma of how they play it. Eventually lost in a myriad of moves against the Scots, they stuck more to the basics here and were better for it.

Looking down on that advancing white line, there was scarcely a hint of daylight between them, and it was the rugby league-style penchant for making the hits in twos or threes which kept Ireland behind the gain line, delayed the recycle or forced the turnover.

By comparison with the brilliant English fringe defence, Ireland untypically didn't defend offensively; instead waiting on the gain line and then either missing the tackle altogether or making it in ones only.

As Paul Wallace frustratedly bemoaned afterwards: "It wasn't for the lack of effort, but we just couldn't get our gameplan going."

A partly England thing, and a partly mental thing, Ireland's performance was reactive rather than proactive.

At least the fullest rendition of the cringe-inducing Swing Low Sweet Chariot was delayed until injury time. Whether or not a tired-looking Ireland have enough left in the tank to go to Murrayfield will be interesting. Although, that said, Warren Gatland and his advisors are probably going to have to do a bit more tinkering than they've done in a while, not only mentally and strategically, but perhaps even in key personnel as well.

Scoring sequence: 9 mins: Humphreys penalty 3-0; 20: Wilkinson penalty 3-3; 29: Humphreys penalty 6-3; 34: Perry try 6-8; 38: Grayson drop goal 6-11; 40: Humphreys pen 9-11; 42: Humphreys pen 12-11; 52: Wilkinson penalty 12-14; 60: Wilkinson 12-17; 64: Wilkinson penalty 12-20; 71: Humphreys penalty 15-20; 81: Rodber try, Wilkinson conversion 15-27.

Ireland: C O'Shea (London Irish); J Bishop (London Irish), K Maggs (Bath), R Henderson (Wasps), G Dempsey (Terenure College); D Humphreys (Dungannon), C McGuinness (St Mary's College); P Clohessy (Young Munster), K Wood (Harlequins), P Wallace (Saracens), P Johns (Saracens), J David- son (Castres), D O'Cuinneagain (Sale), V Costello (St Mary's College), A Ward (Ballynahinch). Replacements: E Miller (Terenure College) for Costello (65 mins); J Fitzpatrick (Dungannon) for Clohessy (66 mins).

England: M Perry (Bath); D Rees (Sale), J Wilkinson (Newcastle), J Guscott (Bath), D Luger (Harlequins); P Grayson (Northampton), K Bracken (Saracens); J Leonard (Harlequins), R Cockerill (Leicester), D Garforth (Leicester), M Johnson (Leicester), T Rodber (Northampton), R Hill (Saracens), L Dallaglio (Wasps, capt), N Back (Leicester).

Referee: P O'Brien (New Zealand).