by This time, there would be none of the comfort or encouragement of old. There is no “well played, boys”. There are no “good processes” or “great effort”. It’s not a story they could have met themselves with how this team has progressed, coming up against much stronger opponents, and you know, in the end it’s the performances that matter at the this point. Another win for Ireland at Twickenham, and somehow this one seemed a little more difficult than most. When you’re going for a second grand slam in a row, those are just the breaks.
There was a lot of anticipation in the days leading up to this game. And this is still something new in itself for Irish teams on English turf. As were the usual molars from all the usual places. Jamie Heaslip claiming that Ireland would have to go down to 13 players for England to win. Lots of talk in the Irish media – at least before Scotland’s descent earlier this evening – about finishing the championship with a four-try bonus point.
Related: Goalkeeper Marcus Smith denies Ireland the Six Nations title as England beat England in a thriller
But for those who remembered the bad times, Twickenham will never be easy prey. The grizzled memories run too deep. Serial drubbings of the 1980s and 1990s. The eight wooden spoons in 19 years. The 50-18 win right at the start of the Six Nations era, the kind that raised serious questions about whether Ireland would ever be able to compete. The 45-11 victory at the hands and feet of Jonny Wilkinson in 2002, after which Eddie O’Sullivan came out claiming that “our efforts in the second half probably kept the score down”.
These days Ireland does not fight for moral or moral virtues. They no longer hope. West London was picture perfect on a mild Saturday evening, green shoes floating among the white jumpers and waxy jackets. This, too, is something that has changed over the years. This Irish team comes with an entourage of thousands. Meanwhile, England surfed a wave of strange insurgent energy, sensing an opportunity that could not be missed.
And although Ireland are more comfortable with the tag of candidates these days, there are certain games, and certain moments in those games, when you can put pressure on their pressure points, take them out of their comfort zone. Perhaps such a moment came midway through the second half, with captain Peter O’Mahony on the sidelines with a yellow card, the home crowd cheering them on, Andy Farrell splitting the bench 6-2 after badly exposed by injuries to Calvin Nash and Ciaran. Frawley.
Nash was replaced by Frawley himself, who was second best after taking a terrible hit from a running Tommy Freeman. Now his departure forced Jamison Gibson-Park to the wing, with Conor Murray up front at half-back. And Ireland looked very different in the minutes that followed, a huge wave of English pressure culminating when Ben Earl headed in with 20 minutes remaining. Lowe responded with a scintillating score after a great aerial claim from Hugo Keenan. Crowley missed what would have been a crucial conversion.
So all in all it was the English who were still doing the running, the team still trying things. Ireland were fortunate to go into the lead at half-time having dominated possession and territory. This may have seemed to lull them into a certain false security. For all of England’s dominance, Ireland refused to panic, they continued to go through their paces, basically losing their grip on their game in a very dignified way. Farrell refused to bring the starters off the bench until the hour mark.
A familiar script from the World Cup quarter-final against New Zealand, a game in which Ireland seemed to be right where they wanted it, until the moment they lost it. Could Ireland use a little more urgency in those crucial moments? Did they make it too difficult to manage the pace of the game, and leave themselves exposed when England broke the pace? These are the questions that Farrell and his team will apply in the coming days.
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O’Mahony had a poor game, but he was right about one thing, at least. “It’s extremely difficult to win in any stadium in this competition,” he said in the build-up. “We’ve definitely had some wins here. But you look at them and we had to play really well.” Yes, nice try, you thought at the time. But in reality this false modesty was not: O’Mahony was recognizing that the next frontier was always the most difficult for any Ireland.
Ireland will start and kick back. There is still a championship to be won against Scotland next weekend, and for everything that has gone wrong here there is still so much that has gone right in the last few years. Perhaps this win will make the transition a little towards the younger generations, players like Ryan Baird who have been patiently waiting for their chance. And on the bright side, they don’t have another World Cup quarter-final to play for at least another three years.
