LONDON (Reuters) – Pundits and former players queued up to pour praise on England after their 23-22 victory over Ireland, with Clive Woodward and Lawrence Dallaglio describing it as the team’s best performance since the 2019 World Cup semi-final win over New Zealand.
England snatched the victory on Saturday with a last-minute drop goal by Marcus Smith but it would have been a travesty had they lost after dominating for long periods against the title-chasing visitors and delivering the sort of ambition in attack that the fans have been crying out for for so long.
“This is not only England’s best performance of the Six Nations by a country mile, it was by far their best performance of the Steve Borthwick era and the best they have produced in a long, long time – probably since their win over New Zealand in the 2019 World Cup semi-finals,” World Cup winning coach Woodward wrote in the Mail on Sunday.
“Borthwick’s men can and must still bring greater impetus to their actions, but, there can be no doubt this success against a side as good as Ireland is a massive step in the right direction for everyone in English rugby. I really hope this win represents lift-off for the Borthwick era.
“What is fascinating to me is that I still think they can play even better. What a great position that is for the team to be in. They proved their doubters wrong.”
Former captain Dallaglio also called it the most definitive performance since the 2019 semi, writing in The Times: “The noise was incredible – I’ve never seen Twickenham like it – carnage and bedlam.
“For the first time in a very long time it felt like the stadium, fans and players were connected in a way that we haven’t seen for a while. If the defeat by Scotland two weeks ago was a step backwards, then beating the best side in the world was a huge stride forwards.
“I thought they played with heart, soul, imagination and skill. It was decisive, direct and just a brilliant day.”
The surprise victory ended Ireland’s hopes of back to back grand slams and though they remain strong favourites to win the title when they host Scotland next week, England and possibly France still have a chance.
The win, following those over Italy and Wales, meant it is the first time in four years that England have won more than two games in the championship, and they will be desperate to back it up with another when they visit France on Saturday night in the final game of the competition.
Ireland, on 16 points to England’s 12 and Scotland’s 11, and with a vastly superior points difference, are likely to have wrapped up the title by then after playing the Scots in Dublin and their coach Andy Farrell was phlegmatic about the situation after conceding that England deserved their victory.
“We said from the start we wanted to be in with a chance of winning it on the last day and we are – it’s not a problem getting the lads back on track next week,” he said. “Six Nations titles are incredibly hard to come by – just look at the results today, that’s why we love it.”
Dallaglio agreed: “This was a brilliant day for the Six Nations and the sport and it shows the unpredictability of Test rugby,” he said. You wouldn’t have thought Italy could pull off that kind of win against Scotland and then England go and beat the best side in the world.”
Wales host France later on Sunday in the final game of the fourth round.
(Reporting by Mitch Phillips, editing by Elaine Hardcastle)
Source Agencies
