“For the final 25 minutes of the first half, the balance of his game was excellent. He wouldn’t have played like that if those around him hadn’t done so well.”

England looked a transformed team as they played with a confidence and level of accuracy that enabled them to turn in a brave and bold team performance.  

But it was Ireland who made the more assured start, scoring an early try through left wing, Robert Kearney.  Taking a quick tap, Eoin Reddan fed Ronan O’Gara who found Kearney hitting a line through the English defence to touch down in the left corner, before O’Gara’s conversion stretched the visitors’ lead to 7-0. 

From the restart, England were again in trouble, when full back Iain Balshaw was caught holding on in the tackle to give O’Gara another shot at the posts.  Once again he was on target and England were 10-0 down after just seven minutes.  

But minutes later, the home side hit back with a penalty from Danny Cipriani, his first points in international rugby.  The comeback continued when a break from Paul Sackey set up flanker Michael Lipman, who gained vital yards.  Simon Shaw barged England further forward, creating quick ball for Balshaw to set up Sackey.  The winger sprinted to the try line for England’s first touchdown and with Cipriani’s conversion put his team level after 10 minutes.

Gaining momentum, England continued to dominate play and were unlucky not to add to their total when, after a blistering break, Jamie Noon was held up just inches from the line.  

But it wasn’t long before a neat chip kick from Flood penetrated the Irish defence just on the 22. Although he was hauled down, he won his team a penalty when the Irish midfield was penalised for not rolling away.  When Cipriani’s speculative drop goal fell short, referee Stuart Dickinson came back for the penalty and this time the young fly half was bang on target, his second penalty of the day putting his team ahead on the half hour. 

England resisted Ireland’s resurgence to hold on to their well deserved 13-10 lead into the break.  When they returned, the enterprise continued.  Their pressure forced another penalty in the 45th minute, when Ireland failed to release the ball in the tackle.  Cipriani’s 100% success with the tee continued and England edged their lead to six points. 

But the visitors almost hit back through replacement wing Luke Fitzgerald, who would surely have been in, but for the combination of Sackey and Steve Borthwick, who brought him down and stole the ball to relieve the pressure, at least temporarily.

When Tom Croft was penalised for holding on, O’Gara looked sure to slot the penalty.  But again his miskick let England off the hook.  And when the Irish backs failed to capitalise on a three on one, it looked like the luck of the Irish was running out. 

With Tait temporarily replacing a bloody Sackey and Jonny Wilkinson on for the impressive Toby Flood at inside centre, England continued to forge forwards.  After 56 minutes, Shaw recycled the ball from a midfield ruck.  Sending the ball right, it travelled through five pairs of hands to Balshaw, whose perfectly timed pass enabled Tait to squeeze around the last defender and nip over in the right hand corner.  The reliable boot of Cipriani added the extras, despite the histrionics of the Irish defence, to extend the gap to 13 points. 

Even the advent of rain failed to dampen England’s spirits, as their dominance continued into the final quarter.  Their patience was rewarded with a free kick inside the Irish 22.  Opting for a scrum, Easter fed Wigglesworth, who in turn found Cipriani.  As Vainikolo’s decoy run fooled the defence, the fly half’s deft pass sent Noon powering through the narrow channel to drive over for his team’s third try.  England’s delight was obvious and the congratulations continued as Cipriani produced another perfect kick to take England to 30-10 with nine minutes left.

Although the final minutes were played out under heavy rain, England’s performance swept away any clouds that threatened to gather over Twickenham.  As the Irish supporters started to leave, Paul Hodgson made his debut at scrum half and Cipriani added yet another penalty.  Still Ireland battled on, bombarding the English try line. 

But the white wall of defence held firm, inspired by an exemplary performance from man of the match Jamie Noon, until an Irish knock on gifted England the ball and the opportunity to break out of trouble and hold on until for the final whistle.   

England
Iain Balshaw (Gloucester Rugby), Paul Sackey (London Wasps), Jamie Noon (Newcastle Falcons), Toby Flood (Newcastle Falcons), Lesley Vainikolo (Gloucester Rugby), Danny Cipriani (London Wasps), Richard Wigglesworth (Sale Sharks), Andrew Sheridan (Sale Sharks), Lee Mears (Bath Rugby), Phil Vickery (London Wasps, captain), Simon Shaw (London Wasps), Steve Borthwick (Bath Rugby), Tom Croft (Leicester Tigers), Michael Lipman (Bath Rugby), Nick Easter (Harlequins).  Replacements: George Chuter (Leicester Tigers) for Mears 82 mins, Matt Stevens (Bath Rugby) for Vickery 62 mins , Ben Kay (Leicester Tigers) for 62 mins, James Haskell (London Wasps) for Lipman 67 mins, Paul Hodgson (London Irish) for Wigglesworth 80 mins, Jonny Wilkinson (Newcastle Falcons) for Flood 52 mins, Mathew Tait (Newcastle Falcons) rep Sackey 47-60, 67 mins.
 
Tries: Sackey, Tait, Noon; Penalties: Cipriani 4; Conversions: Cipriani 3

Ireland
Geordan Murphy (Leicester Tigers), Tommy Bowe (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster), Andrew Trimble (Ballymena/Ulster), Shane Horgan (Boyne/Leinster), Robert Kearney       (UCD/Leinster), Ronan O’Gara (Cork Constitution/Munster, captain), Eoin Reddan (London Wasps), Marcus Horan (Shannon/Munster), Rory Best (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster), John Hayes (Bruff/Munster), Donncha O’Callaghan (Cork Constitution/Munster), Paul O’Connell (Young Munster/Munster), Denis Leamy (Cork Constitution/Munster), David Wallace (Garryowen/Munster), Jamie Heaslip (Clontarf/Leinster). Replacements: Bernard Jackman (Clontarf/Leinster) for R Best 76 mins, Tony Buckley (Shannon/Munster) for Horan 70 mins, Mick O’Driscoll (Cork Constitution/Munster) for Wallace 72 mins, Simon Easterby (Llanelli) for Leamy 11 mins, Peter Stringer (Shannon/Munster) for Reddan 76 mins, Paddy Wallace (Ballymena/Ulster) for Horgan 84 mins, Luke Fitzgerald (Blackrock College/Leinster) for Murphy 37 mins.                   

Tries: Kearney; Conversions: O’Gara; Penalties: O’Gara

Referee: S Dickinson (Aus)