For 50 minutes on Saturday the new-ish Ireland, embarking on their quest for a hat-trick of Six Nations titles, fluffed their lines repeatedly in front of an increasingly pensive Aviva Stadium crowd.
They trailed their first match under interim head coach Simon Easterby 10-5, with a fired-up England side the more economical as they sought to get their championship up and running with a win, and a second consecutive defeat of Ireland.
Fifteen handling errors by the home side and some eye-catching attacking play from the visitors told part of the story. More of the narrative could be found in the repeated failure of Ireland to convert close-in opportunities to points.
A colony of groundhogs had seemingly set up camp in the five metres to England’s line. England would concede a penalty - nine defensive infringements over the 80 minutes compared to four for Ireland illustrated the pressure Steve Borthwick’s side found themselves under - then Ireland would do something to release the pressure. Again and again.
But the pressure was still there. By the time Ireland had got themselves level it was clear the balance of the game was shifting decisively. By the time Andy Farrell, on sabbatical from the Ireland job to take the British and Irish Lions to Australia in the summer, drew a massive cheer with an appearance on the big screen, Ireland were ahead - and ahead for good.
Ireland claimed the bonus-point win with four high-quality tries. Second-half scores from Bundee Aki, Tadhg Beirne and Dan Sheehan added to Jamison Gibson-Park’s 35th-minute effort in the 27-22 win. Sam Prendergast kicked the penalty that gave Ireland the lead for the first time in the 55th minute, while his replacement Jack Crowley hit two conversions.
Debutant Cadan Murley, Tom Curry and Freddie Steward scored tries for England as they fought back from 17 points down with five minutes left to take home a losing bonus.
“It’s the first round of the Six Nations, it was always going to be an arm-wrestle and it was nothing that we didn’t expect,” said Easterby when asked about Ireland’s scrappy first half.
“I thought we played well in patches in the first half. We probably didn’t quite get our accuracy right, which is why the scoreline was in their favour.
“We felt at half-time that if we did things a bit better we would get the rewards and we did that.
“We had lots of opportunities in the 22 and we didn’t make the most of them. They defended well and they made it tough for us. I think, on reflection, we’ll be happy with the way our set-piece went and we set up some lovely opportunities from that.
“Up until the last couple of minutes, defence was OK, but we know we’ll need to be better next weekend.”
Those late concessions to Curry and Steward were something England head coach Steve Borthwick could draw comfort from despite the defeat, with France - who hammered Wales 43-0 in their opener - up next at Twickenham, while Ireland go to Murrayfield to play Scotland, 31-19 winners over Italy.
“Credit to Ireland,” said Borthwick. “Such an experienced team and such a tough Test match.
“In that third quarter there were two kick exchanges they won which got them field position and opportunity, and a couple of penalties were conceded that gave them field position and opportunity. That was the critical period that allowed them to get scoreboard pressure.
“But while I’ll say huge congratulations to Ireland and respect to them for their performance, I’m also very proud of the players - one, with how they attacked the game in the first half and, two, with the final quarter with the way they came back and scored a couple of tries to get the bonus point.”
That the result was taken out of England’s hands in that third quarter was in large part thanks to the impact of Ireland’s bench - which included Ulster captain Iain Henderson coming on for his 85th cap.
Crowley was assured when he came on for Prendergast, while Dan Sheehan and Jack Conan were both central to Ireland’s brilliant bonus-point score.
First the replacement hooker set Conan clear down the middle of the pitch, then, after the backrow was stopped, Sheehan sent a missile of a pass out to James Lowe on the wing. Lowe burst free before finding Sheehan, who slammed the ball down with an exclamation point of a finish.
“The guys that started laid a really strong foundation,” said Easterby.
“It wasn’t easy going, it was tough, it was physical, as you’d always expect from an Ireland-England game. The guys that came off the bench benefited from the work that had been done in the work that had been done in the first 50-60 minutes.
“To be fair to the guys that came off the bench they were brilliant. They really impacted the game but I do think the guys that started got through a lot of work. It was tough, it was attritional but we benefited from some real impetus off the bench.”
