To England the spoils and the Six Nations trophy, but the real winners this year are Ireland.
In truth, England didn't come anywhere near winning a Grand Slam, they were almost embarrassingly off the pace in Dublin and should have lost by 30 points or more.
That is the chief memory they will take out of the 2011 Championship.
No, the team that came nearest to winning the Grand Slam was actually third-placed Ireland and that's an Ireland that were only able to engage top gear in short bursts as they experiment with new players and systems ahead of the World Cup.
With Ireland you know for a fact that there is much more to come, with England you wonder.
Apart from the occasional mesmerising glimpse of French skill and early England dash against Italy, Ireland played most of the quality rugby in this year's tournament, albeit sporadically until on Saturday when they let England have both barrels for the full 80 minutes. If they start doing that with some regularity, look out.
eland outplayed France for large tracts of their game in Dublin and outscored them three tries to one. They only faltered at the Aviva because they got on the wrong side of the referee - as they did in Italy and Scoland - and Sean Cronin dropped the ball with both the line and a two-man overlap beckoning in the final minute. Ireland should have won in Wales but allowed themselves to become unnerved by one of the worst and most crass refereeing decisions in Six Nations history.
Even then they would have won if Paddy Wallace hadn't butchered a three-man overlap in the last minute when trying to score under the posts, rather than keeping it simple. He won't do that again, or if he does he will be out of the squad.
As you might have noticed there are a few 'ifs' and 'buts' there for which I make no apologies.The point is, however, that there were absolutely no 'ifs' and 'buts' about England.
On Saturday, in Dublin, they simply weren't good enough, not even close to the required standard to compete for the World Cup. There were no caveats whatsoever about the England performance, they were lightyears away from the rugby Ireland produced.
It is Ireland who have emerged with the most plusses. O'Brien has emerged as a massive backrow force, Paul O'Connell is back up to speed after serious injury, Donncha O'Callaghan has rediscovered his zest, Cian Healy increasingly looks the real deal at scrum-time and Mike Ross is so solid. Why have Ireland taken so long to recognise his worth?
Johnny Sexton has come through a dip in form and confidence, Ronan O'Gara is settling into his new, but important, role as second fiddle, Eoin Reddan looks sharp again, Keith Earls could be a major force at full-back, where he was one of the best underage players in Ireland history, Tommy Bowe has been majestic in his few games after injury and most of all their warrior chief, Brian O'Driscoll, has got the bit between his teeth again.
Don't think for one minute O'Driscoll will be travelling to New Zealand in the autumn just to make up the numbers.
The SANZAR teams watching the Six Nations - and they do like hawks - will have been most impressed and worried by new Ireland because they are clearly on a big upward curve again, yet still have a hard core of experience within the squad.
France are a perennial puzzle and worry them a little for that reason alone, but England's soft underbelly was cruelly exposed and don't think the southern hemisphere giants didn't notice.
Brendan Gallagher Daily Telegraph 21st March 2011
eland outplayed France for large tracts of their game in Dublin and outscored them three tries to one. They only faltered at the Aviva because they got on the wrong side of the referee - as they did in Italy and Scoland - and Sean Cronin dropped the ball with both the line and a two-man overlap beckoning in the final minute. Ireland should have won in Wales but allowed themselves to become unnerved by one of the worst and most crass refereeing decisions in Six Nations history.
Even then they would have won if Paddy Wallace hadn't butchered a three-man overlap in the last minute when trying to score under the posts, rather than keeping it simple. He won't do that again, or if he does he will be out of the squad.
As you might have noticed there are a few 'ifs' and 'buts' there for which I make no apologies.The point is, however, that there were absolutely no 'ifs' and 'buts' about England.
On Saturday, in Dublin, they simply weren't good enough, not even close to the required standard to compete for the World Cup. There were no caveats whatsoever about the England performance, they were lightyears away from the rugby Ireland produced.
It is Ireland who have emerged with the most plusses. O'Brien has emerged as a massive backrow force, Paul O'Connell is back up to speed after serious injury, Donncha O'Callaghan has rediscovered his zest, Cian Healy increasingly looks the real deal at scrum-time and Mike Ross is so solid. Why have Ireland taken so long to recognise his worth?
Johnny Sexton has come through a dip in form and confidence, Ronan O'Gara is settling into his new, but important, role as second fiddle, Eoin Reddan looks sharp again, Keith Earls could be a major force at full-back, where he was one of the best underage players in Ireland history, Tommy Bowe has been majestic in his few games after injury and most of all their warrior chief, Brian O'Driscoll, has got the bit between his teeth again.
Don't think for one minute O'Driscoll will be travelling to New Zealand in the autumn just to make up the numbers.
The SANZAR teams watching the Six Nations - and they do like hawks - will have been most impressed and worried by new Ireland because they are clearly on a big upward curve again, yet still have a hard core of experience within the squad.
France are a perennial puzzle and worry them a little for that reason alone, but England's soft underbelly was cruelly exposed and don't think the southern hemisphere giants didn't notice.
Brendan Gallagher Daily Telegraph 21st March 2011
How can you say Ireland are the winners in all of this???
ReplyDeleteTriple Crown? NO
Did they even win the championship? NO
Did they come close to being embarrassingly beaten by Italy? YES
Yes England were shocking, they are a young team who didnt have the experience or enough leaders within the team to sort it out on the pitch once it went pear shaped in Dublin. BUT Ireland had the motivation of not only beating England but preventing them from winning a Grand slam in front of their own crowd. Most Irishmen would stick hot pins in their eyes for that opportunity.
Another stupid post from Sweden's critically acclaimed village idiot.