England 13 Ireland 10: Resurgent England lay down marker for World Cup

If Stuart Lancaster’s men lift the Webb Ellis Trophy at Twickenham on October 31 next year, the head coach, his players, the fans and the media will look back on this game as a defining moment in the team’s evolution.

Well they might, for it was a performance full of character and resilience from a young team that refused to buckle against a battle-hardened, well-coached Ireland side riding a wave of emotion towards a final grand slam for talismanic leader Brian O’Driscoll.

That this victory might well prove an inspirational recollection on the long journey to the next all-important quadrennial party is already assured.

But sometimes in the search to look too far ahead, the present is forgotten. For this game should also be held up as a shining example of the strength of the Six Nations championship.

In recent years, the Spring-time northern hemisphere gathering has had to fight for its place against summer tours south of the equator and autumn appointments with the so-called best three teams in the world – New Zealand, Australia and South Africa.

Those are viewed as the ultimate tests; the most significant gateposts of a World Cup cycle.

But it is games of brutal intensity against old rivals, like this one on Saturday, that should steel England for the challenges ahead as much as any battle with the All Blacks, Wallabies and Springboks.

In this Six Nations alone, we have witnessed enough ferocity to suggest the championship is as strong as it has ever been.

Four teams divided only by points difference highlights the most open title race in recent years.

There is no outstanding team this year, just a quartet of nations capable of turning on the magic as and when, and relishing the opportunity to take lumps out of each other in the process.

The unremitting nature of England and Ireland’s latest renewal was a case in point. No quarter was given in a first half which, despite only three points from Owen Farrell, was by no means devoid of drama or desire.

When Ireland cut loose at the start of the second half, seizing the initiative through a thrilling burst from Rob Kearney, England responded in kind with a scintillating foray from Mike Brown and a shrewd, ruthless piece of support running from his Harlequins team-mate Danny Care.

The way England hauled themselves off the canvas when trailing 10-3 to the potential knockout blows Ireland delivered at the start of the second half will be the lasting legacy of the game.

Yet the abiding memory is of a Twickenham crowd causing the old ground to shake to its core as they saluted Care’s score and roared England to victory against worthy opponents.

“We’ve been making significant steps for a while but I think we reinforced it today,” was the summation of captain Chris Robshaw.

“If you look at the character of the guys in the last four minutes we were hanging on.

“There had been a lot of questions asked about us in terms of can we close out games, and rightly so. But you look at Joe Launchbury’s try-saving tackle; it was extraordinary how he got back there and used those big, 6ft 7in limbs to take down a winger.

“And that’s what you need when guys are hanging on and there’s nothing left in the lungs –you need guys to pull out something like that.”

Launchbury put in an all-action display from the second-row, once again epitomising what can be achieved if a head coach shows no fear in unleashing youth into the cauldron of Test-match rugby.

The 22-year-old from Wasps is developing into a top-class international player at a speed second only to Mike Brown, who was man-of-the-match for the second week running.

Joe Schmidt, the head coach who has breathed new life into Ireland, summed it up best when he called Brown the best player on the pitch both defensively and offensively. Asked if it was his best game in an England shirt, the Harlequins full-back was not so effusive. “It was a good performance all round, even from the guys who came off the bench and it was great to get the win,” was his straight-bat response.

Brown’s willingness to give everything was best illustrated when he made a goalkeeper’s save to deny Ireland space behind the defence, a tactic he says he practices with Quins clubmate Danny Care.

“We call it the ‘Schmeichel’ after the great Man United keeper, where we just blast balls at each other and see if we can save them – so that came in useful,” said Brown.

There are areas England need to work on. Their scrum creaked, understandably so given the loss of Dan Cole, and the raw talent of Jonny May needs polishing. But for sheer bloody-mindedness this was a landmark win and, fittingly, a thrilling game for a championship that continues to enthral.

England: Brown, Nowell, Burrell, Twelvetrees, May, Farrell, Care; Marler (M Vunipola 64), Hartley (T Youngs 75), Wilson (Thomas 70), Launchbury, Lawes, Wood (Attwood 70), Robshaw, B Vunipola (Morgan 36). Unused replacements: Dickson, Ford, Goode.

Ireland: R Kearney, Trimble (McFadden 66), O’Driscoll, D’Arcy, Kearney, Sexton, Murray; Healy (McGrath 72), Best (Cronin 74), Ross (Moore 62), Toner, O’Connell, O’Mahony (Henderson 70), Henry (Murphy 74), Heaslip. Unused replacements: Boss, Jackson.

Referee: C Joubert (South Africa).