England 25 Wales 28: As Welsh lock Bradley Davies moved through the Twickenham mixed zone he spotted Wasps team-mate James Haskell mid-interview. Without breaking stride he swiftly yanked the England flanker’s shorts to around his knees, to Haskell’s amusement. It summed up the evening.

Ireland head coach Joe Schmidt has seen Michael Cheika make his mark on teams in Dublin, Paris and Sydney, and the one constant he expects to have been passed on to the Wallabies by their new boss is a collective work ethic.

If Declan Kidney was hoping his Irish Wolfhounds would upset the established order ahead of his RBS 6 Nations squad announcement today, he will have left Exeter on Saturday night slightly disappointed.