Time to pause for breath. And then the hard part.
A 10th win in-a-row for only the second time in our rugby history, with the scalps of three of the top four ranked sides in the game in South Africa, Australia and England bagged in that magnificent sequence of results.
With four defeats on the bounce, there was a danger England were becoming a bit of a bogey team for Ireland.
Given we could be meeting them in a World Cup semi-final next October, it was crucial that Ireland win this one.
England have a number of quality players to come back into their side and will come again but the challenge for Stuart Lancaster is to mould all that individual talent into a cohesive team unit. They still have a road to travel.
Joe Schmidt has already achieved that as this Irish victory was a win for the collective. As a team, Ireland, as we have become to expect under the New Zealander, were ultra-efficient, superb in their execution and had absolute clarity in how to go about winning this contest.
The one worry is that, once again, Ireland were left defending for long periods in the final quarter as England used their powerful bench to impose serious pressure on an overworked Irish defence.
That they managed to keep their line intact again, despite being put under an avalanche of pressure in the closing stages, speaks volumes for the composure and confidence that exists in this continually evolving side.
That’s just one try conceded in the tournament to date, that when they were down to 14 against France.
Ireland won because they managed to negate the areas where we feared England might dominate. First and foremost against England you have to match their power in the scrum. The pressure on Mike Ross coming into this game was incredible.
On the receiving end against Joe Marler in those back-to-back Champions Cup games for Leinster against Harlequins, England would have banked on achieving scrum dominance coming into this game. It never materialised.
While it was a massive effort from the entire front five, Ross was the one with more to lose if the scrum malfunctioned.
His value became even more pronounced once replaced, as Marty Moore was put under more pressure than he would have liked.
What Moore did bring along with Iain Henderson and Cian Healy was a huge impact into the contact area when it was needed most.
Huge credit is also due to Tommy O’Donnell who, not for the first time in this championship, slotted in seamlessly when Sean O’Brien was forced off with suspected concussion.
To lose O’Brien so early and Johnny Sexton midway through the second-half without a hint of panic demonstrates more than anything just how far this Irish team has travelled.
The other key area in deciding this magnificent contest — and despite the lack of tries, I still believe it was a compelling game — was having curtailed England’s scrum threat, Ireland also managed to negate the expected impact of England plethora of powerful ball carriers.
While Billy Vunipola was England’s best forward by a country mile, he was never offered the freedom of the park he enjoyed in the colours of Saracens against Munster. He was monstrous that day. Equally significant was the fact that his fellow back rowers James Haskell and captain Chris Robshaw made no inroads whatsoever.
Ireland’s authority in and around the contact area was exemplary. Even more so given that Jamie Heaslip was absent from the outset and O’Brien was forced ashore after only 24 minutes of action.
Jordi Murphy showed exactly why Schmidt has so much faith in him while Peter O’Mahony displays leadership and maturity beyond his years.
Credit is also due too the set piece accuracy Rory Best brings to the scrum and line out which enables Paul O’Connell and the ever-improving Devin Toner to display their wide range of aerial skills and athleticism.
No doubt there will be a lot made by their critics of Ireland’s reliance on their kicking game and the fact they kicked on 44 occasions in general play.
The difference with Ireland and the rest is they do so to not only put the opposition on the back foot but also to regain possession on their terms.
Simon Zebo hardly received a pass in broken play yet delivered one of his best performances in a green shirt due to his ability to compete in the air.
Likewise Tommy Bowe. On top of that Robbie Henshaw delivered astonishing work rate in defence, once again he was Ireland’s top tackler with 13, complemented by a new found ability to carry over the gain line from set plays.
The icing on the cake was his first ever international try which proved decisive as England began to claw their way back into the contest near the end. His ability to hang in the air and the use of his upper body strength to stave off the challenge from Alex Goode was wondrous. He is going from strength to strength.
Crucially, the kick from Conor Murray was inch perfect. Knowing he had the benefit of an advantage, Murray clearly signalled his intentions to the hovering Henshaw and then executed with pin point accuracy.
With Sexton forced to depart due to a hamstring strain at a time when England were inching their way back into the match, Murray took over the responsibility of running the game. He has become a highly influential figure in the running of this team.
Thankfully Ireland now have a two-week period to recalibrate and prepare for the next challenge. In many ways the hard part starts now.
It would have been far better for Ireland if France had beaten Wales on Saturday as Warren Gatland’s side have a history of recovering from an opening day defeat to go on and win the championship.
There is a danger that having invested so much emotional energy in beating England that Ireland will now be required to repeat the dose in what is guaranteed to be another electric atmosphere at the Millennium Stadium.
At least the break offers time to enjoy the win over England and reassess what is required to beat a very competitive Welsh side that will be galvanised by that impressive win at the Stade de France against a French side that performed much better in attack than they did against Ireland.
Wales and England are still very much alive in this tournament and with two home games to come at Twickenham, Lancaster’s side still have much to play for. So too Wales who have managed back-to-back wins on the road and finish their campaign in Rome.
They will be fully aware that a win over Ireland next time out will put them firmly back in the running for yet another championship under Gatland.
For Schmidt the challenges continue as Ireland chase a new benchmark of eleven consecutive wins to tee up a potential Grand Slam-chasing date against Scotland in Edinburgh. Things have never been better.
VOTE: Top Three Tries – 6 Nations Round 3
