Kieran Shannon: The day Ireland finally stopped looking up to England

The 2001 Six Nations victory over England was a watershed moment for Irish rugby

John Hayes: 'We were pumped up for it and England just couldn’t match the passion we showed on the day.' Pic: Pic: Brendan Moran / SPORTSFILE

It’s 25 years today, so it is. That ankle tap of Stringer’s on Luger. The Bull hauling down the cheetah that was Jason Robinson. And as it transpired, not just Warren Gatland’s finest hour as Ireland coach but one of his last.

With all the other landmark wins there were in that era – O’Gara and Stringer debuting against Scotland in response to another tanking in Twickenham; O’Driscoll’s hat-trick in Paris; Munster’s pilgrimage to a first European Cup final – it’s a game that can tend to be overlooked but its magnitude should not. It was one thing to beat Scotland for the first time in 12 years; another to win in Paris for the first time in 28. But to beat what would prove to be the greatest northern hemisphere team of all time was something else again, and confirmed that Ireland were now legitimate championship contenders for years to come.