Leap of faith

THAT sweet chariot isn’t for the scrap-heap yet, but it shuddered and rattled and maybe lost a wheel on Saturday.

England’s run of 22 unbeaten games at Twickenham dating back to 1999 is no more, shattered by an inspired Irish team that has assured for itself a special place in the history of the game in this country.

Through the late evening and well into the night, thousands of excited Irish fans made their way back to central London unable to conceal their delight.

Some of it was barely melodious, mostly it was raucous. All of it was joyous. They had every reason to celebrate for, not only had the world champions been walloped on their own patch in their first game there since the triumph in Australia, the victory was achieved purely on merit.

England were awful, Ireland magnificent and anything other than the 19-13 score-line in their favour would have been a travesty. Indeed, it isn’t an exaggeration to suggest that some of the rugby played by Ireland, especially in a golden spell shortly after the interval and culminating in the four spectacular phases that led to Girvan Dempsey’s all-important try, was some of the best produced by a side in green. Considering England’s reputation, it was nothing short of awesome.

“Their record here at Twickenham is phenomenal and they’re world champions as well so beating them makes it extra special”, said coach Eddie O’Sullivan. “We’ve come close to beating top teams before. Australia in the World Cup was gut wrenching. When things like that happen, you wonder if you’ll ever cross the line. I thought we deserved to win and that we played very well. It’s been a good week’s work. It has culminated in a great victory and that’s very satisfying for everybody involved, not just the players but all the management as well. It’s right up there in my lifetime.”

As always in a team game, it was the collective unit that performed what most people including the bookmakers (8/1 outsiders, 21 points in the handicap) believed beforehand to be impossible. But on this day of days, Ireland had a succession of heroes. Television voted Gordon D’Arcy man of the match and, considering the manner and frequency with which he ripped open the English defence, that was a fair enough call. However, countless others put their hands up. Ronan O’Gara was an immense force at out-half, the way he put the ball in behind the dangerous English back three with beautifully judged kicking ensured that Ireland dominated territorially. The stats show that Ireland spent 74% of the opening 25 minutes in the opposition half, much of it indeed inside the 22. The much criticised Girvan Dempsey will forever remember this day by being in the right place at the right time to score the try.

It couldn’t have happened without a mighty effort by the pack. The irrepressible Paul O’Connell started it all when he poached an English throw in the second minute. After that, Steve Thompson was regularly out of tune with his jumpers and O’Connell, the vastly improved Malcolm O’Kelly, and Simon Easterby made hay in this crucial area. The hard yards and the tackles were put in, as always, by Anthony Foley, a mighty figure on the day he won his 50th cap. As for the scrum, John Hayes summed it up succinctly: “There was no advantage to either side; we won our ball and they won theirs.”

Ireland’s cause was considerably helped by an amazingly poor English performance. Whether this was born of complacency or not is difficult to say, although the selection of Iain Balshaw at full-back must have been like a godsend for Irish players who recalled how they had tortured him at Lansdowne Road in 2001.

The threat from the English backs never materialised. Jason Robinson should revert to full-back or wing because his undoubted talents are clearly not suited to the centre.

Then there was referee Paul Honiss. The New Zealander was never going to be bullied either by the English players or the crowd, who demonstrated a surprising ignorance of the laws by booing him.

“We knew our pack was up to matching the English, I don’t think we ever bullied them, but we had a platform to have a crack at them”, said the coach. “We also had to have the nerve to go out wide and when the rain came down before the start, it certainly put that game plan in jeopardy. We stuck to our guns and I thought the try was top drawer, straight out of the training field.”

Only hapless Scotland stand between Ireland and the Triple Crown on March 27 at Lansdowne Road. O’Sullivan insists they won’t give it a moment’s thought until Italy have been dealt with. For now, though, Irish rugby is on a high and great days surely lie ahead.