Silenced as English hit high notes

ENGLAND lived up to their ranking as the No 1 side in the world and left hapless Ireland wondering just what had hit them.

A packed and colourful Lansdowne Road sang like never before prior to the commencement of hostilities, but long before the finish they had been well and truly silenced by an English team that dominated in every sector and never released the grip they took on the proceedings with a soft try by Lawrence Dallaglio after eight minutes.

That score inspired Dallaglio to arguably his best-ever performance for England and he subsequently came in for considerable praise from coach Clive Woodward. One suspected, too, that the English team as a whole derived new confidence from the seven-pointer.