Kidney’s problems run deep

There is nothing like a thorough drubbing to focus the mind of a coach and the truly dismal nature of this Ireland performance in London on Saturday will require Declan Kidney to be deep in thought for most of the next couple of months before he sees his players again.

Ireland’s weird and not very wonderful RBS 6 Nations campaign took a final turn towards the absurd at Twickenham on the last day of the championship as Kidney’s men were rolled over by a committed, powerful and not very ambitious England side.

It was the second straight defeat to the English this season, following a 20-9 World Cup warm-up loss in Dublin last August, and while the Irish were bullied at the breakdown that day, the source of this defeat could be found both in the scrum and the appallingly high number of handling errors.