Grand Slam chance slips from Ireland’s grasp

Ireland 6 England 12

Reality bit back at the Aviva Stadium yesterday as the sweet taste of an escape to victory in Wales on the opening day of the 2013 championship gave way to a very different sensation.

This was a six-point defeat that felt much, much worse for Ireland than the scoreline suggests. The feelgood vibe created by that Millennium Stadium performance of eight days before — both the verve of its attack and the resilience of its defence — was negated by a third straight loss to England which highlighted serious shortcomings in players’ individual skill sets under wet-weather conditions and a failure to execute scores when opportunities did arise.