Ireland must focus on getting basics right

Three years is a long time in Test rugby and while Ireland’s last victory over England may have been memorable, the 2011 dateline on that day’s story consigns it firmly to the history section.

Yes, it’s been three long years since Martin Johnson’s England were denied a Grand Slam by Declan Kidney’s heroes on a grey March afternoon in Dublin. Three defeats have followed, one a World Cup warm-up six months later that was neither here nor there in the scheme of things but the more recent pair of losses have continued to hurt the players involved.

First of all there was the scrummaging meltdown at Twickenham in 2012 and last year saw the rot set in at the Aviva Stadium when Ireland lost the services of both Johnny Sexton and Simon Zebo early on and then went down in the arm wrestle at the start of a miserable run which saw Kidney exit at the end of the season.