Momentum halted: Now we await the reaction

England 13 Ireland 10

The Triple Crown has slipped from the grasp, dreams of a first Grand Slam since 2009 have faded for another year and an extra week to brood over a game they felt they should have won will gnaw at the psyches of this squad, with their chance to atone, against Italy in Dublin on March 8, still 12 days away.

Yet even though the battle was lost on Saturday, head coach Schmidt will be at pains to remind his battered and bruised players, as they return for a mini-camp in Belfast this week, that the war can still be won.