Should Jackson start against Italy?

By Daniel Pitcher

Well that certainly didn't go to plan, did it? Here we are left frustrated over the end to our Grand slam dream.

Brian O'Driscoll, a couple of weeks back before the first game against Scotland, said he believed there would be no Grand slam winner this year and unfortunately he was spot on.

Every nation has now had at least one defeat after Ireland were beaten by the old enemy England, thus also denying us a Triple Crown.

Where did it all go so wrong for Joe Schmidt's men? Two wins out of two and Ireland were finding that level of consistency in performance, but it didn't show in Twickenham.

Yes it was a thrilling game that literally had me at the edge of my seat, yes England were good for their win, but I don't feel there was any sort of super performance from either side.

Little things going wrong…

In the week leading up to the game, Joe Schmidt said if his side were to win, they would have to do the small things right, they got the small things wrong on Saturday and the squad will face a rather painful video session when they gather together.

From the off you could tell Ireland were nervous, you could also tell the English were willing to put everything on the line and were fearless throughout.

Ireland's scrum was one of the few things that they got right, they established their strong pack early as they forced a penalty in the first scrum of the game.

John Plumtree really has found the right ingredient at that set-piece and Cian Healy, Mike Ross and Rory Best's dominance at scrum time was a joy to watch. Were they replaced too early? I certainly thought so.

The breakdown was scrappy. Players seemed too eager to run, which to me led to confusion as to who was getting the ball next, and with that came carelessness and silly mistakes.

It is criminal to lose the ball at your own breakdown, it happened to Ireland far too many times.

When Ireland were dominating possession and territory they let themselves down with the juggler, it was almost like watching Italy, not a good sign when you consider they come to the Aviva Stadium next week.

Although I have been very impressed with the Kearney brothers during this Championship, I felt neither had come out of the traps like a greyhound as was displayed in the previous two games. You might point to Rob's try and question that, but I think the try came more from luck than anything else.

England had done so well to try and stop Ireland from breaking their line, but one lack of concentration in the 80 minutes allowed the Leinster full to back slot through nearly unopposed.

Although Joe Schmidt wanted Simon Zebo to get more game time before returning to the squad, you could definitely see that Zebo and his style and speed was missing.

Zebo again scored for Munster at the weekend, he's playing really well so perhaps Joe will finally call the Munster winger up to Carton House.

Hopeless kicking…

It was clear as day to me but Ireland's kicking game failed miserably. After Wales, Jonathan Sexton spoke about how having a brand new game plan for England was crucial and how a similar plan from the Welsh game would not work.

I didn't see anything that suggested Ireland had gone to the drawing board and constructed something that would get the better of Stuart Lancaster's men.

In England's win over Scotland there seemed to be a gap in behind Lancaster's defensive front row, usually in that type of situation a chip and chase would work, however the home side had it well covered as they filled the space with a sweeping player.

A quick thinking cross-field kick from Sexton to Andrew Trimble nearly worked in the first half, there may not have been much harm in trying it again and hope for more luck but Trimble, and indeed Dave Kearney on the other wing, lay deep and that particular chapter in the kicking play book was skipped.

One also has to wonder if there was something wrong with Sexton? He took a shoulder charge from his opposite number Owen Farrell in the second half and looked a bit groggy.

I hate to jump to a conclusion but it certainly seemed like he was showing signs of a concussion afterwards.

It leads you to question why the Racing Metro outhalf was left on for as long as he was and would there have been a lack of trust in Paddy Jackson's abilities if he had to be put on sooner.

You would have to feel though either way, Jackson may find himself as Ireland's number ten for the Italian game.

Looking forward…

So a fourth loss in a row to England, some people may forget this used to happen all the time in years gone by.

In fact, Ireland used to show up to Twickenham and get hockied, this was a thrilling game of rugby despite Ireland's failings.

Ireland were never going to go into next year's World Cup cross channel unbeaten despite the Joe Schmidt influence.

Underneath all the head coach's success at Leinster, there were also a fair few losses there too, and I feel Schmidt is still experimenting with his squad.

That said, I have full confidence in Schmidt to deliver long term, a Grand Slam dream may be over for another year, but there is a chance to pull out a Championship win in Paris on St Patrick's weekend.

However, I honestly don't think it is the year of the Irish, to stand a chance now, Ireland need to clearly win against Italy and France. Not only that, Ireland need so many more tries than they have to boost their points difference over everyone else.

I don't see many being scored against France so Schmidt's side need to develop a 'scoring for fun' game plan for the Italians, but that in itself won't be easy.