Donal Lenihan: With a resurgent England in town, inquests can wait

Quite how Ireland managed to lose their way in the final quarter against Scotland demands an internal inquiry, writes Donal Lenihan. But before England arrive in Dublin, there is very little time available

Quite how Ireland managed to lose their way in the final quarter against Scotland demands an internal inquiry, writes Donal Lenihan. But before England arrive in Dublin, there is very little time available

Much has changed with Irish rugby since Johnny Sexton last stepped forward to rescue a victory with a clutch moment in a Six Nations encounter.

When the highlights reel of Sexton’s glittering international career are packaged, his signature moment in green will be that remarkable drop goal at the end of a 42-phase build-up before pulling the trigger against France at the Stade de France three years ago now.

Ireland famously went on to capture a Grand Slam in Twickenham with perhaps their best performance of the entire campaign, a 15-24 victory over an England side that would progress all the way to the World Cup final in Japan the following year.

Ireland are still chasing their first win over the English since that immaculate performance on a freezing day in London with Eddie Jones’s men producing four pretty convincing performances on the bounce to seize the upper hand in this fixture since then.

Sexton’s superb touch line penalty kick, in testing conditions with just four minutes to go in Murrayfield on Sunday, salvaged a win that looked gift wrapped with a 14-point lead on 55 minutes. Quite how Ireland managed to lose their way in the final quarter demands an internal inquiry but with a six-day turnaround before England arrive in Dublin, there is very little time available for looking in the rear-view mirror.

That inquest will have to wait until Andy Farrell and his management team conduct a thorough review of the championship in a few weeks’ time. The immediate effect is that Sexton’s match-winner makes a big difference to the mood and mindset in the Irish camp this week. One win from four outings with England coming to town would have been disastrous.

Ireland have a habit of upsetting England when least expected, just as they did in this clash four years ago when they arrived with the championship already in the bag and a Grand Slam on offer. If our late win over Scotland will have a galvanising effect, I suspect it will be nothing compared to the transformative effect England’s nail-biting win over the French will have within their squad.

England were so far off the pace at the outset of this campaign that Scotland were made look like world-beaters in their opening day win. While England were expected to run over the top of Italy, their predictable win was probably the least convincing of the four defeats the Azzurri have suffered in the tournament to date.

Alarm bells

Shipping 40 points against Wales in Cardiff sent alarm bells ringing within the English squad and meant nothing other than a victory over France could salvage anything from this championship.

On the back of that impressive performance and merited win, coupled with James Ryan being ruled out due to another concussive collision - his second of the tournament - Ireland’s task on Saturday has become more difficult.

The quality of rugby produced by both sides in Twickenham last weekend, in a game for the ages, was mesmerising and reminded us of the way this game can be played. It’s a long time since a Six Nations match not involving Ireland has got me so excited but the quality of attacking rugby on show from both sides, especially in a scintillating opening half, is worth watching over and over again.

England were under massive pressure to win, not having lost two games at home in the Five or Six Nations since 1983. The fact they produced that performance against a French side which has really captured the imagination since being cobbled together two weeks prior to the opening game of last season’s Six Nations against the English but delivered an astonishing win over the World Cup finalists made everyone sit up and take notice.

It is so French that just at the point when they rediscovered their natural running skills, their unity of purpose and the physical appetite for the fight that they somehow find a way to shoot themselves in the foot with the breaches of their Covid protocol and the subsequent fallout.

Anyone wondering what the impact of the unforced four-week layoff might have on the French squad got their answer within 67 seconds with a brilliant team try finished by, who else, but Antoine Dupont. How ironic that his knock-on right at the end of that pulsating game should deny his team the chance to pull off a spectacular win or, at the very least, a draw.

It was inevitable that the pace with which this new French project had taken off after the World Cup when Fabian Galthie and Raphael Ibanez were entrusted with the reins and the space to lead the way forward by FFR president Bernard Laporte would stall at some stage.

That said, they can still win this championship by beating Grand Slam-chasing Wales and Scotland. Even then it may come down to bonus points accumulated in those remaining games and points differential.

That game against Wales, the surprise packet of the tournament, on Saturday evening in Paris, promises to be another monumental affair. When you extract the one-sided nature of the contests involving the Italians, this has been a brilliant tournament to date with so many games going right down to the wire.

After what has proved a mixed bag of a tournament from an Irish perspective so far, Ireland really need to deliver their most convincing and sustained performance of the championship to finish this campaign on a high. Problem is England will be chasing the exact same outcome.