'Feeble, fragile, feckless, fumbling' — English media reaction to Ireland's Twickenham rout

While there was plenty of praise for Andy Farrell and his men, much of Fleet Street's ink was spilled on Steve Borthwick's misfiring men

TOUGH TIMES: England's Maro Itoje dejected after the match. PIc: INPHO/Ben Brady

The most chastening afternoon since Twickenham was rechristened as Allianz Stadium may have had English rugby chiefs rushing to check their own insurance policies. 

Steve Borthwick is under contract until 2027 and fresh from a humbling trip north to Murrayfield the previous weekend, the Red Rose crew watched their men in white look like a pale imitation of the side that was supposed to have turned a big corner through 2025. 

While Andy Farrell and his Ireland players flew home to be greeted with the kind of headlines that have been absent in recent times in these parts, here's how the English media reacted to Saturday's landmark 42-21 victory for the visitors. 

In The Guardian, Michael Aylwin reflected on how Ireland had crashed more than the party — they'd inflicted a huge psychological blow. 

"There are scattered strips of latex all over Twickenham now, England’s balloon more than spectacularly popped by...Ireland," Aylwin wrote. "...[Ireland] brought back a whole haberdasher’s worth of experience, led by the peerless Jamison Gibson-Park, and fairly tormented their younger and more hopeful hosts. England had been the noisier in recent times, the future all theirs, but it turns out there is no substitute for calmness and authority. Henry Pollock, the most obvious embodiment of a brash future, had to bend his knee to Caelan Doris here."

Aylwin stopped short of calling for names but suggested some might not be as measured: "It is surely too early for anyone of grownup temperament to call for his head – although no doubt some will – but his plans lie in shreds, alongside England’s balloon."

Across Fleet Street in The Times things were moving more in the head-hunting mood. Under a headline that read 'Wretched, feeble England picked apart by Ireland in a defeat to end careers' Alex Lowe pulled few punches. 

"There was no way of avoiding the F words: frightful, feeble, fragile, feckless, fumbling. England’s Six Nations is over and a few international careers may well go with it," he wrote. "While Farrell’s senior men seized control of the game, it was England’s established figures who let them down again; George Ford, Ellis Genge, Ollie Lawrence and Tom Curry were way off the pace and the standard required."

His stablemate, former England captain Lawrence Dallaglio blasted that the home team had been "guilty of one of most unacceptable displays I have ever seen". 

"Every single player was beaten and bettered by their opposite number. In defeat by Scotland at Murrayfield last weekend, you could — if you tried — argue that England were the victim of unfortunate errors. But against Ireland, they were completely broken on both sides of the ball. They got bashed to pieces," wrote Dallaglio. 

"It was unacceptable. Fans couldn’t watch. You could have been forgiven for thinking that the fire alarm was going off in the second half, because English supporters were heading for the exits in their droves. And I felt their pain. The truth is, I am devastated. I am angry. I hope the players and the coaches are too. I can’t remember a match in which the difference between expectation and reality has been so great: I thought it would be close, instead what we got was one of the most disappointing performances Twickenham has ever seen."

The Telegraph, as Eamon Dunphy memorably observed, is an irony-free zone. To survey the headlines on its rugby coverage on Sunday morning, it was more akin to a disaster zone for English rugby. 

A tasting menu of headlines to savour: 'Twelve things that made this one of England's worst Twickenham performances', 'Farrell's man-management masterclass paid off against England', 'Borthwick's England tenure is in danger of unravelling', 'Humiliation at Twickenham proves England have been found out', 'Ignominy for Steward and Cowan-Dickie as hosts eviscerated', 'England must make changes and that starts with recalling Fin Smith' and 'England should give Mauro Itoje a six-month sabbatical'.