England Saxons 17 Ireland A 13:Declan Kidney would have hoped that win or lose at The Rec, players would stand up and give him something to think about ahead of his team selection for the Six Nations opener against Italy next weekend. As it transpired, it was lose and there wasn't much from his side that would inject doubt into his thinking ahead of the Grand Slam defence.
The Ireland coach will have been pleased to have seen Marcus Horan emerge unscathed after 80 minutes of action and a good 40 from Rory Best will be welcomed. Both have been out of action with illness and a neck injury respectively, but their timing could not be better ahead of tilt at back-to-back championships.
On the right wing Connacht's Fionn Carr provided a genuine threat to the English rearguard and was pacy and powerful throughout, though it's unlikely to be enough for a surprise inclusion in next weekend's squad.
Ultimately though, the visitors lacked the cutting edge that was needed to slice open a stubborn England defence hellbent on revenge after a 45-22 beating by the same opposition in the Churchill Cup last year.
Shane Geraghty showed Martin Johnson he can be just as inconsistent as his fellow England outhalves, but the Northampton outhalf did do damage on the scoreboard, claiming the second try, booting two conversions - the first from the touchline after wing David Strettle’s early touchdown.
Before he slotted a late penalty for a four-point cushion, Paddy Wallace kicked two and converted a 69th minute try by substitute backrow Chris Henry to ensure a tense finale.
Ireland made all the initial running, easing ahead through a second-minute Wallace penalty as England struggled to establish any fluency or pattern.
The Irish forwards, assisted by some clever box-kicking from scrumhalf Peter Stringer, established a degree of territorial control before England struck from their first attack.
Stringer’s opposite number Ben Youngs gradually grew into the game and eventually gave a very assured performance, starting with a darting break inside Ireland’s 22 before an offload for Strettle to finish impressively in the corner.
Geraghty booted the conversion, but Wallace’s second penalty brought Ireland to within a point after 22 minutes.
England though, had found some confidence with ball in hand, a mood they graphically illustrated through their second try 10 minutes before half-time.
Fullback Alex Goode made attacking in-roads, freeing his Saracens colleague Cato, and after a third Saracens player - centre Brad Barritt - appeared on Cato’s shoulder, Geraghty had a simple task of sprinting over unopposed.
Geraghty’s second successful conversion took the Saxons into a healthy 14-6 lead, and with his destructive Saints colleague Phil Dowson causing Ireland all kinds of problems from number eight, the home side continued growing in confidence.
Wallace then missed a straight-forward penalty chance on the stroke of half-time, but England were good value for their advantage.
Ireland coach Michael Bradley made two changes for the second period, replacing hooker Best with John Fogarty and sending on lock Ryan Caldwell for Mick O’Driscoll.
And England also utilised their bench, with Gloucester backrow forward Luke Narraway, Leicester lock Geoff Parling and Wasps hooker Rob Webber all being given chances to impress.
England spent much of the second-half defending, and alarm bells started ringing when Henry crashed over just a minute after Saxons prop Paul Doran-Jones was yellow-carded for killing possession.
But the Saxons held out, albeit in grim survival mode during eight minutes of injury-time that saw Ireland lay siege to the home 22.
Ultimately, defence won the day, as England engineered just enough territory for Geraghty to kick a penalty with the game’s final act.