Six Nations/England v Ireland: As a confidence fillip for the burgeoning talent in Irish rugby last night at Kingsholm will be so important to the development of these players. England may have had a surfeit of beef, but the visitors provided the real quality.
Ireland's patterns, continuity and crucially their appreciation of space were immeasurably better. Their handling in the backline and the huge workrate of the pack, particularly the loose trio, ultimately decided this match in their favour.
Coach Michael Bradley and assistant Allen Clarke deserve credit for the manner in which they prepared the team and then encouraged them to play a heads-up brand of rugby that proved so hard to beat. It was a fine team effort in which everyone contributed, but Shane Jennings, Neil Best and John Fogarty were outstanding in a fine pack effort.
Still, Ireland begain a lacklustre fashion, gifting England a quartet of penalties in the opening 12 minutes. The visitors were rather tentative in the tackle, offering too many soft shoulders as they awaited the ball carrier rather than hunted him down.
It allowed England to dictate the contact point and also offload at will, thereby guaranteeing continuity and testing Ireland's scramble defence. English outhalf Shane Drahm elected to punt his side's first penalty to the corner, but Ireland defended the maul intelligently and then shunted English flanker Michael Lipman into touch.
Drahm did kick a penalty on 13 minutes, and barely 60 seconds later Lipman thundered into Neil Best forcing the turnover on the halfway line, the home side's counter-attack culminating in a try for wing Paul Sackey.
At this point it looked ominous for the visitors, but their work ethic and a growing tenacity in the tackle began to pay dividends. None epitomised this more than Connacht hooker John Fogarty, whose tackle count was prodigious. Suddenly England weren't getting the penetration that had been afforded them and their progress was more lateral.
Lipman was penalised for a high tackle on Tommy Bowe with Staunton posting the resultant penalty, and the outhalf added a second after captain Mick O'Driscoll latched onto a loose ball, and the move was given legs by Jamie Heaslip, Matt McCullough and Bowe. England eventually strayed offside.
The visitors had warmed to their task and deserved to snatch the lead on 36 minutes with a try from left wing Ian Dowling. The hallmarks of the score were continuity, patience and finally a clever exploitation of the short side from close range.
Staunton couldn't add the conversion - his second miss in a swirling wind - but the young Wasps outhalf would more than atone in first-half injury time, scampering over for a try close to the posts following another superb example of Irish continuity in which forwards and backs intertwined seamlessly.
The conversion gave Ireland an 18-11 lead at the interval, Drahm having sandwiched in a penalty between the two Irish tries.
What will have pleased Bradley is the character and skill in recovering from a sloppy start. The lineouts were flawless, and while the scrum tweaked on occasion, Ireland managed to secure enough possession to impose their patterns. Heaslip figured prominently, as did Matt McCullough, Bryan Young and the excellent Shane Jennings.
The opening throes of the second half were like a mirror image of the first as turnovers nursed the English back into the game. Ireland were playing into the wind and just needed to introduce a little variety to their patterns. Perhaps it was a nod to St Patrick's Day but the Irish found that lady luck bestowed her favours on 54 minutes. Staunton pulled a penalty well wide, but the ball, having crossed the goal line bounced back into play and Kieran Lewis jumped highest to pull the ball down and ground it.
Ireland still couldn't shake the tendency to use hands in the ruck, despite the being consistently reprimanded by referee Christophe Berdos. Drahm nudged a penalty to the corner, England drove the maul and from the ensuing ruck, Lipman crashed over.
It says a great deal about the attitude of this Irish team that they picked up the gauntlet in superb fashion, Staunton first kicking a penalty and then Robert Kearney finishing off some great handing and running down the shortside with Dowling providing both the space and the scoring pass.
SCORING SEQUENCE: 13 mins: Drahm penalty, 3-0; 14: Sackey try, 8-0; 16: Staunton penalty, 8-3; 23: Staunton penalty, 8-6; 36: Dowling try, 8-11; 42: Drahm penalty, 11-11; 44: Staunton try, Staunton conversion, 11-18. Half-time: 11-18. 54: Lewis try, Staunton conversion, 11-25; 59: Lipman try, Drahm conversion, 18-25; 61: Staunton penalty, 18-28; 70: Kearney try, 33-18.
ENGLAND A: M van Gisbergen (Wasps); P Sackey (Wasps), J Clarke (Northampton), O Smith (Leicester), C Bell (Leeds); S Drahm (Worcester), S Perry (Bristol, capt); T Payne (Wasps), A Titterell (Sale), S Turner (Sale); L Deacon (Leicester), T Palmer (Leeds); A Beattie (Bath), M Lipman (Bath), C Jones (Sale). Replacements: D Armitage (London Irish) for Smith (36 mins); D Ward-Smith (Bristol) for Palmer (60 mins); M Cairns (Saracens) for Titterell (63 mins); T Rees (Newcastle) for Beattie (65 mins); N Wood (Gloucester) for Turner (71 mins); S Vesty (Leicester) for van Gisbergen (71 mins); N Walshe (Bath) for Perry (79 mins).
IRELAND A: R Kearney (Leinster); T Bowe (Ulster), G Duffy (Harlequins), K Lewis (Leinster), I Dowling (Munster); J Staunton (Wasps), T O'Leary (Munster); R Hogan (Connacht), J Fogarty (Connacht), B Young (Ulster); M O'Driscoll (Munster, capt), M McCullough (Ulster); N Best (Ulster), S Jennings (Leicester), J Heaslip (Leinster). Replacements: R McCormack (Leinster) for Hogan (55 mins); R Wilson (Ulster) for Heaslip (65 mins); C Keane (Connacht) for O'Leary (65 mins); L Cullen (Leicester) for McCullough (76 mins).
Referee: C Berdos (France).
