Sport on Television: Ouch! So, in the dog-eat-dog world of professional rugby, there is payback time. On Saturday, Sky Sports - who have shovelled truckloads of money into the vaults of the English RFU so they can freeze out terrestrial stations and obtain exclusive live coverage of matches at Twickenham - got their dues. And the English team, smarting from that grand slam depriving defeat to Ireland at Lansdowne Road last October, also got their own back. Payback on the double, then.
To those financial geniuses in Sky who tied the station into an exclusive arrangement with the RFU, last Saturday's performance - and result - was manna from heaven. The end justifies the means and, if there were any pangs of conscience about denying the masses live coverage of the match that will probably determine the winners of the Six Nations this year, the sublime show from London SW will have provided the moneybags in the satellite station with further proof that, for them, the move to keep England's home games to themselves was the right one.
Of course we missed the rants that George Hook would have provided us on RTÉ. But, in fairness to Sky, their package - before, during and after - was polished, if tending to give a bias to the English perspective on things. But if you have forked out millions of pounds to get England's home games you have to expect that sort of jaundiced view.
We even got some insights into the English players from, well, the English players. Most vain? Jonny Wilkinson. "You can't look that good after a game without spending a lot of time in front of the mirror," explained Kyran Bracken. The Cheapest? The one who is first out of the taxi, and last to the bar counter - Richard Hill, by common consent. Worse dresser? Mike Catt. "When he came here from Port Elizabeth, he almost didn't make it through the fashion police," according to Will Greenwood.
Although Bracken did offer the view that Dewi Morris - on pitchside duty for Sky Sports - was actually a worse dresser, followed by Catt "with his Aran jumper."
In hindsight, such tongue-in-cheek jibes would probably well explain the totally relaxed mood of the English squad as they headed into the match with Ireland. As presenter Mark Durden-Smith put it, they were out for revenge against an Irish side that "has emerged as a genuine force in European rugby".
Sky did manage to get very good balance in the studio panel. Conor O'Shea - a natural in front of the camera - gave the Irish perspective; Bill Beaumont the English angle on things, and Australian Michael Lynagh the neutral view.
As Durden-Smith reminded viewers that England hadn't lost a match at Twickenham "this century", O'Shea cheekily added that Ireland had "only lost here once this century." Indeed, O'Shea had high hopes for Ireland and his views also found favour with Lynagh who observed "these guys (Ireland) are here to win the game and are capable of doing so".
It wasn't patronising talk, all of the panellists genuinely believed this Irish team was in with a real shout of upsetting England again.
Much of the other pre-match talk centred around the Martin Johnson incident of the previous week when he unleashed an upper-cut that Lennox Lewis would have been proud of in a club match. It was also the main talking point on Sky's rugby talkshow on Thursday night when Dewi Morris - in his straight-talking way - told us that "the referee got it totally wrong" . However, as Lynagh observed in the build-up to Saturday's match, "rightly or wrongly, Johnson is available" and the bottom line was that he would be playing.
While much of the talk was about how Ireland had emerged as genuine pretenders, there were ominous words from those in the studio. Beaumont told us how England would need to "go for the jugular" and Lynagh talked of England trying to "blast them off the pitch" - and that is exactly what happened.
Commentators Stuart Barnes and Miles Harrison were drooling into their microphones as England turned in a first-half performance of devastating brilliance. Before the match, O'Shea had informed us that Brian O'Driscoll's moniker was "God" - but, in that first half, it seemed that it should really have been attached to Jonny Wilkinson, the man Barnes described as "the rapier" in "cutting Ireland to pieces".
By half-time, all O'Shea could do - much like the Irish team - was accept what the gods were delivering. "There are days you just hold your hand up and accept they (England) are the better side," he said. Beaumont called it "complete rugby, from one to 15" and Lynagh talked of "the poor old Irish forwards" who were being isolated.
And, by the end, all the studio pundits could offer Ireland were soothing words. "That first 40 minutes was one of the best pieces of rugby I have ever seen," said Lynagh. Nods all around. Beaumont talked of the second-half being an "anti-climax" - obviously there were thoughts of a record score being complied against the poor old Irish - and made the observation that Ireland allowed England to play well in the first-half and pointed to so many missed tackles as the prime reason. But O'Shea insisted Ireland "haven't become a poor side" because of one defeat.
It was in the follow-up interviews, however, that the English psyche in the match's build-up was really revealed. Graham Simmons was the fan with the mike interviewing a succession of English players but when he came to Will Greenwod we learned just how much that defeat in Dublin last October hurt.
"We remembered October 20th," said Greenwood.
"But you've been saying all week that it didn't matter," interjected Simmons.
"You have to lie. People don't want to talk about revenge but it was a dent to our pride, to go to Lansdowne Road and get turned over like that." The truth was out - but, after a 45-11 win, the truth is always easier to tell.
And, truth to tell, Sky did a very good job. They weren't patronising (to Ireland) and didn't gloat too much about England's win. All in all, a good balanced package - pity is that only those people with access to satellite television got to see it.
