England 33 Ireland 10: Just over a week after being cut adrift by the English coach following a nightclub incident, Danny Cipriani had all the right moves against Ireland as he condemned Eddie O'Sullivan's side to their third defeat of the campaign.
The result will undoubtedly raise further questions as to where Eddie O'Sullivan goes from here but it was the performance of the young Wasps outhalf that was the key factor, vindicating Brian Ashton's decision to keep Jonny Wilkinson on the bench.
Ronan O'Gara - captaining his country for the first time- had a decent enough game himself, edging the opening exchanges as Ireland built an early 10-0 lead. But thereafter it was an occasion in which the 20-year-old young pretender announced his presence on the international stage as Ireland were kept scoreless for over 70 minutes.
O'Gara helped set up Ireland's solitary try in the fifth minute, a well-judged miss pass that sent Geordan Murphy marauding into space before an inside ball to Rob Kearney gave the Leinster winger sight of the line.
Kearney raced for the whitewash and rode a tackle from Jamie Noon as he placed the ball down for a fine finish to a well-worked move. O'Gara added the conversion and then a penalty to give Ireland a platform, and indeed, a fitting reward for their early dominance.
But England burst into life in the 19th minute with Paul Sackey starting and finishing their first try. Sackey bulldozed his way through tackles from Shane Horgan, Andrew Trimble and O'Gara to initiate the attack and then accepted the scoring pass from Iain Balshaw once the ball had been recycled. Cipriani converted.
Ireland's defence was being pierced with increasing regularity and it almost cracked again in the 25th minute. A delayed pass from Cipriani bamboozled the visitors and centre Jamie Noon, who had outstanding game, found himself in acres of space but without the gas to finish. Lesley Vainikolo was on his shoulder screaming for the ball but Noon could not find his man and then Toby Flood knocked on at the breakdown.
Flood made amends with a crafty kick and chase and when Ireland infringed Cipriani was on hand to nudge his side ahead and a further penalty before half-time stretched the lead to six points.
Ireland again began brightly after the break but were unable to get back on the scoreboard, instead allowing England to underline their dominance.
Further tries from Matthew Tail and Noon, both converted nonchalantly by Cipriani, stretched the scoreline way beyond the visitor's grasp and by the time the final whistle arrived, it provided a welcome respite for an Irish side in need of some serious rebuilding over the summer.
