Superlatives saved for English performance

The pre-match verbal bouquets had not yet withered and died, not been tarnished by 80 minutes of a Five Nations Championship encounter at Lansdowne Road. The respective coaches offered startlingly similar press conferences, Ireland's Warren Gatland generously acknowledging England's prowess, his counterpart Clive Woodward. . . also acknowledging England's prowess.

The only tangible difference between the two men was the superlatives with which they chose to honour England - Gatland describing England's performance as "outstanding", Woodward choosing "fantastic" - but the focus remained firmly on the victors.

That in itself was hardly surprising given Ireland's flat and error-ridden performance. Searching for consolation through the debris of the Irish display, required a magnifying glass. To his credit, Gatland wasn't about to indulge in any self-delusion.

He did venture that the "only consolation we can take out of the game was that with two minutes to go we were still in the match." Lest anyone accuse the Irish coach of grasping at the most tenuous straws, he had first acknowledged that "we weren't a good enough side and England played very well, deserving their victory.

"The advantage in terms of territory and possession that England had would probably have led them to expect to be a lot further in front. We didn't get the quality of ruck ball that they enjoyed. The 15 or 20 minute spell at the start of the second half was the first time we started to play rugby, we didn't play any in the first half.

"The scrum was solid but the line-out was disappointing, an area of the game in which we have traditionally been strong. We hung in there well. In defence of the players, they dug deep and put in a lot of tackles."

Woodward barely mentioned Ireland in his comments, preferring to dwell upon the magnitude of the English victory, but in doing so offered a back-handed compliment. "To me that was the best performance since I've been coach. This was a very very important game for England to win for many reasons.

"I think it puts the good games against South Africa and the All Blacks in the shade. There was a lot of pressure on the team and Lawrence (Dallaglio) and I thought they did very well, I'm very pleased."

England captain Dallaglio was singled out for especial mention by both Woodward and Gatland, the former suggesting: "I think he won man of the match, he's a fantastic player. I have no doubt the Scotland game was an aberration by everybody. He (Dallaglio) took stick, but to me he is a world class player and I think he would get into most people's teams around the world.

Gatland echoed his counterpart's sentiments: "I couldn't believe that anyone would not forgive him one bad game. There has been a lot of criticism of Lawrence Dallaglio, but I thought he was very good, particularly taking the ball up.

"He was able to slow down some of our ruck ball and around the fringes both he and Martin Johnson were very effective. Our tackling wasn't so good in that area."

Woodward described England's performance as "defensively brilliant", adding that he derived great satisfaction from the fact that Ireland did not score a try. "The biggest thing to me was that they didn't score a try. We scored two and bombed a couple." The English media, though, noticed a few weeds in the rosy garden, primarily the fact that their national team conceded 22 penalties - one anorak pointed out that this was the worst catalogue of transgressions since 1980-something - and also offered New Zealand referee Paddy O'Brien as the sacrificial lamb.

Woodward refused to be drawn. "Obviously it is something that is not acceptable as far as we are concerned. I like Paddy O'Brien as a referee, I think he did a good job. We were not doing a few things that he liked so it was our fault that we gave away that many penalties. To be honest I don't really give a toss about it now, at this minute. We won at Lansdowne Road."

Gatland, too, refused to blame the referee for Irish shortcomings. "We found it difficult to generate quick second-phase ball. He (O'Brien) let some English players get their bodies on our side and slow the ball down. We didn't ruck well enough though and it's an aspect upon which we will have to improve. It was the only factor of his (O'Brien's) performance that I will be talking about with him.

"We have no excuses, the better team won. I take my hat off to England, they were outstanding. Before the Five Nations Championship began I said that I thought England were the best side in the championship and I see no reason to change that assumption. They are the best team in the Five Nations, a world class side and in six or seven months when the World Cup comes around they can finish in the top three or four teams at least."

Magnanimous in defeat, Gatland was quite willing to discuss the impact of England's young centre Jonny Wilkinson. "Donal (Lenihan) said in the dressing room that for a 19-year-old, England have really found a player for the future. His composure, goal-kicking, the way he took the ball up in terms of yardage and his defence were superb. He has a huge future."

Ninety minutes after the match had finished, the marquee which houses the press conferences was deserted, serene. The throngs of media had long since departed but the tranquillity lingered, as it had done since the final whistle. No recriminations on either side, just an acknowledgement that England were worthy winners and Ireland once again had work to do.