England Saxons Pull Through in Cork

In the trade they call it 'Commentator's Curse' and it happens with annoying regulatory, you talk a player up or highlight a key area of strength and then the next time that they get the ball it all goes a little bit pear shaped. I have to admit that, that is exactly how I felt for the first forty minutes of England Saxons' performance last night. England opened the match in Cork looking a little rusty and whilst it must be said that the regularity in which referee Neil Hennessey decided to blow his whistle didn't help proceedings in honesty the whole game lacked the flair that we were expecting. 

Naturally in the aftermath of a match that should be placed in the 'less than spectacular' box we could all focus on the negatives and get a little upset. However that wouldn't benefit anyone so instead I am going to pull out some positives for England, due to strong individual performances. In my opinion there were four key men in the backs that cut through the fog and shone. First, fly half Henry Slade... Henry's all around kicking game was on the money and he distributed beautifully to the stand out centre, Elliot Daly. Elliot's centre partner had a huge amount of pressure on him and it was a difficult night in the end  for Sam Burgess, one he will take a lot amount from and come back stronger for it. Elliot's strong running questioned Ireland on a number of occasions and together with fellow Wasp Joe Simpson he should be pleased with his night's work. Joe really increased the tempo when he came on and defensively he was solid as a rock, impressive as always from the Scrum Half. The last back that stated his case for further International recognition was Worcester's Chris Pennell. Chris showed that his performance levels haven't dropped an inch playing in the Championship, in my eyes he is the all around Full Back and a real asset to England Rugby. 

 @Toottankwaldrom

Looking towards the forwards it was a shaky night for line out in particular and up front England didn't gain the type of dominance they would have liked however there were positives  Both Dave Ewers and Matt Garvey showcased huge engines as they worked themselves into the ground and carried hard. In the Second Row Maro Itoje showed no  sign of nerves as he was thrown to the lions after 15 minutes due to James Gaskell's injury. Maro looked at home on the International stage, he took everything in his stride and personally I expect him to play a significant role for England in the coming years and wouldn't be surprised if he Captained the side such is his talent and temperament.   

The only Irish silver linings came in their front row as Sean O'Brien successfully navigated a re-entrance back into the world of International Rugby with 50 solid minutes of rugby that included some strong breakdown work and hits. It is great to see him back and surely Joe Schdmit will want to include him in the main squad during the course of this 6 Nations tournament. However elsewhere on the pitch the Wolfhounds were slightly under par; Ian Madigan didn't hit the heights that they needed him to do and a few questions still remain around the best suitor for the Green 10 shirt. 

Sadly we didn't witness 80 minutes of vintage rugby in Cork but sometimes that happens... Stuart will have still been glad that he made the trip over as the game will have provided him with some food for thought. Henry Thomas was solid and in the wake of Davey Wilson's recent injury and that is good news. Christian Wade delivered 5 points with ease on only his second touch of the game and all of the men mentioned above put their hands up.  A classic it was not but sometimes that happens....