Warm Welcome Home - England Rugby

England’s last memories at Twickenham Stadium were not happy ones, in fact they were some of the darkest that the squad will have experienced. However, on Saturday afternoon they managed to banish a few of them in the best way possible way by delivering a hard-fought victory over Ireland. It certainly wasn’t easy however as a squad England showed a pleasing level of composure and took another step forwards in their development as a result. 

As Eddie Jones said after the game there were lessons that the side learned and values that would be gained from the manner in which the eighty minutes unfolded. For all of England’s opening dominance, that included 66% possession and 78% territory, the scoreboard only read 3-3 and nudged to just 6-3 in their favour at half-time. 

In matches gone by England haven’t had the mental fortitude to not let such a great number of missed chances phase them and previously going behind so early in the second-half would have de-railed them. But, this time they found their elusive composure and that bodes well for both the Wales match and beyond. 

So what of the individuals that led England to their 21-10 victory. Well it would be rude of me not to mention Billy Vunipola first, for his performance was monstrous and without doubt it was his best ever in an England jersey. Billy’s engine just went on and on, he carried relentlessly and whenever England needed him he delivered. Eddie Jones, in his own understated manner was quietly content with his Number 8, saying simply that he was 'very good’. Ominously for future opponents he also highlighted the fact that there's still plenty more to come from the back-rower due to the fact that 'he's just a kid learning the game'.

Next the work of Jack Nowell, both in attack and defence, must be praised. ‘That’ try-saving tackle is one of the best that you’ll see and throughout he was rock solid defensively. In attack Jack is proving, week on week, that he is a man that opponents cannot underestimate. In a back line with Mike Brown and Anthony Watson he often isn’t mentioned as much ahead of matches however opponents always know all about him come the end of the eighty minutes. 

Two final notable mentions are required. First, the coolness, composure and assurance of Maro Itoje... it certainly didn’t look like his first senior start did it? Second, the example set by Dylan Hartley; England’s captain was uncompromising and resolute in the front row. He set the tone for his side to follow and managed his captaincy duties with assurance and authority. 

So what of Ireland? If will and desire were to gain points then it would have been a much closer game for they worked tirelessly. However they lacked the personnel, and spark, to penetrate England's defence and having to making 95 tackles in the first forty minutes sapped them of too much energy. Needless to say Joe Schmidt knows that his side are in a transition period and their lack of true depth is being highlighted at this moment in time.

Ireland may be in transition however England still had to win a hard-fought test match and you cannot take away from their performance and mental fortitude shown to do so. Of course we know that it wasn’t all rosy; two yellow cards in the second half cannot be repeated nor can their persistent inability to finish opportunities. However what was pleasing to their head coach was the fact that they showed the attacking structure to create those opportunities and in his words 'the finishing will come'. It would be much worse if we were analysing a performance that housed no try-scoring opportunities whatsoever, then there would be a problem. 

In summary England are in a good position after three matches in this Championship and crucially we've seen progression each time that they've stepped onto the pitch. With three victories under their belt the stage is now set for an almighty clash with Wales in two weeks time. 

Accenture's Match Statistics

Carries
Billy Vunipola (England) 18
Mike Brown (England) 15
Rob Kearney (Ireland) 12
Robbie Henshaw (Ireland) 12
Anthony Watson (England) 11

Metres Made
Robbie Henshaw (Ireland) 101
Billy Vunipola (England) 96
Mike Brown (England) 70
Anthony Watson (England) 68
Rob Kearney (Ireland) 47

Tackles
Josh Van der Flier (Ireland) 17
Maro Itoje (Egland) 15
Donnacha Ryan (Ireland) 15
Jonathan Joseph (England) 14
Chris Robshaw (England) 14