Two years after Marcus Smith’s drop goal had sent Twickenham into cacophonous ecstasy, the strike of another England fly-half was greeted with a rather different sound. George Ford will not have been jeered that often during an international career that now extends to 107 caps, but as he twice lined up to punt for the left corner, he will surely have noted the accompaniment of sarcastic cheers.
While there was a healthy Irish contingent inside the Allianz Stadium, there were plenty of English voices joining in with the din. Ford had earlier twice missed touch with the sort of uncharacteristic errors that defined England’s day. “It’s not good, it’s not acceptable to do that,” he would later admit. “Stuff like that happens in sport, and games, and it’s not for a lack of intent or endeavour.”
