We cannot call them champions yet, but Ireland are the best team in the world – and rarely have they looked more so. It is difficult to imagine any side facing down the setbacks they did here at Murrayfield – the home of one of the better teams in the world – and responding quite so emphatically, indeed effortlessly.
Quibblers will point to the fact that, finally, at the fourth attempt, a team have denied them the bonus point. Actually, it was Ireland themselves who did that, James Ryan spilling the ball yards short of the line, and three minutes short of the final whistle, with James Lowe outside him. Twenty points out of 20 would have been almost too much.
