The reports of Ireland’s demise have clearly been greatly exaggerated. This was a performance reminiscent of their pomp that seemed to defy the circumstance, a record win over England at Twickenham that challenged so many of the assumptions made about both. No country for old men? There is life, and lots of it, left in this Irish band of brothers.
The verdant past of back-to-back Six Nations crowns may yet be beyond Ireland but here was a throwback showing of golden autumnal hue. Andy Farrell had backed his tried and trusted to hit the levels they had failed to of late and got what he had demanded. Ponderous? Plodding? Leggy after the Lions? Not so here: Jamison Gibson-Park fizzed with a vitality Ireland lacked in Paris on the opening night. Tadhg Beirne made mischief and menace and Stuart McCloskey stood tall to reduce English oak to acorns. For others, this was an international coming-of-age, wings Robert Baloucoune and Tommy O’Brien among them. An assured showing from Jack Crowley should make the No 10 shirt his for the foreseeable future. “It's a special day, 100 per cent, to come here and perform like that,” Farrell said of his side. “We're obviously delighted with that.”
