David Corkery on rugby: Ireland have room to improve even after beating England

Not a complete performance but a victory of workman-like qualities that will stand Ireland in the long run.

The tackle will always be king on the rugby pitch and England will be cursing a few disastrous confrontations which led to Ireland taking control of this their first Six Nations game of 2025. However, in saying that Ireland were fully deserving of their victory.

If there was ever a game of two halves this was it. Whatever Simon Easterby discussed with his players during the break seemed to have made a world of difference.

I doubt very much anyone predicted that England would be coming to Dublin to have their egos massaged and they certainly started this game like a side that had a solid purpose to their visit.

Ever since the game of Rugby Union turned professional there has been a massive swing towards implementing a blitz-like rush defence against the attacking team. This English side seemed to have built their entire game-plan around leaving Ireland secure their line-outs uncontested and placing all their trust in the swiftness of their defensive capabilities.

One of Ireland's glaring weaknesses during the Autumn Internationals was their poor lineout return. So with this in mind, you would have thought England would have challenged Ireland's jumpers at every opportunity.

Steve Borthwick put all his trust in his first line of defence, forcing Sam Prendergast and Jamison Gibson Park to kick away possession a lot more often than they would have planned.

Borthwick also opted to pick the Curry twins in the English back-row, who aren't the tallest. This was done so that England could have two out-and-out scavengers at the breakdown which would put a halt to the speed of ball Gibson Park had to work with.

For the first 40 minutes, Borthwick’s plan was working a treat and Ireland looked a bit shell-shocked.

Unable to turn territory into points, England’s defensive fortifications looked to have the measure of anything Ireland threw at them and were full value for their 10-5 lead.

Sam Prendergast, controversially chosen ahead of Munster’s Jack Crowley, was doing all that he could with the average supply of ball he was receiving and had a solid outing. There is very little you could fault him for and some of his passing was just sublime.

BIG CALL

At just 21, he has the world at his feet and it will be very interesting to see who is handed the jersey for next week's trip to Edinburgh.

Simon Easterby, who is looking after the team in Andy Farrell's absence, is a very composed individual by nature and his message to the players at half-time would have centred around holding on to the ball for longer periods.

He would have also spoken about just how flat England were defending and that there was a serious amount of space just in behind their first line of defence that could be exploited.

One of the key things in the second half was the Irish forwards really started to gain the upper hand and the scores started to flow. Tries from Bundee Aki, Tadhg Beirne and sub Dan Sheehan allowed Ireland to showcase all their class.

Much credit must also go to the impact the bench had and while each played their part, the three that impressed me the most were Jack Crowley, Jack Conan and Dan Sheehan.

Both Crowley and Conan brought with them that little bit of pace and attack that was needed, but what Sheehan introduced was just world-class.

Not since the great Keith Wood retired have we had a hooker with so much skill and ability.

Just back from a serious knee injury, which the Leinster man picked up seven months ago, Sheehan will unquestionably start in next week’s game and if he can remain match fit, he will be the B&I Lions hooker when they travel to Australia in just over five months.

England did manage to score two late tries in the game that must be addressed by this Irish side albeit, at that point, the game was a foregone conclusion.

Next week’s game against Scotland will be a completely different challenge for Easterby and I would expect a few changes to the starting 15 but as far as I can see at this point the only team that will challenge Ireland this year are the French and guess what?

We have them at home.