Visitors prove their character as they rise to the challenge

What would have happened had Ireland gone to the corner on that rare sortie into England’s territory and not kicked for goal; could they have won this enthralling match? Ireland threw everything they had at England but were unable to cross for the crucial try mainly because of England’s pressure and Ireland’s mistakes on the margins. Pressure can be cruel, so much so that as the English piled on top of Rob Kearney in the corner the only respite he could muster was a Matrix type moment when placing his hand across the touchline to get the hell out of there.

England were very good with the ball, and even missing tackles (11) they were supreme without it.

After 46 minutes England led 15-0 against the All Blacks last December. Five minutes later the score was 15-14. In not capitulating against the world champions but kicking on England’s under belly proved very strong. A culture of strength of mind was obviously a core building block for Stuart Lancaster.

Like any fixture there are key moments and England’s management of those moments was extremely impressive. Not unlike the concession of two tries to the All Blacks, James Haskell's temporary departure brought the score to 6-6, and with rain bucketing down and Ronan O’Gara at ten to push England around, they seemed vulnerable. But, like last December, England rose to the challenge and real character came out.

As usual my attention drifted away from the obvious. Clearly Jamie Heaslip had one of those days where the margins went against him but I couldn’t help getting sucked into contributing factors, off the ball, such as English hooker Tom Youngs.

His work-rate in defence, pushing his team-mates aggressively into the corridor of power, was immense. Likewise his replacement Dylan Hartley looked like he had been broken down from the man he was and reconditioned.

Very hard

With only minutes remaining Donncha O’Callaghan sailed high to win a lineout but Hartley working very hard got around "offside" and it took Cian Healy’s persuasive technique to get him out of there. In doing so, with Hartley lying on the floor, Healy lovingly tapped him on the face.

In that moment Hartley’s natural reaction to retaliate came surging out but he checked himself and carried on. This is hardly relevant but a very focused and determined Hartley has been a rare sight and is now a dangerous animal, and gives a window into the heart of what England are fast becoming.

So what are they becoming? As expected they brought less running threat than Wales can muster but a team of youth and inexperience managed the margins by sucking the time out of Ireland’s every movement. The obvious place for that was in their extremely disciplined defence that worked very hard on both sides.