Learning to live with battle scars

SOMETIMES THE kids must learn the hard way. In the build-up Martin Johnson repeatedly preached the importance of England remaining true to the process. Do that and the result would look after itself.

But when Saturday evening descended the words had failed to seep into young English mindsets, clearly clouded by an overwhelming dream. The Grand Slam, and the immortality that comes with it, will do that.

It is not their fault. They knew nothing of Paul O’Connell’s call to arms. Just like the 2003 Irish team were unprepared for Johnson’s murderous intent on his last appearance in Dublin as a player.

Afterwards, the English manager was forced to talk about scars. Not the visible ones etched across his furrowed brow but the invisible stingers beneath the surface.

“It is a scar,” he said of the defeat. “And we’ve got to wear that scar. We can make it a good thing or a bad thing depending on where we go from here.

“Do you have to get your scars and bruises in before you win something? You hope not but Ireland had there scars before they won the Grand Slam. I certainly had mine before we won ours in ’03.”

The Northampton Saints blindside flanker Tom Wood has been a revelation during the, eh, champions’ Six Nations campaign. Like many of his team-mates, this was Wood’s first international season. Three successive games at Twickenham couldn’t have prepared them for the pack of wild Irish dogs unleashed in Dublin.

“We didn’t come here for scars or any lessons. We came here for a Grand Slam. We obviously got that wrong,” Wood admitted. “We’ll have to wear that for the rest of the season. The beauty of rugby is we will get another chance.”

Ulster are forewarned as Chris Ashton, Bed Foden and Dylan Hartley are also part of the Northampton team they face on April 10th.

But this battering of England was not due to Irish scars but the open, festering wound sustained in Cardiff coupled with the frustration of letting France off the hook at the Aviva. The players simply couldn’t have taken anymore regrets.

“I suppose it brings to an end a championship that really we left behind us,” said Rory Best.

It was suggested to Johnson that England were the only team that sought to play rugby throughout the tournament.

“It is all rugby, mate,” he corrected.

Of course; this Irish performance mirrored the former England captain’s brutish approach.

“Winning the breakdown is rugby. Kicking the ball into the corners is rugby. Today Ireland played a very, very good Test match.

“We respect Ireland at what they do. Playing rugby is about winning.

“We had two or three balls ripped off us. They are the best team probably in the world at grappling and keeping the ball up in the tackle.

“All in all we’ve got no complaints. We got what we deserve. If you are in a fight you want to feel that you landed a few and we didn’t feel that we landed any.”

Late on Saturday night it became apparent that long-serving members of the Irish camp got inside the collective mindset with some emotional pre-match words.

Declan Kidney spoke, as did Brian O’Driscoll and Donncha O’Callaghan too but it was the controlled fury of another that Andrew Trimble remembered.

“I always love listening to O’Connell,” said the Ulster winger. “He’s always got something special to say and it always has the desired effect. I knew it was coming. I was thinking ‘He’s going to say something class’ and he did. He never lets you down on England week.

“He’s massively motivated and that inspiration filtered through to the rest of the team. Everybody was unbelievably up for it.”

We doubt a recording will ever make it to DVD so go on, tell us, what did he say? “I’d be paraphrasing anyway. I don’t think I could give it as much justice as O’Connell does. But it was a brilliant speech.”

At least we know the legend abides. As do Ireland. And that is enough to carry everyone along for the rest of this never ending season.