Everyone wins on perfect day

A certain brew don't do rugby matches, but if they did . . .

From the tingling anticipation of Ireland's delayed entrance, the respect afforded God Save the Queen , the lusty support of the crowd throughout and an utterly masterful dissection of the auld enemy from one to XV in every sector of the game, you couldn't have dreamt it better. Everyone bar England was a winner: the country, sport, rugby, the GAA and Croke Park, and most thrillingly of all, of course, this exceptional Irish rugby team. As the song says, just a perfect day.

First and foremost, Ireland's best display in the RBS Six Nations in aeons was founded in the disappointment of the defeat to France, and most especially in the fear that they might leave Croke Park with two defeats from two. Eight hundred years of pain, 80 minutes of pleasure, as one wag put it, but this actually had little or nothing to do with history or anthems.

For sure, nothing concentrates Irish minds or teams quite like the sight of all-white opponents, but this was all about doing Irish justice to this venue - which can rarely have seemed more wondrous than on this day.

The force with Ireland on Saturday was almost mystical.

"As Brian alluded to yesterday, we owed everybody a victory. We owed ourselves, we owed the Irish rugby public and we owed the GAA, who opened the doors to Croke Park," said Eddie O'Sullivan yesterday. "That brings pressure, and I'm very happy that the team did deliver a performance under pressure that was even better than we expected."

As one banner put it, "Even God won't save you today," and as one suspected, as even Brian Ashton had feared, England paid for that French defeat. Ireland might not have brought such physical aggression and held such unrelenting focus for 80 minutes on Saturday had they come off a win over France - though, then again, they performed mightily under a different pressure on Saturday - but they still would have put this vastly inferior, relatively poorly prepared English side to the sword.

Hence, the nagging suspicion lingered that as much as any year in Ireland's rugby history, this should have been another defining step toward a Grand Slam. A third Triple Crown in four years is in the offing come Murrayfield in a fortnight, which is no mean achievement, but it might seem slightly hollow, simply because, as with the autumn, this performance reminded us that this Irish team can aim higher than that.

"Of course you look back now and say 'what if?' But you can't dwell on it," said O'Sullivan.

"You can't unring a bell. As my mother used to say, Lord have mercy on her, there's no point in crying over spilt milk, and that's what the French game is now.

"We can still win four out of five, and England will have France in Twickenham, and that could open the championship up again. If you go on and win the next two matches it will always be in the back of your mind, but right now I'll take that and win the next two matches."

It's France's title to lose now, but nonetheless the England captain, Phil Vickery, told O'Sullivan on Saturday night Ireland can go to the World Cup as real contenders after their first 40-pointer against England, and a four-from-four haul since England themselves became world champions. The reward for the Irish players was a frozen dip in the Forty Foot in Dún Laoghaire yesterday.

The crowd were almost as good as the team, and were a barometer of the performance.

Ireland's delayed entrance might have seemed a tad discourteous but was mild payback for Martin Johnson's stand-off in Lansdowne Road four years ago.

The determination to afford England's anthem respect was as much a statement by a country as it was by an Irish sporting audience, as were the lusty renditions of Ireland's anthems and, at times of clear supremacy, The Fields .

"We were aware that when the anthems finished we needed to win a game here. Everything else was right about the day," said O'Sullivan, who expressed his regret at not being able to shake Martin Corry's hand.

"When God Save the Queen finished, Corry applauded the Irish crowd. I thought that was a fantastic gesture on his part. I've huge regard for Martin, and I have even more now.

"Despite people expressing opinions contrary to what happened yesterday, everybody did the right thing. It was a great sports occasion and I'm absolutely delighted that rugby was the occasion, and we're really chuffed with ourselves to have been involved in it."

Fears there would be a mass invasion by English chariots proved unfounded. It seems Irish fans weren't inclined to make a financial killing, preferring instead to witness a sporting one, though, talking to Irish supporters, it's clear the English fans' recent crash course in Anglo-Irish history may have prompted them to down colours. In the hospitality afforded our English friends, there were shades of 1973 all over again, even down to England's performance echoing John Pullin's memorably self-deprecating remark about not being good but at least turning up.

Even Jonny Wilkinson was made to look ordinary, which was hardly surprising with so little quality ball and such a plodding midfield. The expensive gamble by the RFU and Brian Ashton in fast-tracking Andy Farrell with such indecent haste looks profligate in the extreme.

Not only in midfield, but pretty much everywhere - bar Harry Ellis at scrumhalf and David Strettle on the wing - England were ponderous and pedantic, at times even pitiful.

About the only irritants were the Mexican waves as O'Sullivan broke with practice and emptied the bench; the edge briefly ebbed from the endgame until Isaac Boss's late, late try.

Having presided over Ireland's record defeat to England a decade ago, so Brian Ashton presided over Ireland's record win over England on Saturday; indeed the heaviest defeat and highest score conceded in England's championship history, eclipsing the 37-12 loss to France in 1972 and 33-6 defeat to Scotland in 1986.

Thinking back to recent tonkings, Ireland owed England one. How times change. Thinking back to 10 years ago, not only did Ashton pick a bad time to be Ireland coach, he possibly picked a worse one to be England coach.

Not so Fast Eddie. Whatever about Ashton's gameplan, O'Sullivan's worked a treat here.