UFO Info Week-End

They certainly looked to use their feet rather than their heads

They certainly looked to use their feet rather than their heads when running at the English as if reluctant to risk taking them on.It would have been OK if the kicks had produced anything, but apart from giving rise to the first penalty, from which O’Gara contrived to find the left-hand upright, they were worthless, other than to pin England in their own 22 for long spells.But at this level – as at any level – position must be turned into points. Grayson, naturally added the conversion.More pressure on Stringer, again from a skewed scrum, forced Ireland – who had by this time scored two penalties through O’Gara – into another error in front of their posts and Grayson made amends for an earlier miss.The Irishman knocked over two more penalties before half-time thus giving the Irish pairing a psychological edge, if not a tactical one. Richard Hill got a toe to the ball; the sharp-witted Grayson swooped and scooped and then, having drawn the cover, fed Dawson the scoring pass, the Northampton scrum-half running the sharpest of angles. Every critical action, certainly in the first half concerned one or other pairing.The Irish duo, scrum-half Peter Stringer and Ronan O’Gara, just about had the better of their opposite numbers Matt Dawson and Paul Grayson, although the Englishmen were responsible for their team’s only try.That came when the England scrum wheeled and opened up the Irish right for Lawrence Dallaglio to put pressure on Stringer, who was caught in possession. In fact it began as it promised to finish: as a game of four half-backs. It was crush hour at Twickenham between 3 o’clock and 4 o’clock yesterday as the crowds were squeezed through inadequate barriers after security checks and then were left to mill around in a two-way tide of humanity.
But their eagerness to get into the ground was understandable given the passion which was shown by both teams when the match eventually got under way.

More pawns and fewer prawns are guaranteed when Wales turn up.. The planning and preparation that is put into their next game on 20 March will be nothing if not meticulous They will plot every move like chess players. And because of that we lost our momentum, because if we won ball it was slow, or we lost it completely Therefore we had problems with our platform of possession It is a problem that needs to be dealt with I am not going to pass the buck I take full responsibility,” he added. While the defence was not that bad, the line-out was definitely not good; they lost their opening two on their throw. Andy Robinson, Woodward’s assistant who is in charge of the forwards, admitted: “We were outmuscled in the line-out.”Having lost a couple early on we started to rush things, then we missed a couple of calls so the ball went straight over. Ireland have lost to France, while we have a home game against Wales next and then a big match against the French.” The work ahead is daunting. “We wouldn’t change anything in terms of selection and preparation.”We just have to make sure that we learn from this and go forward.

We knew it was going to be a tough game and we are not surprised at all.” But Woodward and his England coaching team are determined that one defeat is not going to make them panic.”It is a championship. “Our line-out was outstanding and our defence was very solid.” So for Ireland the championship beckons; they wind up their programme against Italy and Scotland this month.When Woodward was asked what he thought of Ireland’s chances against Scotland he replied: “Ireland have every chance of beating them.” As for England, Woodward was adamant that he would not have done anything differently. “And,” he admitted, “there were a few shouts when we arrived asking me if I would like a sandwich, but I declined, saying I had already eaten.” In fact the Irish appetite during the match just could not be satisfied. They made it clear from the start that they did not just want the ball, they wanted victory.”Today was one of those days when we deserved to win,” said Ireland coach Eddie O’Sullivan. It is one of the best days of my rugby career.” Before the match O’Driscoll had talked of making the Twickenham fans, “choke on their prawn sandwiches” They certainly did that. They played well, we played poorly.” For Ireland captain Brian O’Driscoll it ended a run of miserable visits to south-west London, the first was four years ago when Ireland lost by a record 50 points to 18, then again two years later, this time a more modest 45-11 drubbing.”Victory today is all the sweeter, because first there was England’s record here, then the fact that they are world champions.

After four and a half years Fortress Twickenham finally let in the siege party and England lost their first Test match at home – a record of 22 consecutive victories – since the defeat against New Zealand in the 1999 World Cup.
As Sir Clive Woodward, the England head coach, said: “We are bitterly disappointed We had to lose eventually It was always going to happen But it’s not nice In fact it is pretty painful I hate losing I hate sitting here talking about losing But Ireland deserved to win. The waiting is over for England and for Ireland. Up front there may well be second chances all round but a fair number will have been put on notice. Already the memories of Sydney are fading; in sport they always do.. But surely the back three will be rejigged and a genuine outside-centre reintroduced. They may well have to re-examine this strategy.It would be surprising to see too many changes to the England team (although Ireland will get even better if they can get Geordan Murphy back as soon as possible). When that happens the odds are always in favour of the defending team, who are looking to intercept or disrupt rather than catch the ball cleanly.