There is always a more redolent smell of discord than there is a bouquet of ingratiation . . . particularly if the Celts are involved. If England were playing against a Dublin Corporation Clampers XV I'd be singing 'Come on ye Clampers'. Some individuals on this England team bring up toxic bile in most Irish supporters. One fella told me that if he saw Matt Dawson walk into Twickenham with Osama Bin Laden and Muhammad Atta and he had two bullets in his gun he would shoot Dawson twice . . . just to make sure.

No need for that . . . most English men that I met late into the night in south-west London were magnanimous and gracious in defeat . . . which is a bad sign if you are English. It is symptomatic of the current English malaise that the tacit acceptance of defeat is accompanied with a sigh and a shrug of the shoulders, the sort of body language which is diametrically opposed to that of the status of World Cup winners . . . you would never see a Kiwi do it. As the dimensions fall off England's game somebody on high will recognise the problem . . . Andy Robinson OBE (Out Before Easter) won't hang on to his job and my money says he goes before England tour this year. It is a pity because if he took England to Croker we'd be guaranteed four in a row.

Having said all that Ireland nearly blew it again. You have to ask the question about Eddie . . . is he lucky or is he just good. 'I should be so lucky, ' sang Kylie . . . it should never have come down to luck against England because Ireland were better all ends up on the teamsheet. Most importantly on the coaching end, Kylie O'Sullivan was streets ahead of Robinson.

The final game had everything . . . dodgy tries and Dallaglio to chalk dust and Chivers jam. Why we had to wait for the 78th minute until sporting nirvana descended?

If we had lost this one there should have been an inquest.

It's history now and Kylie takes the plaudits. In fact it was hard for any of the players to get the trophy from him on the lap of honour. Back seat please Kylie.

As rugby union morphs into a rugby league/American football amalgamate, we get immersed in all these bloody stats after the game. Horace and Geoffrey, two beancounters from SAS, click the number of tackles etc, throughout the game and it appears in the press room in trial-balance form an hour after the game. Stats don't tell us who creates pressure or how one team uses its supplystream of ball or don't gauge the quality and speed of their continuity. In many ways it's utter tosh.

One stat that I did notice though was that there were only 9 scrums in the game.

The number of scrums in an average international test is coming down, lower and lower, every year. Nine is very low. Thanks to Geoffrey and Horace we know that England had 5 put-ins, Ireland had 4.

Each side won their own putin. One fact you have to take into consideration in the game of union is that the 'contest' at scrum time is now nothing of the sort. Every time I played against England they had a far bigger and heavier pack.

The same applied last Saturday week. England's scrum was vastly superior but there is no decisive advantage particularly if there are only 9 scrums.

The politics of the scrum are simple. You disobey whatever the referee says about crouch, hold, engage cause it's just bo**ox anyway.

When you take the step in, if it feels good take your strike. If you feel pressure and a likely surge, drop it into the mud before the scrum-half gets anywhere near with the ball.

Set up again and drop as many times as you want until the referee gets finicky . . . and he will more often blow the more powerful scrum . . . which makes an absurdity of the notion of scrummaging supremacy. It's crap to watch but it has to be done. The Italians have by far the strongest scrum in the championship but it doesn't really get them anywhere.

When was the last time you saw a push-over try. England picked Julian White (Zelig) and Andrew Sheridan who for four pushes on the Irish scrum didn't really justify their existence. Sheridan got his reputation by badgering Al Baxter of Australia who has the scrummaging power of my spinster great aunt . . .

and she's been in a box for 10 years.

Compare the game that John Hayes had last Saturday and this illustrates the gap in ethics. Hayes had a super game last week. He won a line-out ball, he ran 40 yards to cover and catch Jamie Noon. He was pivotal in stopping England's maul and he must have been close to Paul O'Connell on the tackle count. Horace and Geoffrey didn't have O'Connell in the top five tacklers on the pitch which is plain incorrect . . . he is the one with the red hair, Horace.

The game was won up front and as in the two big games that Ireland played in this seasons Six Nations (i. e.

England and France), they only announced themselves 'into the fray' after one steamroller of a maul.

In Paris, Ireland only signalled that they weren't dead in the first half when after 30 minutes they mauled France 50-yards down the field. They were still in the game. In the 15th minute in Twickers, Ireland patiently walked England back 35 yards. It was a benchmark moment. Ireland had their number after that. Why they take 15 and 35 minutes to do it is beyond me, they should do it sooner and more often.

Kylie has said that this team is in transition in terms of personnel and strategy. Don't know about you but I believe everything he says now. Most of you, whose short-term memory wasn't obliterated by alcohol, will vaguely remember that Le Drique threw a pass to Gordon D'Arcy in the 31st minute of the first half. The pass was high and poorly directed. If D'Arcy had caught the pill it would have been the greatest try scored by an Irish team.

Ever. Full stop. Ever.

What went before was the best passage of play which Ireland have put together in generations. Everything from ball presentation to speed to the breakdown to the coldblooded clear out to the brilliance of the change of direction. Permit me if you will, read this quickly.

England got freed at a scrum (the politics of scrum) on 29.15 of the first half. With Denis Leamy just behind his 10-yard line, he made 10, took the tackle and the recycle was quick. D'Arcy got driven two yards over the halfway as the move went left; again the ball wasn't left too long on the deck. The ball went wide right, Ronan O'Gara, Brian O'Driscoll, Geordan Murphy and Shane Horgan no forwards in their way, kept their shape and Horgan cut back in between two tacklers.

He was swept over and O'Driscoll fed from scrumhalf, the pace went up a quaver as Peter Stringer fed O'Gara and then Jerry Flannery going left. Flannery chose contact quick again.

They chose left again.

Stringer, O'Gara and D'Arcy as Ireland gain-lined for the fifth time and ball came quick again. O'Driscoll after being scrum-half at the last breakdown on the right-hand side took the ball at out-half on the left-hand side, England had lost their shape around the breakdown and he cut through a couple of forwards for 10 yards. It was the first recycle that didn't come quickly, mainly because O'Driscoll came onto the ball so quickly and left his support rooted. The ball goes right, naturally, after O'Driscoll had cut back against the grain and Murphy cuts and steps right on the eighth recycle. He doesn't gain-line and the freewheel loses a small bit of momentum but the recycle was quick. They could charge again. It went right again.

Stringer, O'Gara, Horgan, he went to ground after a big gain and recycled quickly.

Leamy went left and made half a yard. O'Connell charged under the sticks . . . gain-line and quick recycle . . . England are porous. O'Gara goes left and takes a good line, his pass to O'Driscoll is also the right line. It is the 11th recycle, it's two on one. Mark Cueto is on O'Driscoll's outside hand but he doesn't affect the pass. The best centre in the world throws a dustbin pass to D'Arcy. Inexplicable. D'Arcy would not have been troubled by the covering Ben Cohen, it could have made the score 155 with England raising the Julian White flag.

If you have the video watch that two minutes . . . it was the best moment of the championship. Whatever about the essentials of stringing continuity together it was incredible that Ireland through 11 phases and always got the ball transferred quickly, after gain-lining to all of their nominated strike runners . . . except for David Wallace. It was a dreadful shame that it wasn't rewarded. It would have been Ireland's try of the century. If they can do that in the summer against the All Blacks, I'm converted.