It's fair to say that England's win over Ireland in the Six Nations over the weekend has sent quite a few shockwaves around the world of rugby.
Andy Farrell's men were seen as heavy favourites to defeat the English at Twickenham, a result that would have secured the championship and put them on course for a second successive Grand Slam. There were certainly few signs out of Steve Borthwick's men during recent weeks that they were capable of pulling off the upset.
However, they fully deserved to emerge victorious from the fixture. While they depended on a last gasp draw to secure the win, few could argue that they were not the better side.
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Clive Woodward wants credit for England Six Nations win over Ireland
Quite a few teams changed for England during this game in comparison to their earlier performances in the Six Nations. They played with an incredible ferocity and certainly succeeded in knocking a usually unflappable Ireland side well out of kilter.
What was the catalyst for that change? Clive Woodward feels he might have had something to do with it.
Writing for Mail Sport, the 68-year old was quick to point out the similarity in the changes to England's tactical approach and what he suggested they should do in the buildup to the fixture.
I wrote before the match that England had next to no chance of victory and that the game was about being competitive against what, in my view, is the best side in the world...
This will hurt Ireland no end. It will take some coming back from, even if they do go on to win the title. Ahead of this game I wrote that to have any chance against Ireland, England simply had to play with a breakneck speed that would catch their opposition off guard.
They started well. I honestly believe that Borthwick's players had read my pre-match column because they were so quickly out of the blocks...
England counter-attacked impressively. As I had written pre-match, they put the Ireland line-out under pressure. White jumpers got up in the air to put Dan Sheehan's throwing under pressure.
You hear it here first, Clive Woodward is still pulling all the strings in English rugby.
They should throw him on the sideline for the final Six Nations game. After all, it's not as if he has gone 20 years without coaching a team at that level.
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