Saturday's 32-15 Six Nations victory was a record one for Ireland in a test match away to England. Though, the tries which secured the bonus point win were makeup on an Irish performance filled with imperfections.
For 78 minutes, Ireland played against 14 men after Charlie Ewels was rightly sent off by the referee following a head-to-head tackle on James Ryan. The consensus across the English media, as it had been from virtually all watching the game, is the French official made the correct call.
"The subsequent boos aimed at the referee Mathieu Raynal, sadly, further underlined how many casual rugby fans still need educating on head injury avoidance and the manner in which the laws have now been tightened to assist that aim," Robert Kitson writes in The Observer.
In The Telegraph, former referee Nigel Owens says supporters need to reshape how they think about incidents like the Ewels red card.
"People need to start thinking about the bigger picture now," writes the Welshman.
"His (James Ryan) game was finished, his next game is probably finished and we don’t know how he will be in the long run. So stop thinking that a red card early on spoils the game - it hasn’t spoilt the game because it was a great game of rugby, but we have to put player safety first and players have to change this type of behaviour and do away with these type of upright tackles. We saw this with the tackle in the air and tip tackles, and it’s very rare we see them anymore."
12 March 2022; Ireland players celebrate their side's second try, scored by Hugo Keenan, hidden, during the Guinness Six Nations Rugby Championship match between England and Ireland at Twickenham Stadium in London, England. Photo by Brendan Moran/Sportsfile
Writing for The Sunday Times, another Welshman, Stephen Jones, says Raynal was too generous towards England following the red card.
"Referees are only human and it is a human frailty to do well by the team you have denuded and that is exactly what Mr Raynal did – perhaps subconsciously," says Jones.
"But when a team is in strife, when a game it has played without scoring a try or having an attacking shape, and when that team it going to finish either fourth or fifth in the table, to lose a man is also a wonderfully convenient excuse.
"If you took away England’s passion and professionalism, there was no sign that in a match which stayed at 15 aside, they had anything remotely resembling an attack which could have troubled Ireland; Ireland were simply light years ahead with the ball in hand, despite months of broken promises by Eddie Jones and his crew. England have passion, but they are still stuck in a grinding reverse gear."
SEE ALSO: Nigel Owens Opinion Puts To Bed Eddie Jones' Complaints About Irish Scrum
SEE ALSO: Jonny Wilkinson Believes Early England Red Card May Have Actually 'Rattled' Ireland
Despite the record defeat, knives which were being sharpened for Eddie Jones have been sheathed, for the moment.
"As far as defeats go, this will be remembered as one of England's best," Nik Simon writes in the Mail on Sunday.
"What could have become a disastrous day in the 'New England' project in fact provided a foundation stone in their journey towards the World Cup."
Also in the Mail on Sunday, former England head coach Clive Woodward added: "I'm not a big fan of smiling through defeat but this was a defeat that left me more positive and upbeat about England than in a good while."
In the same paper, former England international fullback Mike Brown is also positive about the future under Eddie Jones.
"I was part of the England side that crashed out of our home World Cup in the pool stages in 2015," he says.
"The pain of that disappointment was unbelievable but we used that as motivation to win a Grand Slam the next year.
"There's no reason why we can't see this England team produce a similar turnaround from this year's Six Nations and go on to win the next World Cup. I firmly believe Eddie Jones' men are on the right path for France next year."
Finally, in The Telegraph, Ian McGeechan says: "If we learnt much about England, this match also confirmed what we suspected about Andy Farrell’s Ireland. In short, they are a really impressive team who are among the very best in the world at the moment.
"Although they bent under the ceaseless pressure of the English onslaught, they didn’t break. That tells you all you need to know about their quality as players but also their character."
Featured image: 12 March 2022; Ireland players celebrate their side's fourth try, scored by Finlay Bealham, during the Guinness Six Nations Rugby Championship match between England and Ireland at Twickenham Stadium in London, England. Photo by Brendan Moran/Sportsfile
See Also: Eddie O'Sullivan Tore Into Ireland's Performance Despite Bonus Point England Win
