England stay on course for title

But it was a reward built on exhaustive effort and with Ireland emptying themselves, England pressed the buttons on a playbook that should have yielded tries through the first half. I am not having a dig at anyone but I can go out there and play my game, try to impose myself in any way I can.

England’s Jonathan Joseph is tackled just short of the line during the Six Nations worldwide …

Leicester scrum-half Youngs said: “Wales are consistently a good team in this tournament”.

However, in man-of-the-match Vunipola, England boasted a player able to bring some clarity to their play when needed most but how much has Jones’s encouragement that he can be world-class, aided this recent surge in form?

“We felt we were only a couple of phases away from breaking them and the main message at half-time was to be a little bit more patient and physical around the breakdown”.

The gainline is everything in global rugby – certainly the way it is played in the Six Nations – and Vunipola breached it two-thirds of the times he touched the ball.

“From now until next Friday before the Wales game I’m not talking to the media”. Sometimes those things go against you, and sometimes they go for you, and thankfully it went for us. We saw against France they’ve got very big backs, very strong carriers in (Sam) Warburton, Faletau, but also in the 12/13.

Brown scored a try in the 63rd minute of the match against Ireland in the Twickenham on Saturday. Scotland may yet enter the equation (they play in Dublin in round five) but for now Ireland-Italy equals fifth v sixth.

“We’re delighted to get the win”, said Youngs, another of England’s star performers.

England did leak their first try of the championship to Conor Murray when James Haskell was in the sin-bin but overall they coped well with these periods of adversity.

Farrell would this time convert, to hand his side what was now a comprehensive 21-10 advantage with 15 minutes left on the clock.

Ireland were nearly back in it within a minute as a superb Sexton break put Henshaw away in the corner, but Jack Nowell’s last-gasp covering tackle forced the centre into touch within inches of the line.

For all their playing resources and financial muscle, England have not been crowned Six Nations champions since 2011, with their last grand slam coming in their World Cup-winning year of 2003.

England led only 6-3 at half-time – a poor return given their dominance – but were impressive in the second quarter before successfully holding out against a resurgent Ireland on an afternoon that only really came alive after the interval.

“We’ve got a bit of catching up to do over the next two weeks, but we’re at home and we’re looking forward to an almighty game”.

Injury-hit Ireland provided the step up in competition predicted by captain Dylan Hartley and after victories over Scotland and Italy this was the most satisfying result and performance of Eddie Jones’ brief tenure.