"For England's players, though, the past two weekends have been truly grim, a return to the bad old days they had dared to hope were over. Alas, dear reader, we may also have given the impression in these pages before the tournament that England were on the rise. Twelve wins on the spin had certainly encouraged the notion that Steve Borthwick's side were gaining momentum, even if France were still well ahead of them."
"All of which ahem now feels a long, long time ago. At least it has been a timely reminder of how dramatically things can turn if a team are slightly off it or start assuming they have cracked this rugby lark. Or when their opponents opt not to dance to England's preferred tune. As Scotland and now Ireland have underlined, yesterday's crowing rooster can rapidly become tomorrow's feather duster."
"All of which clearly paves the way for England to burst spectacularly into life, thrash both Italy and France away from home and remind their critics they were never too far away. In that event we can formally declare this the most perverse championship of the modern era and throw the trusty old crystal ball into the River Seine on the way home."
England suffered a heavy 42-21 defeat by Ireland at Twickenham, extinguishing immediate Six Nations title hopes. The performance was listless and blank-eyed, undoing momentum from twelve consecutive wins. Earlier unexpected losses by other teams had fostered belief in England's rise, a belief now undermined. The result highlighted how quickly fortunes change when a team is slightly off or opponents refuse to play to their preferred pattern. Scotland and Ireland demonstrated that dominance can turn to humiliation. England can still recover by convincingly beating Italy and France, but failure would confirm a worrying regression.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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