Martin Johnson's men were beaten again but the Independent on Sunday's Hugh Godwin insist the signs of progress are there.
"There were seven minutes remaining of a bizarrely unbalanced match, in which England made only 30 tackles, less than a third of their opponents, when Ireland threw to a line-out on the home 22. England were 16-13 ahead, the latest score having been that old reliable, a Jonny Wilkinson drop-goal off the right foot. They had, perhaps crucially, just substituted Danny Care, the scrum-half whose switchback match had been on a significant upswing. The line-out was caught by Paul O'Connell and a huge gap opened at the tail. Tomas O'Leary darted a few metres before passing to Bowe, who bulleted past Wilkinson's inside shoulder and fended off James Haskell and Ugo Monye to score. Ronan O'Gara, on for Jonny Sexton as a steady hand on the No 10 tiller, converted. Though England worked a chance at the other end, Ireland were able to defend a powerful driving maul and the pleadings to the referee by Nick Easter and Steve Borthwick for a penalty for a deliberate collapse or the put-in at the scrum amounted to hopeless begging."
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