Match Report England VS Ireland

17/03/2008

RBS 6 Nations
Match Report: Saturday 15 March
England 33 Ireland 10

WE CAN FACE ALL BLACKS WITH LOTS OF CONFIDENCE

It's always good to get a win, especially when there was a huge amount of pressure on everyone. And it was good to come out on the right side of it. I think the guys showed a huge amount of character, particularly after going 10-0 down early in the game. We fought our way back into it and it's great to be part of it. But we've been here before and it's about playing at the higher level consistently and for longer periods.

I am very proud of the team, coaches and everyone attached to the England side. And when you take into consideration everything that's happened and gone before us, it's been tough. As far as losing our first game here against Wales, that was pretty deflating. Then three away games on the bounce and then to come back here for the first time since the Wales game against a team which, like ourselves, were very highly motivated and to get the result is good. I'm pretty proud of the boys, that's for sure. I was pretty angry when we went behind and gave the boys a few choice words under the posts. To give them an easy start and to let them through to score like that was pretty frustrating, but the guys showed a huge amount of character and I'm pleased about that. It's been tough on everyone this last few weeks, physically and emotionally.

Getting back to the club and seeing the boys and enjoying playing for Wasps is something that I'm looking forward to. I think Danny (Cipriani), as we all know, has a huge amount of talent. On Saturday he stood up and showed glimpses of what he's capable of. As I've said many times, ultimately the success of this England team will come from competition. Danny certainly stuck his hand up and is going to create a lot of problems when it comes to selection again soon. But he's the new kid on the block and that makes things very easy.

We've got a pretty massive task that lies ahead of us in the summer with two Tests against the All Blacks in New Zealand, so things don't get any easier. I think we can learn a huge amount in the summer and go down there with a great deal of confidence. We can develop this team and develop the way we want to play and enjoy playing the kind of rugby we showed on Saturday. We have shown in glimpses what we we can do and I don’t see any reason if we hit the standards we set on Saturday that we can’t go down there and get the right results.

Cheers, Phil Vickery

PS - you may have also noticed Volcano’s (Gloucester’s Lesley Vainikolo) posh hair do on the day! His braids spelt out Raging Bull – what a guy he is and the fans just love him! Thanks LV!