A rampant England surged to the top of the Zurich World Rankings after racking up six tries in a 45-11 win over Ireland at Twickenham in the Lloyds TSB Six Nations Championship.
A lightning and mesmerising first half showing ensured that this game was over as a contest after 40 minutes, with tries from Jonny Wilkinson, Ben Cohen, Will Greenwood and Joe Worsley being added to in the last period by Ben Kay and a second for Greenwood.
Ireland could only manage one try from replacement fly-half Ronan O'Gara on an afternoon when they were completely outclassed for early portions, although it would be hard to single out one area of the team for special criticism on a day when England went as close to perfection in the first half, as Twickenham has ever seen
A 16-point win was all that was required for England to surpass New Zealand into the rankings' top spot -- one small step for a team, one giant leap for the northern hemisphere game.
Bright sunshine and a calm climate made sure that all the ingredients were there for both sides to play running rugby, and get the ball out wide they did, Jason Robinson troubling the Irish defence as early as the first minute as he showed frightening pace and movement down the left wing.
Greenwood and Wilkinson showed glimpses of spark early on too, but not even the most optimistic of England fans could have predicted the Blitzkrieg 40 minute spell which was to follow from the men in white.
David Humphreys put Ireland in front after eight minutes with a penalty from 25 metres, but the visitors were only in the lead for three minutes, Wilkinson levelling the scores with a penalty himself soon after.
The Irish cause had been dealt a blow when livewire wing Geordan Murphy limped from the pitch after a nasty twist in the tackle saw his knee and ankle come under considerable strain, Ireland forced to bring on centre Rob Henderson to replace him -- and paying for the lack of pace out wide.
England prop Graham Rowntree also left the field early, with Jason Leonard coming on to witness four tries in the space of 20 minutes, the first coming after Humphreys had missed a penalty for the Irish, and Ben Cohen had fallen just short of the tryline for England.
Twickenham erupted with noise on 22 minutes when Ben Kay swung a superb long pass out to hooker Steve Thompson on the left, with the Northampton man standing-up Humphreys before sensibly releasing an inside ball to Wilkinson on the diagonal for a run-in under the posts, and an easy conversion for the Newcastle No.10.
The feat was topped two minutes later with what must already be a hot contender for the try of the Championship award, Ben Cohen finishing off a superb length of the field move.
It started in the England 22 with Healey and Robinson getting the ball out wide quickly, before Kyran Bracken broke through the Irish midfield round halfway.
The Saracens scrum-half found Mike Tindall on the diagonal, who had the presence of mind to lay the ball off well in the tackle for Hill, who found Joe Worsley at pace, the Wasps man putting in Cohen near the right corner for one of the greatest tries ever seen at the famous stadium, Wilkinson adding the extras.
Humphreys struck back with a penalty for Ireland as they continued to be blasted off the park by rampant England, Stringer ensuring a supply decent ball for Ireland, but their back-row struggling to compete on the back foot.
England were by no means done for the half though, and Will Grenwood grabbed their third after Wilkinson went down the blindside, standing up the flat-footed Irish tacklers before finding Cohen, who calmly threw a short inside ball to Greenwood on the burst, with Stringer and Dempsey in no-mans' land, Wilkinson again adding the extras for a 24-6 lead.
With no sign of the white machine slowing down, Wilkinson showed great vision in a static midfield by chipping over the heads of the flat Irish defensive line, picking out Healey with perfect execution, the Leicester wing breaking two tackles before being held up over the line by Ireland wing Denis Hickie, who showed great skill in the tackle to prevent the try.
The stunned Irish could not stem the tide for long though, and No.8 Joe Worsley rounded off one of the finest halves of rugby ever seen on their home ground, when he dived in at the left corner for a try.
It was good work by hooker Steve Thompson from a short lineout which made the gap, Worsley going over the tryline under the tackle of Kevin Maggs, but having to wait all of four minutes for video referee Didier Mene to finally give the green light, Wilkinson again converting for an emphatic 31-6 half-time lead.
England roared out of the blocks as the second half got underway, and they compounded Irish woes when Ben Kay powered over the tryline after an inside ball from Jonny Wilkinson for a try, surging through the attempted tackle of David Humphreys, who had been forced into playing as a makeshift winger due to the half-time departure of replacement Rob Henderson- Ronan O'Gara coming on to assume duties at fly-half.
Ireland were gradually having more of a say in proceedings as Shane Byrne came on at hooker for Frankie Sheahan, Brian O'Driscoll getting more of a run with the ball in loose play, but still being hampered by an English defence very much playing on the front foot in their own half.
It was England who got the next try though, when a timely half-break from Wilkinson gave him a chance to lob a basketball-style chest pass out of the tackle to Austin Healey at pace.
With a 2-on-1, Healey drew Irish fullback Dempsey and put in Greenwood on his right for the unopposed run-in to the posts, with Wilkinson converting to seal his perfect record for the day as his side steamed into a 45-6 lead.
Ireland did show creditable character as the game entered the last quarter, and the way in which Eddie O'Sullivan's side dominated the last periods of play show that their commitment at least, cannot be questioned.
Indeed, Ireland were rewarded for their increasing momentum when a run from David Wallace in the 22 saw a ruck set up under the posts, from which Peter Stringer whipped the ball out left to O'Gara from five metres, the Munster fly-half dropping a sidestep before dancing out of Wilkinson's attempted tackle for the try, Humphreys drifting the conversion wide from left of the posts.
England then went down a gear, to the frustration of the management, but Clive Woodward's decision to withdraw captain Martin Johnson, Richard Hill and Austin Healey on 63 minutes took considerable spring away from the English step, as Danny Grewcock, Lewis Moody and Iain Balshaw made their cameos.
The rest of the game was spent by and large in the England half, Malcolm O'Kelly coming on from the Irish bench to dominate the lineout, and Denis Hickie once again showing that he was by far the best green-shirted player on the pitch with a string of diagonal runs and solid tackles.
The pace of the final exchanges was considerably slower than the lightning first 40, and proceedings petered out to a predictable but frustrating lull, on a day which will be talked about for years among those who were there.
For Ireland, scant reward can be claimed for their final surges, given the leaky and stagnant 60 minutes which preceded it, although it is hard to argue that many defences -- if any -- on the planet could have contained England in that sort of form.
So the English finally break the southern hemisphere stranglehold on the Zurich World Rankings. Their form over the last two years has certainly merited it, whatever the arguments might be about World Cup performances and their record below the equator.
Can they capitalise on their No.1 spot? Who knows? But they could have hardly asked for a tougher assignment to do so, a trip to Paris in two weeks' time.
Ireland have a home date with last season's Grand Slam dream destroyers Scotland, but it is hard to look past this England team as the benchmark of the northern hemisphere game, on a day when they showed that they are finally the top dogs in the global game -- for the short term at least.
Man of the match: Jonny Wilkinson
The England fly-half had arguably his best 40 minutes of rugby in a memorable first half, mixing his usual solid kicking with a running game given added vigour and sharpness. His decision-making was divine early on, although some missed touch kicks in the second half blotted the copybook a little. Ben Kay in the England second-row is unlucky not to get our award, but Wilkinson's seven kicks from seven attempts seals it. Sole contender from a well-beaten Ireland team has to be wing Denis Hickie, who saved one try with a magnificent tackle on Healey, and tried to inject some pace to the attack when the rest of his team were content to be on the back foot.
Moment of the match: Ben Cohen's try
24 minutes into the second half, England found themselves with the ball in their own 22, but adventurously chose to run instead of clear their lines, Healey and Robinson taking the ball down the left wing past the Irish defensive line. Bracken picked it up in midfield and ran forwards, before offloading to Mike Tindall on a left to right diagonal. Tindall was tackled ten metres from the line, but threw a perfect pass from the contact area to Richard Hill, who found Joe Worsley, the Wasps back-rower passing to Cohen for an easy run-in, but a remarkable length of the field score which will grace the highlights reels for years to come.
Villain of the match: Clive Woodward
Hard to criticise a man whose side have just reached the summit of the Zurich World Rankings, but the England manager's decision to remove Martin Johnson, Richard Hill and Austin Healey took the spark out of a second half which could have seen a record win for the home side. A sensible injury-saving move it may have been, but a frustrating one nonetheless. The fact that our criteria for the "villain" award is so picky, shows what a largely well-tempered and officiated game this was.
The teams:
England: 1 Graham Rowntree, 2 Steve Thompson, 3 Phil Vickery, 4 Ben Kay, 5 Martin Johnson (c), 6 Neil Back, 7 Richard Hill, 8 Joe Worsley, 9 Kyran Bracken, 10 Jonny Wilkinson, 11 Austin Healey, 12 Will Greenwood, 13 Mike Tindall, 14 Ben Cohen, 15 Jason Robinson
Reserves: Danny Grewcock, Jason Leonard, Iain Balshaw, Nick Duncombe, Charlie Hodgson, Lewis Moody
Unused: Dorian West
Ireland: 1 Peter Clohessy, 2 Frankie Sheahan, 3 John Hayes, 4 Mick Galwey (c), 5 Malcolm O'Kelly, 6 Eric Miller, 7 David Wallace, 8 Anthony Foley, 9 Peter Stringer, 10 David Humphreys, 11 Denis Hickie, 12 Brian O'Driscoll, 13 Kevin Maggs, 14 Geordan Murphy, 15 Girvan Dempsey
Reserves: Shane Byrne, Simon Easterby, Rob Henderson, Gary Longwell, Paul Wallace, Ronan O'Gara
Unused: Simon Easterby
Referee: Marshall p.
Points Scorers
England
Tries: Kay B.J. 1, Greenwood W.J.H. 2, Worsley J.P.R. 1, Cohen B.C. 1, Wilkinson J.P. 1
Conv: Wilkinson J.P. 6
Pen K.: Wilkinson J.P. 1
Ireland
Tries: Humphreys D.G. 2
Pen K.: O'Gara R.J.R. 1
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