Tim England fan

Alive alive-o, Ireland's Grand Slam hopes; dead as a dodo, a respectable 6N for England. After the interminable anthems/intros and correct alignment on the red carpets, a strangely muted game.

England dominated possession, and just edged the set piece, but thrust, flair and imagination were missing. Ireland stood off, just did enough and when England did gain momentum they failed to adapt to the refereeing of the breakdown...again...and got punished by Ireland either territorially or in points.

An improved performance from Robinson's men up front, but still lacking any confidence in possession; Ireland failed to produce the expected passion, but were calm after an unexpected try from Corry which appeared to owe something to gridiron.

The men in green weathered a number of storms relatively comfortably, though looked to have been fortunate to have not conceded a try to Cueto from a cute cross kick from Hodgson (touch judge call surely?)...and O'Driscoll took their only chance of the second half very well, aided by some average defence.

England huffed and puffed, and threw everything into the last 10 minutes, but lacked composure and direction in the face of indomitable and smart defence.

Positives for England - good effort in the tight from Stevens, Moody's energy and skill, and more good performances from Lewsey and Corry. Hodgson slotted a great penalty, but the rest of his game was not commanding enough. However, we are short of flair, dash, direction, and frankly�Orcs!

Onward Ireland to potential glory, and good luck to them; their time approaches.

Adi Scotland fan

A win is a win!! Possibly the worst game of professional rugby I have ever seen. But it's the result that counts, or so Scotland fans have being telling themselves.

Sean Lamont's disallowed try would have been a deserved reward for an excellent performance and Lamont could be an outside bet for a Lions berth.

Dan Parks did quite well in his limited kicking role and also managed to pass the Daz doorstep challenge, amazingly coming off the muddy wet pitch after 75 minutes in a bright white shirt. One comic spectator commented that there were dirtier shirts in the crowd.

As for the funniest part of the weekend, the Sweet Chariot limping out of Dublin Airport. About time she was put in for a service, what do you say Cheeky One?!?!

Here's looking forward to the clash at Murrayfield with an excellent Welsh side. With the pressure off the Scotland players and coaching staff after Saturdays win, can we beat Wales? No, I don't think so either!!

Milligan Ireland fan

In an indirect and somewhat unintentional tribute to the recently deceased legendary sportswriter Hunter S Thompson, this piece is being delivered late after not so much a lost weekend, but certainly a lengthier one than was originally intended.

I doubt though if I'm the first, last or only exiled Irishman to get carried away with the tremendous craic that is to be had on such a rugby weekend in Dublin.

Now I haven't had the pleasure as yet of reading the bon mots penned by rugby's resident comedians, messrs Ackford and Jones, but I can certainly imagine there were some fantastically amusing and erudite observations written over the last day or two.

England played some of their best rugby of the championship to date I thought, yet were denied by the mean green machine.

A peach of a try, some Trojan defending and a wee rub of the green, was sufficient to send us on our way.

And we're not firing on all cylinders yet by a long shot which I find quite heartening.

We have proved in nearly every game this season that we know how to win without playing our best, and that's new territory for Irish rugby, certainly to do so consistently, it is.

So for now we'll regroup, tend our wounds, recover, relax and mentally prepare for the visit of Les Bleus.

I hope the squad do likewise.

Cynffig Wales fan

Matches against the French always seem to bring out the best in Welsh supporters. Who can forget the early nineties when the French fielded a second rower called Condom, whilst Wales had Jonathan Davies in their side. This inevitably led to a Welsh fan parading around the Parc des Princes with a placard reading "Our Jonny is better than your Condom"!

As to Saturday's scintillating match, was this the greatest comeback since Lazarus? For sheer guts, determination, character and unshakable self-belief, I've literally not seen anything better from a Wales team in the last 50 years.

After a so-so start to the Championship it was good to see Stephen Jones come through so well, and Martyn Williams arguably outplayed Serge Betsen, allegedly the world's best openside.

But Wales dare not underestimate Scotland. Some of us can just about remember John Gwilliam's Triple Crown side going to Murrayfield in 1951, and receiving a 44-nil hammering. Beware the Ides of March!

It must surely be good for Wales' chances in the Championship that Ireland beat England, because if there were a decider at Cardiff, there would be an equal burden of expectancy and Ireland would be less inclined to play their spoiling game.

So well done Mike Ruddock and team, and it's nice to see omnipresent Aussie skills coach Scott Johnson's devotion to the Welsh cause being rewarded at long last.