Ireland captain Brian O'Driscoll gave credit to England after the 14-13 Six Nations victory at Croke Park.

"It was a hard game and we'll take a one-point win over England any day," said man-of-the-match O'Driscoll.

"England are a tough team and irrespective of form it's always hard to play against them - we found that to be the case in this game.

"It makes life easier playing against 14," he added, referring to the sin-binning of Phil Vickery and Danny Care.

O'Driscoll scored a try and a drop goal in an outstanding display although he was twice floored in the second half by two heavy tackles.

606: DEBATE Give your reaction to Ireland's win over England

"But the pain is always a little easier to accept with a victory like that," he said with a smile.

"It mightn't have been vintage us, but test matches don't come much harder than that one we just played.

"We really dominated them and put them to the sword when we had the number advantage.

"I let the pack do all the hard yards and soften them up a bit, and then Tomas (O'Leary) popped me a ball.

"I just felt I was going to get under Nick Kennedy and I did. So there wasn't a huge amount to it, I've scored more glamorous ones than that - but they all count."

Ireland coach Declan Kidney gave his backing to fly-half Ronan O'Gara, who missed three penalty attempts and a conversion.

"We left a few points behind us. Nobody knows that more than Ronan," said Kidney.

"But it's like in golf - some days they just rim out. Any day you beat England is a good day, and we're just delighted."

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