Ireland 13 England 9: Iain Henderson’s try and Jonny Sexton’s boot end Eddie Jones’ 18-match unbeaten run and world record tilt

EDDIE JONES had laid it on the line to his England side – this would be the day that brought them greatness or failure.

And with Irish boots pressed down hard on their windpipes, England choked good and proper.

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Their chance to create two monumental pieces of history – back-to-back Grand Slams and an all-time world record of 19 successive international victories – were washed away in a Dublin squall.

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On the basis of their performances in four out of five Six Nations contests this season, England did not deserve to achieve such epochal landmarks.

They simply aren’t as good as all that.

While the scoreline may have been tight here, England barely threatened Ireland’s try-line at any point during 80 humbling minutes as they blew a Grand Slam for the third time in six years.

They trailed at half-time for the fourth time out of five during this Championship and for once they failed to make their strength in depth tell.

This was a first defeat for Jones in 18 matches in charge of England and the work he has done in reviving English confidence after the battering of the 2015 World Cup has been immense.

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But there was a certain justice in England’s failure to scale their twin peaks.

They had not played the world No1 All Blacks, whose all-time record they had equalled and they have not dominated Northern Hemisphere rugby this year – save for one scorching performance against Scotland last weekend.

They erected a stage to hand the Six Nations trophy to England skipper Dylan Hartley but the visitors were in no mood to celebrate.

All the black stuff in Dublin couldn’t have drowned these sorrows.

March 18, the day after St Patrick’s Day, was supposedly a day of collective national hangover for the Irish – but you wouldn’t have known it from the atmosphere at the Aviva Stadium.

They detonated some of the world’s loudest fireworks and belted out national anthems – before a strange five-minute delay to accommodate the over-running of the France vs Wales clash.

Ireland’s No 8 Jamie Heaslip was ruled out through injury in the warm-up but even that didn’t disrupt the hosts.

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While there might have been an eagerness to spoil England’s party, there was a much more selfish desire to rescue a campaign of under-achievement from Joe Schmidt’s side.

Jones had the luxury of recalling two likely Lions in Billy Vunipola and Anthony Watson – and there was plenty of defeatist pre-match talk from the Irish press and public of England’s superior wealth and resources.

But there was no inferiority complex from the boys in green as they set about England from the off, refusing to allow the visitors to get into any sort of rhythm.

Jones had refused to take a backward step in talking up the importance of this fixture – and he was still at it in the minutes before kick-off, billing this as being ‘like a World Cup Final’ for England.

Such cranking up of the pressure was proving counter-productive, as England committed a string of basic errors.

Butter-fingered in possession and lacking clarity in their decision-making, they appeared a completely different team to that which had dismantled Scotland at express-train speed just seven days earlier.

Ireland needed to establish dominance up front to unsettle the English and inspire the home crowd to rattle their eardrums and get inside their heads.

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And their first-half display was almost textbook. Jonny Sexton landed a penalty to open the scoring after Keith Earls had been denied a try by a last-ditch Mike Brown tackle.

And though Owen Farrell levelled while Ireland skipper Rory Best was off having a head injury possessed, Ireland were utterly dominant.

A juddering late tackle from Maro Itoje on Sexton had the boos ringing round the Aviva but the Irish were bristling with controlled aggression.

They forced a line-out close to the England line and drove over for an Iain Henderson try converted by Sexton – with the Fields of Athenry reverberating around the stadium and England visibly wilting.

Ireland were streets ahead of England everywhere except for the scoreboard – where their lead was still only seven points at the break.

However awful had England been, there would have been an awareness on both sides that the strength of Jones’s bench meant that it was still very much ‘game on’.

Mako Vunipola was sent on to add extra South Sea island beef to England’s pack a-and, after an inordinate amount of time to compose his thoughts, Farrell soon kicked England back to within four points.

But the deficit was extending to seven again just after the hour mark. Sexton, bashed from pillar to post from Itoje, was nerveless with his kick from out wide on the halfway line and England were staring down the barrel.

Farrell opted to kick a penalty as the clock ticked down but as England attempted to grind them down in the squally rain, the Irish won a crucial line-out on their own 22 to relieve the pressure.

When Danny Care was penalised for offside, England’s race was as good as run, before a Mike Brown knock on sealed it.

Then came the least exuberant trophy presentation in living memory – as England were handed their medals to the sound of boos and mocking laughter.