Going into the match, Eddie Jones’ men, under his management since the end of 2015, had been unbeaten all of 2015 with a 6 Nations title and a tour win in Australia achieved in 2016.

Ireland, who had form for being the party poopers having denied England grand slams in 2001 and 2011, were roared on by passionate Irish support. Which grew even louder in the first half when Iain Henderson went over for the only try of the match.

A tightly fought match, England struggled to create any match winning opportunities due to the fantastic defending by the Irish. Keeping England at bay and only giving the odd penalty away, meant Owen Farrell scored 9 points all on his own boot.

As the clock ticked on in the second half, England’s chances evaporated, and in doing so, so was the record of going for their 19 successive win. Something Ireland have a habit of doing, when they beat the All Blacks in Chicago last November, when they were on course for the same record.

Afterwards, Ireland’s head coach Joe Schmidt was delighted to see his squad defeat the big teams in the past year. “The bit of pride we can take is the three teams that sit above us in the world we have beaten in the last six months.”

As for Eddie Jones, he was full of platitudes for Ireland in his first defeat as coach of England. “Ireland played really well, I thought we had them after half-time. In the first half we couldn’t get our hands on the ball. They were just too good for us on the day. It happens sometimes.”

Talking about his time so far with England, Jones said he couldn’t be happier with what he is seeing from England. “We’re 14 months into a four year project. We’ve been chuffed with the results we’ve had but realism shows us that we’ve still got a lot to do.”

It completed a double for England at the weekend, as the men were outclassed by the women, who went one better and beat Ireland to go on and complete the grand slam in Donnybrook by winning 34-7.

It was the first time since 2012 that England had lifted the Six Nations title, ahead of the world cup which is also going to be taking place in Ireland.

Afterwards, England captain Sarah Hunter, said: “We have worked for five long years to get that Grand Slam and to get our hands back on the trophy. To be Grand Slam champions is an incredible feeling and we were made to work hard for it.”