Ireland’s Jack Conan competes in the air against England’s Freddie Steward. Photo: Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile
Simon Easterby hit the nail on the head in his post-match press conference on Saturday night when he pointed to the strong foundation that had been laid by Ireland’s starting team before the bench came on and secured the priceless bonus point.
It’s easy to analyse the impact of the bench in isolation and overlook the amount of good work that had been done up to that point, especially in terms of tiring out the opposition defence.