I don't think Ireland are in as bad of a place as will be protrayed after this game. They looked flat starting this game and then simply struggled to get a foothold - which is the whole principal of the pressure-territory gameplan. Just look at how ragged England looked against the Saffers, or NZ against England etc., as soon as the game starts slipping away it's so hard to stem the tide. I think England executed this well with a dominant set piece and smart kicking able to keep the pressure on and force mistakes out of a slightly floudering opposition.
I agree there, it was also overly visible due to Sexton-Murray total choking for most part of the game. After about 60 times of playing together, i had expected both players to played far better. In the past, Sexton have alone saved irish from a promised defeat (I remember a certain victory over a poor french side in the end of a poor match).
I thought our front row looked very good in the tight and loose, and the fitness of Genge, George and Sinkler is immense. It will be interesting to see who EJ goes with at loosehead when Mako comes back.
Itoje played his usual game of just being a massive pain in the arse for Ireland, which I think he is kind of given free reign to do. Kruis looked a little rattled and gave away some pretty average penalties but he called the lineout well and hit a lot of rucks, I think Launch was brought on at the right time or could have even come on a bit sooner as he played well.
Lawes stepped up big time at 6 for me. Carried very well, got around the pitch a lot, seemed to be hitting a lot more rucks on both sides of the ball and took a lot of good ball at the lineout. Deserved MoM imo.
Curry and Underhill were a brutal as usual. I was a bit baffled by Ewels coming on with seemingly no idea if he was at 6 or 8 but he played well, as did Earl - though both were a little invisible to me.
Youngs apparently swapped skins with Murray and had a really good game. If he carries on like that then I take back all my doubt in him.
Ford and Farrell played very well together, especially with Manu (who had a great game) straightening up more like a 12 generating a lot of space out the back for Daly and Farrell to distribute from.
Daly looked comfortable at fullback which really surprised me - though that may largely be due to the poor kicking from Murray and Sexton not putting as much pressure on him as they might.
Joseph didn't particularly look out of place on the wing, especially as he wasn't used to drop back much - with Ford doing a lot of that work I believe. I still don't think he should be on the wing but he did well. May is proper class now I think, I don't remember him having a bad game in quite some time - his decision making seems to have improved and he isn't as afraid of contact.
I think this game was a good confidence boost for England which was much needed. I think they need to trim down the penalties a little bit, regardless of how you see the refereeing - you have to adapt and if you are closing out a game you need to be clinical, and adapting on the fly has long been a bit of an achilies heel for this team. Still a lot of improvement to be made but a good performance.