The fall of Fortress Twickenham

England 13 Ireland 19: World champions laid low in their own lair after 22-match run

News flash: Fortress Twickenham has been breached. And what news it is. England, the world champions, have lost for the first time at home in 23 matches in an extraordinary run dating back to 1999. That day it was the All Blacks. Yesterday it was the all greens of Ireland. And how they deserved victory in front of 72,000 mostly disbelieving fans.

The Ireland captain, Brian O'Driscoll, had stirred pre-match animosity by promising to undo England in front of their "prawn-eating" faithful. Sir Clive Woodward, the England manager, had scoffed at that remark, but the man they call B.O.D. was true to his word. He might have had better matches, but no better days as this Six Nations success.

In fairness, Woodward took defeat on the chin. "The better side won. We are disappointed with the way we played, but you have to hold your hand up. I am in charge so I take responsibility. We've lost, but I am not going to over-react," he said.

That may be true, but the reaction around the world to this upset will be that England lost more than the match, they shed their cloak of invincibility.

A scrappy first half, shaded 12-10 by Ireland, proved to be a mere dress rehearsal for the main event. England ran out after the break in a fresh set of white jerseys and a change in attitude. Paul Grayson chipped ahead, gathered and the ball found Ben Cohen on the left wing. A season ago the Northampton finisher would have blasted through; these days his confidence appears shot and and he cut inside. Held by the ankle, he made a double movement as he dotted down. Penalty to Ireland. Opportunity and match, lost.

The mistake was compounded minutes later when Girvan Dempsey finished off a full-blooded Irish move in the corner. O'Gara, who had missed from in front early on, split the uprights and England found themselves 19-10 down.

How they missed the galvanising effect of the retired Martin Johnson. Sitting in the BBC studio, the big talisman must have felt like ripping off his collar and tie and tearing into the marauding Irish pack. For up front is where the game was won and lost. Hooker Steve Thompson, who regularly failed to cope with the disruption of his line-out jumpers, was replaced by Mark Regan, who nearly stole in at the corner on the hour.

A Grayson penalty brought England within range at 19-13 with 15 minutes left and for the fly-half a personal milestone; 400 Test points and past Rob Andrew on the all-time England list, second only to the recuperating Jonny Wilkinson.

Now England began to go through the phases. With three minutes left Grayson pumped a penalty into the corner. Lineout won, Grayson chipped into the in-goal area... the ball rolled agonisingly far and the game was lost. Or won, depending on your allegiance.

Was there another match? Oh yes, in Rome, where Italy belied the official Zurich world rankings by upstaging Scotland 20-14 and being good value for the victory. The hosts were winning for only the third time since joining the Six Nations in 2000. Italy are ranked 13th, Scotland eighth, though not too much should be read into statistics. Ask Ireland.