Ireland suffocate England to make it ten in a row

They did so on the back of a smart and simple, clean and clinical gameplan executed to consistent effectiveness by the peerless half-back pairing of Jonathan Sexton and Conor Murray. Robbie Henshaw scored the game's only try and once the Connacht centre had touched down, there was only going to be on winner. In fact for the vast majority of the 80 minutes, it looked as though the victors could only be Joe Schmidt's men in green.

Their suffocating superiority in defence was again the bedrock for victory. England scored just nine points which is bang on the money for opponents' average against a Schmidt side in the championship. The Kiwi has been at the helm for eight Six Nations games to date. Ireland have won seven of them, conceding an anaemic five tries and just 72 points. Another water-tight defensive showing in Cardiff in a fortnight and it would be safe to expect the holders to be racing towards a Grand Slam.

For England there was not so many what-ifs as there were where-are-we-really-ats? Stuart Lancaster's side were feted by their national press after two wins from two but some of the lionising would appear to have again been much too premature. Captain Chris Robshaw was ineffective, tired even. Break-out star Jonathan Joseph barely made an imprint on the game. He was far from alone in that.

For Ireland though, the future - both immediate and longer-term - stretches tantalisingly out before them. Totemic skipper Paul O'Connell believes the leaders could be building the best Test side of his lengthy career.

Captain O'Connell has admitted head coach Schmidt could forge a side to surpass even the achievements of the 2009 Grand Slam-winning side that contained greats like Brian O'Driscoll and Ronan O'Gara.

"Yeah, it's close to it," said O'Connell when asked if Ireland now boast the best side of his career. "I think we're doing a lot of things really well. The way we're preparing is a lot different from what we've done in the past in my time here. I just think the game-by-game focus suits Irish teams and Irish people. I'm sure the coaches look at the bigger picture but for us, there will be a fairly brutal review of this game and we'll be put under pressure then to prepare certain things for Wales, and that will be the sole focus of the players.

"And it works well for us, it gets the best out of us. It's creating a brilliant set-up and an exciting set-up to be involved in."

O'Connell racked up his 99th Ireland cap in the one-sided victory, the hosts taking control despite the Munster talisman rating Lancaster's England even more highly than the 2003 World Cup-winning team. O'Connell said once again that he has not yet made a decision on when exactly he will call his Test career quits.

The 35-year-old said he will make that decision around the time of the autumn's World Cup, so that tournament could prove his Test swansong. Admitting he may already have played his last Six Nations match in Dublin, O'Connell said: "It could have been but I don't know yet, I'm undecided.

"I'll probably make the decision soon enough, I really want to play to the World Cup and be in the best shape I can there and see after that. That probably was my last Six Nations game against England in Dublin: there's no point kidding myself too much.

"I'm not trying to make a big deal by not saying anything, I just genuinely haven't decided what to do yet.

"I'm really enjoying playing at the moment in the set-up we have in Ireland, but I'm conscious we have a lot of good second-rows coming through as well.

"The World Cup is a big focus for me to try to go there and be in the best shape I can, and around then will be decision-time for me."

Boss Schmidt has guided Ireland from ninth to third in the world rankings and victory over England leaves only New Zealand to beat for the Kiwi to run the full win card against major Test powers. The former Clermont and Leinster coach admitted he is still not ready to talk openly about a Grand Salm tilt, despite the reigning champions now being odds-on to retain their title.

"I think we've decided we'll park everything for 24 hours, get a bit of recovery and then try to springboard ourselves forward," said Schmidt. "At this stage, probably for once we're going to just enjoy the moment and take a deep breath.

"Control's fickle: it's nice to be in this position in the tournament, without a doubt.

"Even our points-differential is very much aided by the 10-point swing today, because it's a 20-point swing with England, which is potentially pretty important because they've got two home games and could accumulate a few points.

"But they could also put a bit of pressure on in that perspective if we do slip up in either of the next two games.

"Grand Slams don't happen that often, it's pretty hard to get them.

"And it's going to be very hard in the Millennium, Wales have got themselves back into the Championship and the last time they won the Championship, they lost their first game at home and went through to win the tournament.

"So they are no doubt eyeing up something similar this year."