It would be premature to get carried away by England’s performance, to believe that a corner in the national team’s fortunes has been turned or, more significantly, that this defeat of Ireland marks the beginning of a new era. New Zealand in June will provide the true yardstick.

Brian Ashton would argue, though, that this is a reflection of the true England, with the quality that the head coach has talked about for so long but has found so elusive at last being unlocked, yielding a position from which the team can go forward towards a glorious future. The victory, their first over Ireland since 2003, put them second in the final RBS Six Nations Championship table.

There was a sense, however, that the arrival of Danny Cipriani did signal the start of something special, a potentially seismic shift in the English psyche. England were at pains on

Saturday evening to divert all the focus from Cipriani and, as Ashton said, to concentrate on what the head coach regarded as the most complete team performance he had witnessed for some years. But occasionally you just have to put your hands up and

salute a wondrous natural talent and admire the composure and maturity the fly half brought to his first full international. Cipriani was the key, a fact that cannot be ignored.

There were some caveats. How poor were Ireland, for instance, especially their ponderous midfield, which invited any number of line breaks, and how will Cipriani respond, as Phil

Vickery alluded to, when opponents start taking him seriously? Probably in his considerable stride. In an instant he has helped to put a smile back on the face of English rugby.

Cipriani could not have done so without the forwards’ effort, as he remarked with trademark bluntness afterwards, but how often have we remarked on England’s failure to build on the muscular platform the pack routinely provides?

Cipriani was precise and clinical in his game management. He tried nothing outlandish and only on a rare occasion made a break. Seven successful kicks at goal from seven attempts for 18 points were the bald statistics. There were also raking touch kicks and a subtlety and range of passing that brought the best out of those around him, not least Jamie Noon, the cement in defence, who revelled in the space.

After the nadir of Edinburgh the previous weekend, England were not perfect. Doubts remain about the Lesley Vainikolo experiment and Iain Balshaw’s reliability at full back, as well as Richard Wigglesworth’s claims at scrum half. The question lingers, too, as to why it takes an awful display and a heap of criticism for England to stir themselves. It is the lack of consistency that remains so puzzling.

That turns the spotlight on what a coach brings and the suspicion remains that what is missing among the England squad is a sense of fear and, at least in some, a lack of respect for Ashton, who admitted that the championship had been “one big missed opportunity”.

As for Jonny Wilkinson, he appeared to the acclaim of the crowd after 52 minutes at inside centre for Toby Flood and seemed comfortable. Although he will be determined to prove that he can be the first-choice fly half — and Ashton predicted a “battle royal” for the position, with the challenge coming not only from Wilkinson — Cipriani will take some shifting. “I don’t think there’s any danger whatsoever of Danny getting too big for his twinkling feet,” Ashton said. “He’s got this maverick instinct and I think you saw that in pretty large doses. The good part of being a maverick is he has the skills and the mental strength to back it up.”

Cipriani said that he woke at 4am on the day of the match. “I’d thought about that game in my head millions of times; it was just a dream to be there,” he said. “It’s crucial that you are vocal. I’ve been given the job of playing fly half for England, I can’t come in quietly. I know some people say I’m confident, arrogant, but I have to do a job. If I go about it half-heartedly then it’s not going to work.”

There was no panic when Ireland sprang into a ten-point lead with a converted try from Rob Kearney and a penalty goal by Ronan O’Gara within seven minutes. That, though, was to be their lot as the England pack exerted control and Ireland wilted under the pressure. Although the scoreline remained close until half-time, there was an inevitability about the outcome even then. Ireland had their share of possession and territory but could make little use of it, despite O’Gara’s best efforts, before the fly half, too, subsided.

Ireland missed Brian O’Driscoll’s defensive organisation and they could have done worse than to move Luke Fitzgerald to centre when the Leinster back replaced Geordan Murphy, who had a recurrence of an Achilles injury. Shane Horgan and Andrew Trimble were too similar at centre and bashed aimlessly into midfield.

Cipriani started booming his kicks and landing the first of his four penalty goals before Paul Sackey crossed for the opening try, a precise attack with the ball passing from Cipriani to Balshaw en route to the London Wasps wing. Noon should have made more of Cipriani’s sweet hands when, having cut an angle, he ignored men outside him.

Mathew Tait, a replacement for Sackey, scooted past Kearney for England’s second try. For the conversion, Cipriani had the nonchalance to replace the ball twice after it had blown over and then pop it through, despite falling over during the kick. Noon then earned his just rewards when Cipriani put him away, the former’s strength carrying him over.

Scorers: England: Tries: Sackey (18min), Tait (56), Noon (73). Conversions: Cipriani 3. Penalty goals: Cipriani 4 (12, 28, 44, 73). Ireland: Try: Kearney (4). Conversion: O’Gara. Penalty goal: O’Gara (7).

Scoring sequence (England first): 0-7, 0-10, 3-10, 10-10, 13-10 (half-time), 16-10, 23-10, 30-10, 33-10.

England: I Balshaw (Gloucester); P Sackey (London Wasps, rep: M Tait, Newcastle Falcons, 47-57, 64), J Noon (Newcastle Falcons), T Flood (Newcastle Falcons, rep: J Wilkinson, Newcastle Falcons, 52), L Vainikolo (Gloucester); D Cipriani (London Wasps), R Wigglesworth (Sale Sharks, rep: P Hodgson, London Irish, 74); A Sheridan (Sale Sharks), L Mears (Bath, rep: G Chuter, Leicester, 75), P Vickery (London Wasps, rep: M Stevens, Bath 60), S Shaw (London Wasps, rep: B Kay, Leicester, 60), S Borthwick (Bath), T Croft (Leicester), M Lipman (Bath, rep: J Haskell, London Wasps, 64), N Easter (Harlequins).

Ireland: G Murphy (Leicester, rep: L Fitzgerald, Leinster 36); T Bowe (Ulster), A Trimble (Ulster), S Horgan (Leinster, rep: P Wallace, Ulster, 76), R Kearney (Leinster); R O’Gara (Munster), E Reddan (London Wasps, rep: P Stringer, Munster, 70); M Horan (Munster, rep: T Buckley, Munster, 66), R Best (Ulster, rep: B Jackman, Leinster, 70), J Hayes (Munster), D O’Callaghan (Munster), P O’Connell (Munster), D Leamy (Munster, rep: S Easterby, Llanelli Scarlets, 11), D Wallace (Munster, rep: M O’Driscoll, Munster, 66), J Heaslip (Leinster).

Referee: S Dickinson (Australia).

Attendance: 82,000.