It's hard to beat

The private schools, the national team hype and consistent World Cup failures have all been used as sticks to beat the sport with.

However, judging by social media, it was clear that some of the game's detractors had been won over during Ireland's hammering of England.

One user wrote: "Watching Ireland batter England in anything does something to my soul, man. I don't even like rugby. This is the best day of my life so far."

Another said: "Not even that arsed about rugby but I’d celebrate England losing a throw in so".

Following the win, player of the match Jamison Gibson-Park said: "We were challenged a bit after our first outing against France and it wasn't something we were overly proud of. We saw a bit of that today.

"We're brave and we love to put the ball in space and let the guys on the edge do special things. I don't know whether we've gone way from that a little bit.

"I count myself very lucky to be part of this team and it was unbelievable to be out there with the lads. It was a performance we can be proud of because it's unbelievably difficult to come to Twickenham and do that. We're pretty happy and will share a few beers tonight."