England's Henry Pollock tackles Ireland's Caelan Doris during the Six Nations match at the Allianz stadium, Twickenham in London. Photo. Adam Davy/PA Wire.

England’s Henry Pollock tackles Ireland’s Caelan Doris during the Six Nations match at the Allianz stadium, Twickenham in London. Photo. Adam Davy/PA Wire.

England’s tenuous hopes of contending for a Six Nations title were washed away comprehensively on Saturday at the Allianz Stadium. The record home defeat by Ireland leaves England with one Grand Slam since 2003, and a last title win in 2020.

The current group of players are not responsible for that history, but they are bound up in it. Perhaps this is why the post-match reaction of fans was extreme as they trailed away from the game. Words like “pathetic” and “embarrassing” were theirs, not mine, but coming from paying customers means they cannot be blithely dismissed.