England Croke in Dublin

"In front of a supercharged home crowd on a dry but blustery day in Dublin, Ireland tore into the white-shirted visitors from the kick-off" So said the BBC website almost 2 years ago to the day. Ireland again entertained the English today and again beat them - so what were the differences.

When the England squad's preparation includes a history lesson, you know that this is no ordinary rugby international.bbc.co.uk

Well, first of all it was held at Croke Park - the home of GAA in Ireland. Contrary to the predictions of a friend of mine this didn't turn out to be the issue it could have. "Rugby is now the most sectarian sport in this country" he proclaimed sagely. He obviously didn't expected to see the crowd politely applauding the British National Anthem. I'm not sure what he did expect - pipe bombs?

The crowd of mainly Irish fans respected the British national anthem "God Save the Queen", and the English flag flew next to a grandstand first built with rubble from the 1916 Easter Rising by Irish nationalists against British rule. Guardian Unlimited

The second difference was that this is an English team with a bit of confidence about them. Two years ago England were a demoralised bunch even before kick off after losing 9 out of their previous 11 games. This year's England team were sitting second in the table after beating Scotland and Italy - there were even whisperings of title contention.

The Irish put on a show of intensity not seen since New Zealand's infamous victory over France in November 2004, and the English were powerless to prevent the green tide that washed over them, leaving few survivors in its wake. World Cup Web

The third difference was that England Coach Andy Robinson has left the building to be replaced by Brian Ashton. Quick note to Mr Ashton - Resting key players, mind games and pretending players 'may' not be fit enough might work for Alex Fergusion. But International Rugby is a very different game from Premiership Soccer. I hope you learned the lesson our players taught. By focusing on one player and turning him into some kind of saviour figure you forget one thing - a team will always beat an individual. Jonny Wilkinson wasn't at his best today, but even if he was Ireland would have won the game.Difference number four. Hmm... struggling now. Ah, of course - the weather. According to that BBC quote at the start it was dry and blustery in 2005. This year it was rainy and still. In this situation a good kicking game is favoured. Luckily for the Irish O'Gara (not always my favourite player) was on fire, scoring 8 kicks out of 8 and totally confusing the English with his range of positional kicks and poor old Jonny W - with the weight of his country upon his shoulders, was overshadowed.

Ireland delivered the performance the occasion demanded on Saturday when they hammered England by a record 43-13 in a momentous Six Nations encounter at Croke Park to reignite their championship ambitions. New Zealand Herald

Finally, the fifth difference between now and 2005. The score. Two years ago Ireland won 19:13 - a handsome enough victory. In 2007 Ireland won 43:13. A record breaking score that will make anyone wearing green well up and choke back a few tears of pride. Congratulations to those English supporters who did themselves proud by singing and cheering throughout a match they never looked like winning - it can't have been easy. The commentator said towards the end of the match "The Irish players are beginning to enjoy this now." Me? I enjoyed every second.