Commentators have described the Ireland women's team's 88-10 defeat at the hands of England in the Women's Six Nations as unacceptable.
It is worse than the 48-0 win over the Ladies in Green in the same game last season, suggesting the gap is widening between the two sides.
The performance attracted its fair share of criticism.
Ireland struggled defensively throughout the match, missing 61 tackles resulting in a poor tackle completion rate of 71 percent. This means that they failed to make a successful intervention one out of every five attempts.
England Women's coach John Mitchell is in the Red Roses squad
England by contrast showed superior skill and execution, making 24 line breaks and 18 clearances while gaining a valuable 1,067 meters out of a total of 1,547 meters carried. The Red Roses took advantage of Ireland's neglect, racking up 14 tries in front of a record crowd of 48,778. Standout performances came from Abbie Dow and Ellie Kildon, who each completed hat-tricks. Megan Jones and Jess Breach also made significant contributions with two tries each.
Keldon in particular was impressed with her athleticism and sharp offensive skills, which posed a constant threat throughout the match. Her ability to penetrate from deep positions was highlighted by a crafty dummy kick that turned defensive play into attack.
Despite the crushing scoreline, Ireland were able to convert a penalty kick that reversed their persistent, if ineffective, efforts, but it was not enough to bring any respectability to the result.
Former Irish women's internationals speak out Virgin Sport They did their best not to put the boot into the Irish side, but this proved to be an almost impossible task given the terrible nature of their defence.
Former Ireland full-back Eimear Considine said: “They will be working really hard on their handling this week. Individually, they will want to make 100 tackles before heading into the Scotland game… That was below the level of any of these girls and they will all think that and I know they will think that.
Fiona Hayes, the former Irish prop and Six Nations winner, was more direct in her assessment of the performance.
“Let's be honest, some of those interventions were absolutely horrific,” Hayes said after the massacre. “If a player can say it won't happen to me next week, I promise I'll do a better job, because sometimes when you're in the heat of battle, you can't change that.”
Jenny Murphy, a former outside linebacker, said a lot of players need to “look in the mirror.”
“Speaking of honesty, a lot of players are going to have to look in the mirror. Some of the best and hardest feedback you get is not from your coach, but from your teammates. If they are a cohesive team that strives for the best, there are certain standards that should be expected.
“I imagine you see some leadership attacking some of these players saying ‘this is what is expected of you.’ This is what you need to work on… and in some areas, it just wasn't good enough.
