England coach Steve Borthwick hinted Ireland are a level or two above his side right now.

Speaking after the Dublin defeat, he said: “If you look at today’s game, you see two different teams.

"You have seen an Ireland team that has been together such a huge amount of time, nearly 1,200 caps, and an England team that has been building over the last six months, with just over half that number of caps.

“If you watched that at the start of the game, you would be saying you don’t see that difference.

"You see an England team that wants to play aggressively with the ball, wants to move the ball, and we took a step forward in that attack."

England return to Six Nations action next weekend against France.