RARELY does tenacity pay off so handsomely. The murmur of the crowd had dulled to a whisper. The sun had fallen behind the Scalp and the late afternoon breeze had promised to bring even more Irish despair as England, geed up by the sideline exhortations of Clive Woodward and Jeff Probyn, began to open the throttle.

Dr Hickey Park had turned from sun crisp to bone chillingly cold and it looked like this young Irish side were going to follow defeats by France and Wales with another, against a visiting team that had no less than seven players regularly turning out for first division Courage League clubs.

With six minutes to go and Ireland 14-27 down, you could have forgiven the odd mum and dad for heading to the bar before the rush. Those who did missed a most spectacular turnaround which transformed a game that was falling away from Ireland into an exhilarating home victory.

The final phase of Irish pressure looked as if it would simply put a better gloss on the scoreline. England had begun to run the ball with some skill and occasional panache, while the excellent Irish tackling of the first half had become increasingly tired and fallible.

On the 74th minute Irish right wing Ryan O'Neil dashed over in the corner after the English defence had held out a number of sweeping offensive moves between the posts and the corner flag.

Lansdowne's Richard Governey, whose kicking had been out of sorts earlier in the match, converted to bring the score to 21-27.

The sniff of an upset then became stronger as Ireland kept up the momentum. The substitution of two props 10 minutes earlier had thrown in the fresh bodies of UCC's Aidan McSweeney and St Mary's Peter Coyle for the overworked Barry McConnell and Lewis Johnston. It was a ploy that certainly helped Ireland to their victory.

Again green shirts desperately massed on the English line and with a front eight which very obviously outweighed and out reached the Irish lads, the English lines held firm. Eighty minutes came and went and still French referee Monsieur Dume did not blow. One minute. Two minutes. Finally fractures appeared.

A five yard scrum to Ireland three minutes into overtime yielded the ball which was plonked into the hands of David Wallace. The Garryowen number eight flamboyantly threw a dummy pass which deceived the entire opposing defence, allowing him to canter in virtually unmolested between the posts. Governey converted and Monsieur Dume tooted for full time.

The Irish had won because of their courage and a selfless workrate spiked with some delicate touches, particularly from the young Ballymena centre Sheldon Coulter.

But it had also come from a first half in which Ireland comprehensively outplayed England and led 14-8 at the break.

Governey landed a penalty, his third attempt, after 12 minutes for an Irish opener. But England responded quickly when a tap penalty handed to flanker Joe Worsley allowed him crash over.

Ireland replied with their best move of the first half.

A lineout 30 metres from the England line was taken by a soaring Leo Cullen and as Ireland bound together and drove there was nothing England could do to stop the momentum. David Wallace finally emerged from the heap with Ireland's first try, for an 8-5 lead.

Rob Hitchmough, who both Bath and Leicester are reputedly chasing, added a penalty to draw the teams level before Governey snatched a well taken drop goal on the 35th minute. The Lansdowne out half then landed his second place kick after England were twice off side right in front of the posts.

England came out after the break with a different attitude. Almost straight away Roy Winters crashed over after a scrum was won against the head 15 metres out.

Just over 10 minutes later Bath prop Chris Horsman muscled in after a lineout on the Irish line. Hitchmough converted and England were 14-20 up.

On the 66th minute Ireland were again caught when a quick tap penalty 10 metres out and close to the sideline was fed to the short side by scrum half John O'Reilly giving substitute Paul Gustard the room to run in. It looked then as if the game was moving away from Ireland.

After Hitchmough converted to make it 14-27, the Irish revival began, and set up that highly charged and emotional finish. The tries by O'Neil and Wallace and Governey's finding of his range wrapped up quite an uplifting afternoon in Wicklow.