‘We were blown away by the fervour of the Irish. We weren’t ready for it’

A decade on from England’s historic visit to Croke Park their head coach at the time, Brian Ashton, recounts how his players became overawed by the occasionBrian Ashton remembers the sense of foreboding, even now. As an ex-head coach of Ireland he should, theoretically, have been more prepared than most for England’s Six Nations trip to Dublin 10 years ago. Even before the anthems at Croke Park, however, he had a feeling in his bones: “I remember going on the pitch 45 minutes before kick-off. It is very rare for modern stadiums to be full that early but Croke Park was. You could have cut the a…