Phil Vickery has said a lack of leadership was a decisive factor in England's Grand Slam slip against Ireland last Saturday.
Former captain says Ireland "old heads" taught Johnson's youngsters a lesson
Former England captain Phil Vickery has said a lack of leadership was a decisive factor in the Grand Slam slip suffered by Martin Johnson's side against Ireland last Saturday.
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Although England had achieved consecutive RBS Six Nations wins over Wales, Italy, France and Scotland, they fell well short at the Aviva Stadium as Ireland triumphed with a stylish 24-8 win.
Younger England players like Ben Youngs, Toby Flood, Ben Foden and Chris Ashton were praised for their displays earlier in the tournament, but they appeared un-nerved in the face of Brian O'Driscoll's men.
Vickery, who was forced to hang up his boots due to injury earlier this season, told the
BBC: "Ultimately England went to Ireland with the Grand Slam opportunity and failed.
"You look at England bringing in the new breed, but I watched the game at home and in commentary David Wallace was mentioned 1,000 times, and there was Paul O'Connell, Donncha O'Callaghan, Brian O'Driscoll and Ronan O'Gara.
"All those guys are old, wise warriors and it made me laugh because the Irish team were well led and in my mind were sublime through those old heads. They are guys who are big-game players and who taught that England team a lesson on that day.
"England's promise and potential and quality is not in doubt, but they were at their best in the Cardiff game against Wales.
"They had everything to prove, they looked hungry and there was a lot of energy and passion.
"But as the tournament went on the pressure changed with the expectation and talk and they had to perform because that is what was expected.
"I was really disappointed with the half-backs as I felt they faded away when they needed that exuberance. Ben Youngs was a classic case in Ireland, he didn't know what to do and then he did something costly by getting sin-binned."
Upset
Vickery was also less than impressed by the behaviour of the England players when they received the Six Nations trophy after Wales failed to beat France later the same evening.
He added: "The thing that upset me was the piece on the BBC with them receiving the trophy and they were like kids behaving like it did not matter.
"If I had lost a Grand Slam game in Dublin I would have been out on my feet gutted, and it seemed to me that it was not a great advert for them."
