Dallaglio tries to break clear.

By Andrew Baldock, PA Sport Rugby Union Correspondent

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The green shirts of Ireland did jigs of joy all over Twickenham today after pulling off one of the biggest shocks in professional rugby.

England head coach Clive Woodward was forced to watch in anguish and disbelief as Ireland beat the world champions for only the second time in 22 years at rugby HQ.

Ronan O'Gara kicked 14 points and full-back Girvan Dempsey scored a second-half try as the plucky Irish punched great holes in England's haul of rugby records in a scrappy and frantic RBS 6 Nations encounter.

It was England's first defeat in 23 games at Twickenham, their first since 1997 in the home nations championship and the first in 11 games in all competitions.

It means Woodward's grand plan of a Grand Slam to go with the World Cup lies in tatters.

But this was no fluke. Woodward had predicted his side were in for a "real test" while Irish captain Brian O'Driscoll had said mischievously: "Hopefully we can give the prawn sandwich brigade at Twickenham something to choke on."

If that was designed to rattle the England cage then it worked to perfection because while the Irish were magnificent England's game was full of uncharacteristic errors.

They were a pale shadow of the team which carried off the Webb Ellis trophy just three months ago.

The afternoon had started well enough; the crowd welcoming England in their first competitive match at Twickenham since the World Cup with a wonderful ovation for centre Will Greenwood who led out the side to mark his 50th cap.

And, with the Twickenham museum doing a roaring trade in World Cup memorabilia, everything seemed set for a homecoming party.

But England had not reckoned with Ireland, who came out from the kick-off with pride and passion pumping in their green shirts.

So much so that England barely stepped out of their own half for fully 20 minutes and it has been the best part of a decade since that happened at Twickenham.

As it was Ronan O'Gara, after hitting the post with his first effort, eventually got the scoreboard ticking after 16 minutes, slotting over a penalty from out wide when England deliberately hauled down a maul. Another followed shortly after and it was clear this was a day England needed leadership.

New captain Lawrence Dallaglio appeared to supply that in the 25th minute, his persistent pressure at the base of the scrum putting Irish scrum-half Peter Stringer in all sorts of bother.

Grayson swooped to pick up the loose ball and scampered away before finding Northampton team-mate Dawson outside him with a precision pass which allowed the feisty scrum-half to race behind the England posts.

Grayson added the conversion and we waited for England to assume control. But this Irish side is made of stern stuff. It proved that at the World Cup, losing by the narrowest of margins to Australia in the quarter-finals.

And they came back, matching England's power with a green tide of determination which only exposed the fragility in Woodward's side.

Eleven of this England side played in the World Cup final three months ago but how England were missing their retired captain Martin Johnson.

If Johnson had been playing today, instead of treating BBC viewers to his pearls of wisdom, then you can be sure there would have been some choice words flying around England's pack.

Bath's Steve Borthwick applied himself well enough in the line-out which is his speciality but the rest of his game is a pale shadow when set against the fire of Johnson and the injured Danny Grewcock.

Ben Kay gave away too many penalties and while Richard Hill was as ubiquitous as ever there was a strange flatness to England's forward challenge.

And while Grayson notched another penalty to overtake Rob Andrew's 396 to become second in the all-time list of England points scorers there was a distinct lack of incision about England's play.

It was no surprise when O'Gara cashed in on England's indiscipline, slotting over two penalties, one in injury-time, to send Ireland in at the interval with a 12-10 lead.

It is a long time since England have been so inept in 40 minutes of rugby.

And they had clearly felt the wrath of Woodward at half-time because they almost scored within seconds of the restart after a fabulous piece of Grayson invention when he gathered his own kick and set in motion the three-quarter line for Ben Cohen to cross the line, only for Stringer to make a fabulous last-ditch tackle and the video official was right to rule there had been a double movement.

The crowd sensed rejuvenation of home fortunes but Ireland had other ideas and in the 50th minute, after another bulldozing run from Gordon D'Arcy they produced a trademark sweeping move.

The ball flew across the Irish threequarters, a 30-yard pass from O'Driscoll finding Tyrone Howe who fed full-back Girvan Dempsey to slide in at the corner despite the attentions of Cohen. A brilliant touchline conversion from O'Gara and it was 19-10 and England's formidable record was in serious jeopardy.

So much so that Chris Jones and James Simpson-Daniel replaced the ineffective Joe Worsley and the dismal Iain Balshaw and pretty soon Bath's Olly Barclay was thrown into the fray for the injured Grayson.

True, England came within a whisker again on the hour when Mark Regan, who had replaced Steve Thompson, worked a blind side move and appeared to have got the touchdown until the video replay revealed another fabulous and timely tackle by Irish lock Malcolm O'Kelly had forced him into touch.

But when another Grayson penalty reduced the arrears to six points everything was set up for a frantic finale.

It was just that and while England will complain about the fussiness of New Zealand referee Paul Honiss they had only themselves to blame on what was a seismic day for the visitors.

This was a day for the Irish - and they deserved every eulogy which came their way.

Teams:

England: Balshaw, Lewsey, Robinson, Greenwood, Cohen, Grayson, Dawson, Woodman, Thompson, Vickery, Borthwick, Kay, Worsley, Hill, Dallaglio.

Replacements: Simpson-Daniel for Balshaw (52), Barkley for Grayson (58), Regan for Thompson (58), Jones for Worsley (52).

Not Used: Stevens, Back, Gomarsall.

Tries: Dawson.

Cons: Grayson.

Pens: Grayson 2.

Ireland: Dempsey, S. Horgan, O'Driscoll, D'arcy, Howe, O'Gara, Stringer, Corrigan, Byrne, Hayes, O'Kelly, O'Connell, S. Easterby, Gleeson, Foley.

Replacements: Maggs for Dempsey (60).

Not Used: Sheahan, Best, Longwell, Costello, G. Easterby, Humphreys.

Tries: Dempsey.

Cons: O'Gara.

Pens: O'Gara 4.

Att: 72,000

Ref: Paul Honiss (New Zealand).