Matt Dawson column: England’s Ireland loss is gold dust for World Cup

What happened to England against Ireland on Saturday will be gold dust for the future.

It does not get much tougher than going down to 14 men after less than two minutes of play.

Whatever team you are in, whether it is in sport, a school or a business, everyone constantly goes on about team spirit.

Sometimes, you have just got to go to the absolute depths and throw the rule book away. You have to look each other in the eye and recognise that only the players on the pitch are going to win that game. Not the coaches, no-one else, you have got to climb that mountain together.

When Charlie Ewels was sent off for a high tackle, England did that.

The bounceback from England showed character that I have not ever seen from that side.

They are great in the gym, they have got amazing skills and they are super fit but there is something unique about being able to take yourself to a place that you did not realise you could go — not just physically but mentally.

If you want to win big championships or the World Cup, you have to go through those types of scenarios.

Thinking back to England's defeat against South Africa in the 2019 World Cup final, Kyle Sinckler went off injured early and South Africa scored a couple of penalties.

Then England were in trouble and they lost the referee, they lost momentum. They were losing their bearings.

Against Ireland, in a similar moment England's reaction was the complete opposite. They went for a simple, basic gameplan. They had a great kick-chase and a fantastic defence and were just seeing what they could do.

Of course they were a man down against a top-quality side and they ran out of steam, but they were in it for 70 minutes and that change in mentality will stand them in good stead.

I just hope now that