When things are not going well for a team, players are constantly reminding each other that they are not as bad as everyone says they are.

The truth is you are usually somewhere in the middle. Even in games where it looks like you have lost comprehensively, there are always a few moments where you think 'if only this one thing had happened', the entire game could have been a different story.

That is where Ireland were before last weekend, and against England on Saturday they got the fine margins right.

They imposed themselves on the game early with a couple of turnovers, and each one injected another layer of confidence into the side.

What we saw was a complete performance, in which a lot of the things they had worked on came together.

They had good turnovers, they were solid at the set-piece and they took their chances.

Even before Keith Earls' try there were a few early moments that made you think Ireland were really going to turn up.

England had a maul after 15 minutes and made a little bit of ground, but Ireland's line speed off that was outstanding. George Ford got the ball and was swallowed up by Robbie Henshaw as Ireland won a turnover. In that moment, you saw the intent they had arrived with.

There were big moments at every turn, and a few of them spoke of a bigger picture. In the second half Ireland won a penalty off an England scrum, and Tadhg Furlong's celebration told its own story.

England opted for the scrum there because they felt they could get the penalty and get themselves some field position at a time where they badly needed territory.

For Ireland to turn that around and kick three more points to take their lead to 26-6. You knew in that moment they were not going to get beaten.

People will look back and say England were not at the races, but there were a few moments where they threatened to get back into it and that for me was one of the big positives.

Every time England threatened a purple patch, Ireland slammed the door shut.

Outstanding Sexton drowns out the noise

Saturday was one of those games where you could pick any Ireland player and point out two or three things they did really well.

One player who deserves a special mention, because he is quick to find himself in the spotlight when Ireland underperform, is Johnny Sexton.

I have never seen a player with a camera on him so much during a game, because he is the person that fans and pundits love to scrutinise above all others.

Being an international captain takes a lot of getting used to.

The more games you play, the more comfortable you become in the role. You get comfortable trusting the people around you, and that takes some time because they aren't people you see every day.

The next squad will have some different faces, and as a captain you have to become comfortable in that unpredictable environment.

Johnny has been outstanding. Even against Wales when they went down to 14 men it was his composure that helped them stay in the game, and it was that composure that was missing in key moments of the France match from which he was absent.

In the last three games he has been exceptional. When Ireland give him options, and the pack give him front foot ball, there are very few better in the world.

People continually talk about his age, but surely it is better to judge him on what he is doing week in, week out.

Judge his captaincy on what he is delivering and on what the team do, like bounce back from two losses in a row.

There were times even on Saturday when the camera panned to him and he was shaking his head.

What people don't consider is that as a player, you do not notice that.

You only become aware of it if you go on social media and people have turned it into a talking point.

His team-mates know him. They know he does not mean it as a personal insult and they know that if he is unhappy it means something is not 100% right with the team, because that is what he strives for.

Ireland can ride the wave into the autumn

Results and performances dictate the mood in camp, so naturally there will have been a few big swings over the course of a championship.

After the France defeat, Ireland's experienced players will have reminded the team that they were only one big win away from building some momentum.

There is a perspective that you try to keep the whole time, and part of that is remembering that people's opinions change very quickly.

They arrived into Saturday's game in a very similar position to the one we found ourselves in on the last day of the 2017 tournament.

We lost to Scotland in the opening game, clawed our way back into the championship only to lose to Wales in the penultimate week, and everyone was saying we were an awful team.

England were going for back-to-back Grand Slams in the final game at the Aviva, but we beat them fairly well.

That was the catalyst for what we achieved in 2018. After the 2017 Six Nations ended, a lot of the boys went to the Lions then we had a really good autumn.

That is where Ireland will want to be now, they will want to capture the spirit and momentum from Saturday's win and ride the wave to the autumn internationals.

Of course they would happily have a game next week in order to keep the momentum going, but the beauty of having a long wait now is that they don't need to pour water on the flames of this victory.

They can allow the confidence and emotion to flow through, because the next time this group of players meet again will be in the autumn.

By then the euphoria will have died down and they will have been able to fully reflect on what went right in that game, and how they replicate it going forward.

Whereas for England, it will seem like an eternity until they meet again.