England have five months to digest the lessons of their Dublin pummelling and have the ideal opportunity to show what they have learned when they complete their three World Cup warm-up matches back in the Aviva Stadium.
There is much to be done and said before Ireland host England again on August 27 before the teams embark on their respective World Cup campaigns in New Zealand.
England are the Six Nations champions, something they have not been able to say since 2003, yet the title has something of a hollow ring about it after Saturday's 24-8 defeat.
The Irish, who finished third in the standings with six points having lost to France and Wales, climbed from sixth to fourth in the IRB rankings published on Monday, behind South Africa, Australia and undisputed number one, New Zealand. England slipped to fifth with France sixth.
Few observers would argue with those positions, particularly as Ireland's win was their seventh in eight matches against England.
Martin Johnson's team started the campaign so well against Wales and Italy but then stuttered against France and Scotland before completely coming off the rails against the Irish.
The manager never claimed they were the finished article and was always at pains to highlight their errors so he did his best to dwell on the positives after Saturday's setback.
"I think we are in a pretty good place," he said.
"The season has been good. If you had said at the start that we'd have been in Ireland with a chance to win the grand slam and the championship we'd have been happy.
"A lot of our guys are playing a full season of international rugby for the first time and winning the championship is a heck of an achievement.
"The players are Six Nations champions and they are disappointed which is even better. It is a fantastic launch pad as we head towards the World Cup."
'HUGE LOSS'
Johnson will next get together with his squad for a non-cap match against the Barbarians on May 29 and will then have a warm-weather training camp in July.
They play Wales at Twickenham on August 6, Wales in Cardiff on August 13 before returning to the scene of the crime to play Ireland five days after the deadline for naming the 30-man World Cup squads.
England depart on August 20 for New Zealand where they will begin their campaign against Argentina on September 10 before further pool games against Scotland, Georgia and Romania.
There were plenty of positives for England, particularly the bright play of six-try winger Chris Ashton, fullback Ben Cohen and scrumhalf Ben Youngs which opened the way for some of their most creative attacking movement for many years.
Prop Alex Corbisiero and flanker Tom Wood, uncapped before the tournament, have shown they are of test-match quality, while using just 17 starting players throughout should have long-term cohesive benefits.
The concern for England fans, however, is that the team struggled to find new ways to penetrate when Ashton's lines of attack were closed down and, most worryingly of all, that the team were outmuscled and showed a lot less stomach for the fight than the fired-up Irish.
That is something that Johnson just will not accept and judging by the comments of the players after the game, they are well aware that they have to do better.
"We simply must not forget the sense of desolation we felt at the final whistle. That hurt has got to stay with us now over the coming weeks and months until we meet up again for our World Cup camp," Nick Easter, stand-in captain on Saturday, wrote in Monday's Daily Telegraph.
"We cannot brush this defeat under the carpet, cannot write it off as just one of those things. No, it is a scar that we will have forever.
"It was a huge loss and a sharp reminder of how things can turn quickly. But we will be back."
There is much to be done and said before Ireland host England again on August 27 before the teams embark on their respective World Cup campaigns in New Zealand.
England are the Six Nations champions, something they have not been able to say since 2003, yet the title has something of a hollow ring about it after Saturday's 24-8 defeat.
The Irish, who finished third in the standings with six points having lost to France and Wales, climbed from sixth to fourth in the IRB rankings published on Monday, behind South Africa, Australia and undisputed number one, New Zealand. England slipped to fifth with France sixth.
Few observers would argue with those positions, particularly as Ireland's win was their seventh in eight matches against England.
Martin Johnson's team started the campaign so well against Wales and Italy but then stuttered against France and Scotland before completely coming off the rails against the Irish.
The manager never claimed they were the finished article and was always at pains to highlight their errors so he did his best to dwell on the positives after Saturday's setback.
"I think we are in a pretty good place," he said.
"The season has been good. If you had said at the start that we'd have been in Ireland with a chance to win the grand slam and the championship we'd have been happy.
"A lot of our guys are playing a full season of international rugby for the first time and winning the championship is a heck of an achievement.
"The players are Six Nations champions and they are disappointed which is even better. It is a fantastic launch pad as we head towards the World Cup."
'HUGE LOSS'
Johnson will next get together with his squad for a non-cap match against the Barbarians on May 29 and will then have a warm-weather training camp in July.
They play Wales at Twickenham on August 6, Wales in Cardiff on August 13 before returning to the scene of the crime to play Ireland five days after the deadline for naming the 30-man World Cup squads.
England depart on August 20 for New Zealand where they will begin their campaign against Argentina on September 10 before further pool games against Scotland, Georgia and Romania.
There were plenty of positives for England, particularly the bright play of six-try winger Chris Ashton, fullback Ben Cohen and scrumhalf Ben Youngs which opened the way for some of their most creative attacking movement for many years.
Prop Alex Corbisiero and flanker Tom Wood, uncapped before the tournament, have shown they are of test-match quality, while using just 17 starting players throughout should have long-term cohesive benefits.
The concern for England fans, however, is that the team struggled to find new ways to penetrate when Ashton's lines of attack were closed down and, most worryingly of all, that the team were outmuscled and showed a lot less stomach for the fight than the fired-up Irish.
That is something that Johnson just will not accept and judging by the comments of the players after the game, they are well aware that they have to do better.
"We simply must not forget the sense of desolation we felt at the final whistle. That hurt has got to stay with us now over the coming weeks and months until we meet up again for our World Cup camp," Nick Easter, stand-in captain on Saturday, wrote in Monday's Daily Telegraph.
"We cannot brush this defeat under the carpet, cannot write it off as just one of those things. No, it is a scar that we will have forever.
"It was a huge loss and a sharp reminder of how things can turn quickly. But we will be back."
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