Joe Schmidt refused to say if the victory over England to deny them the Grand Slam was sweeter than Ireland’s first ever win over New Zealand last year, given both halted 18-match unbeaten streaks.

“You don’t want to pick between those,” Schmidt said after watching his side beat England 13-9 at the Aviva Stadium to repeat their Grand Slam-denying heroics of 2001 and 2011 against their bitter rivals.

“It’s a record we have that we were fortunate to be the team that played them 19th both times. We didn’t necessarily earn those. They were both good performances. We didn’t necessarily talk about spoiling parties. We talked about producing performances that we could be proud of.”

Ireland vs England player ratings Show all 32 1 /32 Ireland vs England player ratings Ireland vs England player ratings Ireland: 15. Rob Kearney- 7 Coped with everything that came his way and threatened on occasion. GETTY IMAGES Ireland vs England player ratings 14. Tommy Bowe - 6 Posed Nowell problems in the air but starved of clean ball in space. GETTY IMAGES Ireland vs England player ratings 13. Jared Payne - 7 Defensive work was of the highest calibre and didn’t put a foot wrong until injury forced him off. GETTY IMAGES Ireland vs England player ratings 12. Robbie Henshaw - 9 Strong running caused England huge problems and leaped above Goode for try that won the game. GETTY IMAGES Ireland vs England player ratings 11. Simon Zebo - 7 Excelled under the high ball as England continuously tested him and defended strongly. GETTY IMAGES Ireland vs England player ratings 10. Jonathan Sexton - 9 Tackled ferociously and his genius kept Ireland on the attack before exit gave England a reprieve. GETTY IMAGES Ireland vs England player ratings 9. Conor Murray - 8 Provided quick and clean ball behind dominant Irish pack and box-kicked for Henshaw’s try. GETTY IMAGES Ireland vs England player ratings 1. Jack McGrath - 7 Kept Dan Cole quiet which is enough in itself, carried well and added force to the maul. GETTY IMAGES Ireland vs England player ratings 2. Rory Best - 8 Unfaultable at the lineout, always had his hands on the ball in the maul and stood out in the pack. GETTY IMAGES Ireland vs England player ratings 3. Mike Ross - 8 Scrummaging was miles better than in the past and he won the battle with Marler. GETTY IMAGES Ireland vs England player ratings 4. Devin Toner - 9 Disrupted English lineout when Ireland were under pressure and outshone second-row partner O’Connell in the lineout. GETTY IMAGES Ireland vs England player ratings 5. Paul O'Connell - 7 Battled to the very end with a late charge down and continues to defy his age of 35. GETTY IMAGES Ireland vs England player ratings 6. Peter O'Mahony - 7 Carried well and was on the receiving end of some big runs, but stopped nearly everyone. GETTY IMAGES Ireland vs England player ratings 7. Sean O'Brien - 5 His first rampaging run at Ford led to the injury that forced him off in a rather dazed fashion. GETTY IMAGES Ireland vs England player ratings 8. Jordi Murphy - 8 In to replace Heaslip and paid back the favour with a brilliant display on the floor to win numerous penalties. GETTY IMAGES Ireland vs England player ratings Best off the bench: Tommy O'Donnell - 6 On for the injured O’Brien after 25 minutes and added running power where needed. GETTY IMAGES Ireland vs England player ratings England: 15. Alex Goode - 8 His kicking got better as the game went on and his dancing out of the deadball zone was sublime, but beaten in the air for the try. GETTY IMAGES Ireland vs England player ratings 14. Anthony Watson - 6 One second-half break threatened to open the game but panicked with a pass to thin air. Getty Images Ireland vs England player ratings 13. Jonathan Joseph - 6 Given little chance to show his agile best and replaced when England’s chances were dying. Getty Images Ireland vs England player ratings 12. Luther Burrell - 5 Didn’t put in his best shift and will be under pressure for selection against Scotland. Getty Images Ireland vs England player ratings 11. Jack Nowell - 6 Picked in favour of Jonny May, and showed why with impressive pace, but targeted in the air. Ireland vs England player ratings 10. George Ford - 6 Missed penalty would have levelled it up early and two errant passes, but continues to learn at this level. Getty Images Ireland vs England player ratings 9. Ben Youngs - 6 Caught at the base on occasion but passing was good enough before being withdrawn. Getty Images Ireland vs England player ratings 1. Joe Marler - 5 Couldn’t find an edge on Ross which was a surprise and suffered as a result. Getty Images Ireland vs England player ratings 2. Dylan Hartley - 6 Lost two lineouts and was absent in the loose, though his defence was commendable. Getty Images Ireland vs England player ratings 3. Dan Cole - 7 Came to life late on with a barnstorming run over Healy and tried his best to snaffle a turnover or two. Getty Images Ireland vs England player ratings 4. Dave Attwood - 5 Ill-disciplined throughout and was probably the most disappointing in white. Getty Images Ireland vs England player ratings 5. George Kruis - 7 Disrupted the Irish maul very well and the fact he stayed on for the 80 shows how far he’s come. Getty Images Ireland vs England player ratings 6. James Haskell - 6 Gave away an early penalty, and given no quarter at the ruck where he was caught isolated repeatedly. Getty Images Ireland vs England player ratings 7. Chris Robshaw - 6 Tackling was as determined as ever but sloppy with ball in hand. Getty Images Ireland vs England player ratings 8. Billy Vunipola - 7 Another who improved as England grew into the game, but ran out of options after an impressive 40m break. Getty Images Ireland vs England player ratings Best of the bench: Richard Wigglesworth - 6 Injected some pace into England’s attack with two good breaks. Getty Images

It certainly was a performance to be proud of that sent thousands of delirious Irish fans back to their St Patrick’s celebrations, having seen their side record their first win of the Six Nations against one of the Triple Crown opponents, avoiding a whitewash in the process that has not happened since 1998.

Part of the pride will stem from Ireland’s never-give-in attitude even when they felt things were going against them. The Ireland captain, Rory Best, repeatedly asked the referee, Jerome Garces, why England’s high tackles were not being penalised.

“It was [frustrating],” said Best. “He kept saying the TMO was keeping an eye on it. I suppose he was saying it was his job and the TMOs look at that. But it was my job as captain to make sure our players were looked after and I knew if I didn’t put a bit of pressure on him then I’d get it in the neck from Joe.”

One of those people to look after was the fly-half, Jonathan Sexton, who copped a number of heavy tackles from Maro Itoje and James Haskell as England tried to impose on the world class stand-off.

“I don’t think it was anything other than trying to put pressure on Johnny,” Best conceded. “But we have to look after our players, and a key player like Johnny. You don’t want players going off unnecessarily.”

But Schmidt, rather than talk about anything that went against them, wanted to express his pleasure in the performance, and also their opponents after a gruelling encounter that brought the curtain down on a fascinating Six Nations that sees England leave Dublin with the title, just not the Grand Slam they desired.

“It was just great that they went out and played with confidence,” said Schmidt. “Last week we had some real frustrations. We didn’t quite get results from our driven maul. Probably the biggest frustration from the championship was the first 30 minutes we played.

“To be fair to England what an incredible Test match record. 18 consecutive Test match victories. Winning one game is hard enough let alone 18. You couldn’t say anything other than they were deserved champions. We’re envious they were out there with the silverware at the end of the day.”

But he also dismissed any accusation that the withdrawal of Jamie Heaslip, five minutes before kick-off, was anything other than an injury suffered during the warm-up, despite Eddie Jones questioning the validity of it.

Heaslip was injured in the warm up (Getty Images)

“[That] Couldn’t be a more flawed theory,” he said. “It’s probably a bit of a slight on us. Because it’s not something that we do. We pick our team and go out and play. It was a disruption if anything for us. Dan Leavy got a heck of a shock when I told him.