For much of the first half it threatened to be another one of those harrowing A nights. For most of the second it was one of those comeback A nights, which might easily have extracted the most unlikely of draws from an ominous 28-7 deficit.

Granted, unlike both the comeback draw and win in the last two meetings with the French, this time there was nothing tangible in terms of the result for the Irish, but perhaps that's just as well. As when the French were here four weeks ago, winning all the curtain-raisers, it can be a bad harbinger for the main performance.

That said, the Irish As came within inches, or perhaps even an unsighted referee, of extracting a draw when Jimmy Screene seemed to reach over the English line from a line-out maul in the last minute - this based on the safe presumption that Simon Mason could land a conversion from the Stillorgan dual carriageway if needs be.

A draw would have been a fair enough reward too for one of the most compelling late drives an Irish side has put together at this level.

An 11-1 head-to-head record going into this 13th meeting in an A match accurately reflected the respective strengths of the two countries' resources. As Ireland's selection had been heavily hit by injuries there hadn't been too much hope of a change in that trend.

Misleadingly, Ireland had livened up the 7,000 crowd by actually drawing first blood. Thanks to a superb turnover tackle by Eddie Halvey on Barrie Jon Mather in midfield, John McWeeney and Simon Mason explored the right wing. From the recycled ball, England had the numbers, but good long passes by Mervyn Murphy and Anthony Foley - checking the drift and taking out two players - gave Niall Woods the chance to skate around the cover for Mason to add the touchline conversion.

Alas, it had the same effect as a little upstart kicking the schoolyard bully on the ankles - and there was nowhere to hide.

Retribution was swift. A 10th minute line-out peel created the blind side corridor for Mark Mapletoft and Nick Burrows to put Ben Clarke over in the corner.

Mapletoft tacked on the conversion to that and another try, sparked when Ireland naively played to the rule book in letting Nick Walshe scamper free from a tap inside his own 22, and culminating in Mapletoft putting Chris Catling over in the corner.

The chunky little Gloucester out-half then completed a swift double whammy with a neat chip and gather over Mason after the full back's short restart had given England a line-out on the half-way line. With the Irish on their heels on the gain line inviting England's big target runners - and Clarke and Tony Diprose wreaked much of the damage - Mapletoft added another seven when leaving John McWeeney in no man's land before skinning Tom Tierney with a blindside burst from half-way.

Ireland had failed to control three set-pieces in the English half but finally pulled their line-out together on half-time for Foley to drive on Gary Longwell's tap and Gabriel Fulcher reached out for the touchdown.

On the restart, Trevor Brennan set the tone by galloping into the white shirts, and finally the Irish pack showed some aggression, Screene (who gradually warmed to his task) supporting a scything break by the lively and ever-eager Barry Everitt.

Where they hadn't been mapped earlier, suddenly the Irish back row came into their own: Halvey augmenting a good tackle count with some vital continuity play. From one of their 13 second-half line-outs Everitt gave Horgan a short pass. Blasting past Adam Vander and Mapletoft, Shane Horgan kept going to spin out of Catling's tackle and stretch out for the line. From deep in their own territory, a Mason-Woods inspired counter-attack led to a thrilling passage of about a dozen rucks as Ireland inched their way to an attacking line-out. Screene seemed to make it, but was then definitively driven back from a tap penalty, and that was that.

Scoring sequence: 3 mins: Woods try, Mason con 7-0; 10 mins: Clarke try, Mapletoft con 7-7; 16 mins: Catling try, Mapletoft con 714; 18 mins: Mapletoft try 7-21; 34 mins: Mapletoft try and con 7-28; 40 mins: Fulcher try, Mason con 14-28. Half-time: 14-28. 53 mins: Horgan try, Mason con 21-28.

Ireland A: S Mason (Ballymena); J McWeeney (St Mary's), S Horgan (Lansdowne), M Murphy (Galwegians), N Woods (Garryowen); B Everitt (Lansdowne), T Tierney (Garryowen); J Screene (Buccaneers), A Clarke (Dungannon, capt), A McKeen (Lansdowne), G Fulcher (Lansdowne), G Longwell (Ballymena), T Brennan (St Mary's College), A Foley (Shannon), E Halvey (Shannon). Replacements - P Duignan (Galwegians) for McWeeney (35 mins); J Hayes for McKeen (62 mins); G Easterby for Tierney (71 mins); D Corkery for Brennan (71 mins); M Blair for Longwell (74 mins).

England A: C Catling (Gloucester); S Hanley (Sale), J Ewens (Bedford), BJ Mather (Sale), S Brown (Richmond); M Mapletoft (Gloucester), N Walshe (Harlequins); T Wood- man (Gloucester), G Chuter (Saracens), A Deacon (Gloucester), R Fidler (Gloucester), G Archer (Newcastle), B Clarke (Richmond), T Diprose (Saracens, capt), A Vander (Richmond). Replacements - N Burrows (London Irish) for Hanley (3 mins); N Hatley (London Irish) for Woodman (half-time); M Cornwall (Gloucester) for Fidler (62 mins); R Kirke (London Irish) for Chuter (66 mins); G Seeley (Northampton) for Clarke (69 mins).

Referee: N Williams (Wales).