In the 2010 Championship, England also held a narrow advantage in the second half but ultimately could not hold on as a late Dan Parks penalty earned a 15-15 draw for Scotland.

But while Cole was delighted with England’s new-found ability to squeeze out narrow wins, he warned they cannot afford to let Ireland dominate the breakdown like Scotland did in at Twickenham

He said: “This time last year we were losing close games whereas today we’re playing ugly but we’re still winning them, which is what we want.

“We know we can get better; we know we’re not playing brilliantly and we’re winning by three points. So there’s a lot of hope to be taken from that and we’ll try to turn it around.

“We had to control the ruck – we didn’t do that – and that’s what we were supposed to do.

“We’ll look at it all this week, because we can’t really get caught in the cold by the Irish.

“The Irish have got a good solid set-piece game and they’ve got good carriers on the front row.

“They’re a good team, so we’re not taking anything for granted. I played Ireland last year and then I’ve played some of the players in the European Cup.

“I’ve been playing Cian Healy through the age groups. We lost last year – it was a very tough game. The Irish are going to be out to win – they’re at home and we’re prepared for that. “