Fans didn’t know what to do or where they should go. The final whistle went in Twickenham, Ireland were Six Nations champions for the second time in 12 months and after two absurdly dramatic hours the realisation dropped out of the Edinburgh night as suddenly as a falling star. The match in London had been such a frantic and joyous mess that nobody with a dog in Ireland’s fight dared to secondguess their emotions. When Nigel Owens brought 80-plus minutes of frenzied farce to a finish in London, the hundreds of Irish fans who had congregated around a big screen outside the Scottish stadium were stunned. For a while they did nothing but roar. Beer accounted for it in most cases, but their reactions were, shall we say, a deal less sharp than those of Luke Fitzgerald and Seán O’Brien earlier in the day. Ireland players celebrate as they are crowned Six Nations champions at Murrayfield . Captain Paul O'Connell holds aloft the Six Nations trophy after Ireland were crowned champions . It took supporters several minutes to stop screeching and turn and lurch back towards the stadium, where the presentation took place within ten minutes of the cessation in Twickenham. Events moved with the suddenness of a palace coup, and Ireland took the crown watched by 5,000 delirious countrymen and women who eventually scrambled back into the ground. It was dark night by now, but the inky gloom thrown by cold Scottish concrete didn’t bother them. They would have raised a party on Lough Derg. Eventually a camera caught the Irish players in the tunnel, in their suits but hugging and kissing as if the final whistle had just sounded on a cup final. They bounded on to the pitch, cheers poured off the south stand like water and they went to the presentation stage. There, Paul O’Connell lifted the Six Nations trophy high above his head and his colleagues leaped around him. The suits and the jubilation lent the scene the look of a Lotto celebration photo. But there was more to this than luck. Two bizarre hours had to be put in by Joe Schmidt and his team as England and France competed like a pair of boxers with big fists and no guard, but they had put in a couple of outstanding hours of labour themselves before then. The Irish squad celebrate their Six Nations success as fireworks are set off from within Murrayfield . Irish fans celebrate their side winning the Six Nations after watching England beat France 55-35 in London . They didn’t fluke their way to the nighttime joy that created a terrific racket in the well-appointed neighbourhoods around the home of Scottish rugby. They earned their right to truly unique celebration circumstances. These days become in memory an account of inevitable success. In years to come, when the events of Saturday March 21 are considered, it will seem like the outcome was irresistible. An Ireland title retention will in the telling become a certainty from early in the day. But in the bumpy, brittle second-to-second reality of a sporting contest like this, where every point must seem more precious than a gulp of oxygen, there are 50-50 splits throughout the game. There are incidents where the story of the day could be decided, a missed tackle, an ambitious break, a crooked throw. Little dramas mushroomed over the 80 minutes and you watched and wondered which one would eventually represent this taut and extraordinary Saturday: There was the early try of Paul O’Connell, playing arguably his best Test rugby at the age of 35, the lion roaring through winter. Seán O’Brien was not at his best in Cardiff but rumbled back to it here, and his first try was a triumph for the man but also for the coach as a variation on a lineout move Schmidt employed at Leinster befuddled Scotland. Sean O'Brien of Ireland goes over to score the second try in a 40-10 win at Murrayfield . As O’Brien crossed, the thought occurred that this moment combining personal triumph and coaching imagination might be the microcosm of the day. But the seesaw wouldn’t rest, and when Tommy Bowe was snared short of the Scottish line in the second half, it had the look of a memory that would cause fans to grind their teeth. An even more troubling portent recurred, and it was the nine points Ireland left unclaimed after two penalty misses by Johnny Sexton and one, with the last act of the match, from Ian Madigan. Ireland were harvesting big numbers against their helpless opponents but large totals are best gathered by letting no opportunity slip. In failing with those three kicks the Irish out halves were in danger of being trapped in history the way Denis Leamy has: This was truly Ireland’s greatest performance under Joe Schmidt Captain Paul O’Connell scored the first of Ireland’s four tries in Irish rugby’s historic day in Murrayfield, with flanker Sean O’Brien (pictured right with Johnny Sexton) crossing twice and Jared Payne also going over to end Welsh hopes of winning the title. Ireland players celebrate at the end of the match at Murrayfield before later being crowned  champions . O’Brien, who was named man of the match, said: ‘I think we executed very well and did all we could do – and hopefully it goes our way. It was important we came out and expressed ourselves. Driving into the ground and seeing all the Irish support put a chill up our backs. ‘We had to go out and stick to our process, try and win the game first and foremost and let the scoreboard look after itself.’ a substantial career reduced to a lapse. For Leamy, it happened eight years ago this month when he tapped a quick penalty under his own posts as Ireland were on a points’ hunt against Italy in Rome, in vain pursuit of the championship. The ball got turned over, Italy scored and France squeezed to the title. That cruelty would more likely be visited upon Madigan because he is the less experienced man, and has not put in the kind of trophy-laden service that Sexton has. He was in danger of being pointed out by the crude and the obvious as Ireland’s spoilsport, but there was none in green on Saturday. Ireland's O'Brien scores a try during the 2015 RBS Six Nations match at Murrayfield in Edinburgh . This was the outstanding performance by Ireland under Schmidt so far. It was better than the New Zealand match because it was more sustained. The two rivals cannot be compared, but the results can. Ireland lost to the Kiwis but they won here. Both matches were portraits in excellence but the work was completed on Saturday. The clock turned towards 8pm and outside the ground, a terrible singer with a guitar belted out awful songs. As Schmidt returned to the media room, the dismal troubadour was singing ‘Wish You Were Here’. He at least got that much right.
Ireland crowned 2015 Six Nations champions after dramatic final day . Ireland beat Scotland 40-10 at Murrayfield to move into driving seat . England's 55-35 win over France not enough for Stuart Lancaster's men . Ireland fans in Edinburgh watched the drama unfold at Twickenham .