Paul O’Connell couldn’t resist twisting the knife into England during BBC analysis

Brilliant.

With Ireland clinching the Six Nations title and England falling to a whimpering defeat to France, there weren't too many smiling faces in the BBC studio on Saturday evening. John Inverdale seemed to be on the brink of breaking down while Jeremy Guscott looked as disinterested as an eight-year-old sitting through Mass. Paul O'Connell had plenty of reason to be cheerful, though. The former Ireland captain had just watched Joe Schmidt's side getting the job done against Scotland, clinching the title and a fourth win in a row to set up a Grand Slam shot against England at Twickenham on St Patrick's Day. While Inverdale and co were intent on focusing on England, O'Connell had the last laugh with a thinly-veiled remark which suggested why England should, in theory, be considerably stronger than Ireland. O'Connell reminded the BBC panel that Ireland only have four professional rugby teams compared to England's 12, highlighting how much of an accomplishment it is that Ireland have such strength in depth. "Joe [Schmidt] made five changes for the second Test down in South Africa in 2015," O'Connell said. "When you think of an Irish team doing that in South Africa, they've developed great depth." As usual, O'Connell's insightful, unbiased and erudite analysis and summaries attracted praise on social media. https://twitter.com/gaultstats/status/972590802722611208 https://twitter.com/joshbrowe/status/972547093436030977 https://twitter.com/joshbrowe/status/972547093436030977 https://twitter.com/Dan23_92/status/972541446061527040 https://twitter.com/GillHayward1/status/972537203439161344 https://twitter.com/lucydougtweets/status/972520788539662336 O'Connell elaborated on why he thought England lost to France on Saturday, saying Eddie Jones' side lacked physicality.

"At times I think England today, because they are trying to play so much shape with the out-the-back passes, there isn't a lot of physicality to how they are playing."

It's easy to dislike how the BBC cover England, but it's almost impossible to dislike O'Connell. Unfortunately, England v Ireland is on ITV so we won't see Inverdale's expression if Ireland capture the Grand Slam.