A precious Grand Slam – only the third in their history – was Ireland’s prize after an attritional battle with old foes England, as first half tries from Garry Ringrose, CJ Stander and Jacob Stockdale saw the new NatWest 6 Nations champions end the tournament unbeaten.
It was a St. Patrick’s Day to remember for Joe Schmidt’s men who, from Jonathan Sexton’s dramatic drop goal in Paris through to this five-star performance at a snowy Twickenham, played with a dynamic structure and score-getting graft that was unmatched across the campaign.
Already guaranteed to win the title today given their lead at the top of the table, Rory Best and his team-mates wanted the ultimate prize, and their maiden triumph at the London venue since 2010 duly delivered a first Grand Slam and Triple Crown in nine years.
Ireland have had some famous days during Schmidt’s five-year reign but this ranks right up there at the top, eclipsing the Championship success from 2014 and 2015 and placing the current crop of players in the Grand Slam pantheon reserved for the heroes of Belfast 1948 and Cardiff 2009.
While 2009 veterans Best and Rob Kearney have made their own history as two-two Grand Slam winners, this season’s triumph has been marked by the influence wielded by younger members of the squad – prolific winger Jacob Stockdale in particular. He has entered the record books as the only player to score seven tries in a single Six Nations Championship.
Garry Ringrose’s opportunist fifth-minute try from a steepling Sexton kick set Ireland on their way to a significant 21-5 half-time lead, given the testing conditions. Sexton also combined with man-of-the-match Tadhg Furlong in the 23rd minute to send Bundee Aki bursting through midfield, with CJ Stander using the centre’s pass to reach out for the bottom of the left hand post and score.
A well-weighted kick from Owen Farrell created a try for Elliot Daly in response, the hosts getting off the mark while Peter O’Mahony was in the sin-bin for collapsing a maul. However, for the fifth game running, Ireland made sure they headed off at half-time with the benefit of a late score.
Invited up the left touchline by Conor Murray’s well-timed pass, the 21-year-old Stockdale caused havoc for Mike Brown and Jonny May with a chip over the top and he showed his poacher’s instinct when grounding the ball just before it went over the end-line.
Replacement Joey Carbery added a classy conversion to make it a 16-point margin, and although a bloodied Sexton returned to play a vital role in a tighter second half, it was his half-back partner Murray who clipped over what proved to be the match-winning penalty on the hour mark.
As intense and physical a Test match Ireland have played all season, the attritional nature of the contest saw Aki and Sexton both forced off at different stages. Carbery will be all the better for his 20 minutes at out-half, while the 20-year-old Jordan Larmour had an impressive 24-minute cameo in midfield, almost darting over for a try as Ireland – driven on by the industry and guile of Kearney and Keith Earls – looked to finish England off.
The gnarly Irish pack was dotted with abrasive performers, with that list headed up by Dan Leavy, Furlong, James Ryan and Iain Henderson who all hit double-figures for tackles made. All 23 players contributed in an outstanding squad effort, and not even unconverted tries from Daly (64 minutes) and Jonny May (80) could take the shine off Ireland’s day of days.
Adding to their list of achievements, Schmidt’s side have taken their Irish record for consecutive Test victories to twelve, which stretches back to last March’s defeat of England which denied them a Grand Slam in Dublin. The new Six Nations holders are also only the second away team to win a Grand Slam at Twickenham – matching the feats of France back in 1981.
Ireland picked up three extra points for their Grand Slam success, meaning they finished on 26 points at the summit (eleven clear of second-placed Wales), with Schmidt telling TV3 afterwards: “The players made it so difficult for England to win today, I thought we showed a fantastic mix of class, I thought we opened them up a few times with some very clever stuff that they executed so well and at the same time made some 50-50 ball our own.
“And at the other end we had to withstand some immense English pressure – a desperate team looking to make sure they got the result. I don’t know what the tackle counts were but we had to work incredibly hard.”
Reflecting on his highlights from the campaign, the New Zealander made sure to mention his skipper Best first, acknowledging that the Ulster hooker has ‘deserved this reward’ and ‘led the team incredibly well’. “Johnny Sexton got the Grand Slam that he’s been craving. It’s a fantastic day for those senior guys.
“I think the young guys, they think you can get one of those – you know you’ve just got to work really hard and they’ll pop up! But they don’t. They know that so it’s fantastic day for them.
“From Pete O’Mahony’s leadership, I though he was immense. CJ in the back row, and young Dan Leavy, he’s found a slot for himself that he doesn’t want to give up either. It was fantastic for Dev Toner to get on there after what he’s contributed over the last few years.
“And for young guys, you know the back-line at the end, you had Joey Carbery to Jordan Larmour, to Garry Ringrose, with on the wings…Kieran Marmion (who replaced Earls out wide) and Jacob Stockdale, another kid you know. They’ll learn from the experience, I think they found it pretty tough going towards the end there but they didn’t give it up easily.”
Savouring the highlight of his 111-Test career to date, Best said: “For me personally, it’s a little bit more special (than 2009). Not only starting every game but captaining the side. Every kid grows up dreaming of playing for Ireland and when you do that the next thing you want to do is win something for Ireland.
“To win something as captain in that special green jersey, it’s something that dreams are made of. It’s up there as the biggest highlight of my career. To do it with this bunch of players and staff, it’s a really tight-knit group. I know a lot of teams say that if they do well or win games but it’s a special bunch.
“It was a really tough match. We knew we were going to have to play unbelievably well to win. We created a couple of opportunities and a couple of things that we planned. It was one of those days when we took quite a few of the set plays we wanted to, but it was far from easy. It was a really, really tough Test.
“England are a quality side. Defensively it was one of our best displays. As players we felt that we probably owed Faz (defence coach Andy Farrell) one. We’ve been there in bits and pieces but hadn’t followed through on his plan.”
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