Ireland Bag Hard-Earned Bonus Point In Twickenham Triumph

Closing tries from replacements Jack Conan and Finlay Bealham secured only Ireland’s third win in their last 11 trips to Twickenham Stadium.

Match Photo Gallery: England 15 Ireland 32

It took some time for Charlie Ewels’ early red card to be reflected on the scoreboard, but Andy Farrell’s men finished strongly to stay in contention for the Guinness Six Nations title.

Ireland trail unbeaten France by two points heading into the ‘Super Saturday’ finale. The goal will be to clinch the Triple Crown at home to Scotland before seeing how the French fare against England in Paris.

Second row Ewels saw red after just 82 seconds, Ireland initially taking advantage with James Lowe’s opening try before three Marcus Smith penalties meant England were only 15-9 behind at half-time.

Two more Smith kicks drew the hosts level by the hour mark as Ireland struggled to add to Hugo Keenan’s converted effort from just before the break.

However, despite a worryingly high penalty count, the Irish bench had the desired impact as Conor Murray sent Conan over before Bealham barged through for a 75th-minute bonus point try.

Captain Jonathan Sexton converted both to finish with 12 points, as Ireland head into the final round as France’s only remaining challengers for the Championship silverware.

Quick hands had Lowe charging down the left wing inside the opening minute, but James Ryan was caught with a high head-on-head tackle by Ewels when play was moved infield.

The incident saw Ryan permanently replaced and the English lock was sent off by referee Mathieu Raynal who, following the TMO review, said the challenge was ‘high speed and had a high degree of danger, with clear head contact’.

Ignoring the boos from the home crowd, Sexton drilled over the resulting penalty before crisp Irish passing saw them carve through in devastating fashion from near halfway.

Jamison Gibson-Park, the player-of-the-match, found Dan Sheehan with a pinpoint delivery out to the left wing, the hooker duly sending Josh van der Flier through a gap and he fed Lowe for a fine finish from 40 metres out.

Sexton was unable to convert, leaving it 8-0. Propelled forward by a scrum penalty and direct running by Keenan and Sheehan, Ireland missed out on a second quick-fire try.

Andrew Conway did very well to step inside a defender and release Caelan Doris to bump off Harry Randall’s tackle to score in the left corner, but the match officials ruled it out for a prior knock-on from Garry Ringrose.

A clearing penalty from a scrum was the beginning of England’s staunch resistance, another one – past Ireland’s 10-metre line – allowing young out-half Smith to close the gap to five points.

Despite good covering from Keenan in the back-field, England used their strong set piece to press for a try until Cian Healy got a hand in to pinch maul possession from Jamie George.

Smith misfired from the tee on the half hour mark, but the penalties continued to come against Ireland. Sexton was caught offside from a kick and his opposite number was back on target to make it 8-6.

Crucially, Ireland wrestled back some control as the interval approached. Bundee Aki got over the gain line and a penalty against Maro Itoje landed the visitors back in the opposition 22.

Hooker Sheehan’s impressive footwork took him up to five metres out, and although a knock-on spoiled the initial attack, Gibson-Park’s quickly-taken penalty saw him feed the inrushing Keenan for a well-finished try, past Jack Nowell.

Sexton supplied the extras, but England squeezed in a late penalty with Nowell gobbling up the restart before Iain Henderson infringed on the ground. Smith mopped up with the three points.

In a fast-paced opening to the second half, Lowe stormed downfield on a threatening break but the final pass was missing for Ireland with a couple of rushed offloads allowing England to regroup and clear the danger.

A leg-pumping van der Flier carried up close before Tadhg Beirne just failed to connect with Henderson, as the English defence was looking stretched.

The intensity was relentless and Ireland continued to have problems in the scrum, an area England regularly drew energy from. A big kick chase led to another penalty which Smith nailed for a 15-12 scoreline.

Keenan was ever reliable under high balls but lacked protection at times, and a resulting scrum was turned into a penalty and the levelling kick from Smith.

Nonetheless, Ireland gradually regained their composure with a battle-scarred Conway contributing his second brilliantly-judged 50:22 kick down the right touchline.

Replacement hooker Rob Herring was stopped just short of the English line before Sexton kicked the visitors back in front from a 65th-minute penalty.

Beirne came up trumps with a lineout steal, then Keenan plucked down another high ball and Robbie Henshaw added further zip to the Irish attack. Doris, though, was unable to combine with Murray as he broke up into the English 22.

The decisive moment came barely three minutes later, Ireland wearing down the defence through a dozen phases with Lowe, Henshaw and van der Flier all making vital yards with ball in hand.

Conan’s pass out the back allowed the slippery Keenan and Ringrose to send Conway carrying up to three metres out. From another speedy ruck, Murray’s inviting pass put Conan crashing over for the try.

After Sexton’s well-struck conversion, an eager Henshaw carried well again before a penalty plunged a tiring England back inside their own 22.

They stopped Lowe on a crash ball run off a lineout maul, but Connacht tighthead Bealham scored on the follow-up with important support from Beirne.

Sexton sent the left-sided conversion over, Henderson’s good work from restarts a feature during the closing stages as Ireland registered their highest score and biggest winning margin in an away Test against England.