Ireland Fail To Fire As Four-Try England Emerge Triumphant

Ireland endured a losing start to their Guinness Six Nations campaign, suffering a rare defeat at the Aviva Stadium where Henry Slade’s brace of final quarter tries steered England to a momentum-building 32-20 bonus point victory.

Guinness Six Nations: Ireland v England Highlights

Ireland v England – As It Happened

Apart from a brief spell approaching the half hour mark, England led from start to finish as they outplayed and outmuscled the defending champions at key stages of the game. Ireland had tries from Cian Healy and John Cooney, the Six Nations debutant scoring late on, but they could not avoid their first Championship loss at home under Joe Schmidt.

Man-of-the-match Mako Vunipola led the tackle count for a suffocating English defence, with timely tries from Jonny May and Elliot Daly – coupled with a late Owen Farrell penalty – giving the visitors a 17-10 half-time lead. Jonathan Sexton cut the gap to four points in the 54th minute, only for influential centre Slade to strike from a May chip kick and then intercept Sexton for a 75th-minute killer blow.

After losing for the first time in 13 Test matches at home, Ireland’s focus quickly turns to Scotland and bouncing back with a winning performance in Edinburgh next Saturday. One bad day at the office will not derail Schmidt’s troops at the start of a huge 2019 for the squad who await updates on injuries sustained by Keith Earls, CJ Stander and Devin Toner.

“Keith is pretty sore, he’s got a hip pointer,” explained head coach Schmidt. “He got hit a couple of times early and was very sore. CJ Stander, we think has a facial injury, he’s gone for a scan. Dev Toner was an ankle (issue), just taking that restart. It looks like he’s rolled his ankle. It’s been a bit problematic for him recently.

“It’s something that happened two years ago against the All Blacks, we got bullied here. I know the players are disappointed that we probably didn’t have the same physical edge as they did. I don’t think we got a turnover on the ground tonight. There was very little that was allowed to happen on the ground, a lot of people off their feet. It turned into a muddy battle that’s very difficult to contest in.

“I don’t think I’ve seen a game where our opponents got so many physical, dominant tackles. Where our opponents have carried physically in the manner that they did. It wasn’t a surprise to us, we knew that power that they bring to the game. To contain those guys is difficult. Our ball was slow, it gives them an opportunity to take pot-shots and they took those shots well.

“When that happens you’re forced to go to the air because it’s the only way you can progress. And we couldn’t really get into the aerial battle. There were a lot of white jerseys in front of any aerial contest. Maybe we were too honest there. It’s hard to take anything away from England. They did really well tonight, especially the intensity they brought to the game.”

Captain Rory Best admitted: “The disappointing thing for us is the way we started. When you play internationals away from home especially, you want to get a foothold in the game and we let England get that. We prepared well and prepared to go out and win a game and we’ll have to look this week at how we can make sure whatever happened with our detail, we just didn’t get the physical edge that we’re used to having.”

England got the start that they craved, quickly getting fit-again Manu Tuilagi on the charge via Jamie George’s long lineout throw. With Billy Vunipola able to release the ball under pressure, Earls’ decision to shoot up in defence backfired as Farrell’s fizzing cut-out pass found Daly and he laid off for May to go over in the left corner after barely 90 seconds.

England’s tails were up as Farrell expertly curled over the difficult conversion for a 7-0 lead, which stood until the 10th minute when Sexton, almost straight in front, punished Kyle Sinckler for not rolling away. Two minutes later the visitors lost 20-year-old tyro Tom Curry to the sin-bin for a late tackle on Earls, allowing Ireland to build from a lineout inside the halfway line.

Jacob Stockdale was beginning to pose a threat as Ireland put width on the ball, while Josh van der Flier was fingertips away from collecting a bouncing pass from Bundee Aki with a gap to run into. Earls was then taken out by Maro Itoje in the air, the penalty and Peter O’Mahony’s lineout prowess increasing their share of possession midway through the first half.

Close to his own line, May had to scramble to deal with a tricky Garry Ringrose kick, and although England clawed back the lost yards, a Stockdale surge from a loose ball had Ireland back on the front foot. A kickable penalty was sent towards the right corner and the decision paid off when Healy burrowed over during a penalty advantage after the maul had gone close.

Sexton made it 10-7 with a sweetly-struck conversion from the right, but England enjoyed a purple patch in the lead up to the interval. Slade’s well-placed kick forced a sliced clearance from Robbie Henshaw, who has a busy night covering kicks from the full-back position. The kicking option paid off handsomely when Daly threaded one through, the ball squirted free from Stockdale due to Jack Nowell’s challenge and the inrushing Daly gleefully touched down the loose ball.

English skipper Farrell added the extras and was on target too with a late penalty to reopen the seven-point advantage. The gap could have been wider but prop Vunipola was denied a try by a double movement thanks to Stander’s crucial tackle just inches out, and a few phases earlier, Henshaw, who was chased down by May right to the Irish line, did well to sweep up an awkward bouncing kick from the boot of Farrell.

Into the second half, the kicking battle continued to be hotly contested with Ben Youngs a key figure in that regard for the visitors, particularly his box-kicking axis with Leicester Tigers club-mate May who also did well to deal with Conor Murray’s aerial bombs. Ireland were struggling to get out of their own half with the swarming English tacklers – doubling up at times – stopping them in their tracks.

However, there was a shift in momentum in the 51st minute when Ringrose’s ball-dislodging tackle on Farrell launched a big kick chase with Sexton hoofing it downfield. The covering Slade knocked on and with Tadhg Furlong pumping the legs in a couple of meaty carries, the Irish attack was building nicely.

A high tackle by Kyle Sinckler on Ringrose, who was one of Ireland’s best performers, led to Sexton clipping the deficit to 17-13. Farrell missed a 41-metre penalty in response as the game entered its decisive final quarter. Jordan Larmour, already a half-time entrant for Earls, was joined on the pitch by fellow replacements Dave Kilcoyne, Andrew Porter, Quinn Roux and Sean O’Brien. The latter two came on for a limping Toner and Stander whose swollen face told the tale of his injuries.

England were able to generate quick ball off a 65th-minute midfield scrum, Slade firing a pass out to May who chipped through and the Exeter Chiefs centre won the race to touch it down for a telling try on the left. The TMO review ruled out a possible offside and despite Farrell missing the conversion, he was bang on target with a 47-metre penalty to reward a Courtney Lawes tackle and Curry’s follow-up at the breakdown.

That left Ireland a full 12 points down with 10 minutes remaining, and in their efforts to break from deep, Sexton’s pass in his own 22 was juggled and then caught by Slade to secure the visitors’ bonus point, again rewarding their pressurising defence. Farrell converted to complete his 12-point haul and England were fully deserving of their first win in Dublin since 2013.

Despite running out of time to push for a late losing bonus point, Schmidt’s men gained some consolation as Sean Cronin broke clean through from a ruck and fed fellow replacement Cooney for his first international try. A positive finish to a disappointing night for Best and his team-mates who need to get back firing on all cylinders against Scotland, one of their Rugby World Cup pool rivals.