When the Six Nations fixture list was announced, this game was circled as a potential title decider.
The sides went into the game as the only unbeaten teams left in the competition and one of them would emerge as the title favourites.
Ireland 19 – England 9
Ireland wasted no time in testing George Ford. As Ford claimed a high box kick he was swallowed up and isolated by the Irish chasers. The turn over ball was spun wide to Zebo. England were penalised for offside and Sexton had Ireland on the board within a minute of the start: 3-0 to the hosts.
Ireland then pressed forward forcing Goode to carry the ball over his own line and out of play to set up the first scrum of the game. The English would have been licking their lips at a first chance to impose their superior scrum on the Irish. It never happened: Ireland were solid and from a drive Best was held up over the line under the posts.
A second scrum followed and Ireland’s solidity was confirmed as first Kearney and then O’Brien pounded the English line. England were pinged again and Sexton converted for 6-0 with less than 10 minutes on the clock.
England’s tactic of kicking restarts long was easily dealt with by the Irish receivers, Zebo chief among them, and as a result they were starved of early possession. When they did get their hands on the ball their big units found it hard to make yards as Ireland swarmed them in defence. So when they had a penalty advantage Ford decided to take on the drop at goal to make the score 6-3.
Ford then had a long range effort to bring England all square in a game they were hardly in. He dragged his kick wide and Ireland kept their lead.
Ireland then lost their talismanic ball carrier as O’Brien had to depart the field following a clash of heads. O’Donnell came on to replace him after 25 minutes and he slotted in seamlessly for the remainder of the game.
England found it hard to cope with Ireland’s tempo and when Burrell was caught in possession Sexton punished them stroking over the penalty from in front, 9-3 after 30 minutes.
Ireland had managed to blunt England’s weapons and their tactic of targeting the English back three with high balls was paying dividends. They had the better of the set piece nicking a couple of English lineouts and denying them clean ball on others. 9-3 at half time and England were running out of ideas.
England needed a big response at the start of the second half but it was Ireland who turned the screw. The excellent half back combination of Murray and Sexton maintained the tempo and pinned them back in their own half.
Sexton converted another penalty after Attwood was offside and Murray made sure Joubert knew about it. 12-3 to Ireland with about ten minutes gone in the second half.
Worse was to come for England as a pinpoint kick from Murray was gathered by Henshaw as he beat Goode to the ball over the try line to ground it, just in-goal. Sexton tacked on the extra two points from the touchline with his last act of the game. Ireland led 19-3 after 52 minutes.
England needed a response and fast. It looked like they might have it within a couple of minutes when Vunipola picked from a retreating scrum that had wheeled. He charged from his own 22 over halfway unchallenged. The move broke down when bereft of support he kicked over the goal line and Ireland dotted down.
England got their only scrum penalty of the day and Ford converted to make it 19-6 with 20 to go. Ireland responded immediately by introducing Cian Healy for the tiring Jack McGrath.
Ireland’s subs carried on the good work of the starters as they continued to isolate the English runners forcing turnover, penalties, denying them any momentum and pinning them in their own half.
England did manage to pull another three points back when O’Mahony was penalised for not making an attempt to get the ball in a ruck with just over ten to go. That was the final score as Ireland closed out the game to win 19-9.
The wrap up
Ireland were clinical and we saw a bit more ambition from them as they varied their tactics. After this result the media and fans will be talking about a potential Grand Slam for Ireland. Joe Schmidt will be looking to keep his players’ feet on the ground and get them prepared for a very tough visit to the Millennium stadium in two weeks time.
England were completely outplayed and will feel absolutely deflated. They were asked a lot of questions today but they had none of the answers. They have the opportunity to redeem themselves again Scotland back at Twickenham. A big win in that game could see them back in the hunt if Wales beat Ireland.
[one_half last=”no”]
The Game Changer
With a penalty advantage Connor Murray decided to kick high into the English in goal area. Robbie Henshaw leapt and beat Goode to the ball which he dotted down.
Joubert went upstairs and the TMO confirmed that Henshaw had managed to ground the ball before going into touch.
Sexton then added the extras to put Ireland 16 points ahead and at that stage there looked to be no way back for England.
[/one_half]
[one_half last=”yes”]
The G&GR MOTM
Sexton was excellent for the 55 minutes he was on the field and Murray just keep raising the bar from 9. The makeshift backrow of O’Mahony, O’Donnell and Murphy left their English counterparts in their shadow.
As usual Paul O’Connell delivered in the big game and Rory Best hit his lineouts and was busy around the field. For me though Robbie Henshaw has finally arrived in an Irish jersey and that’s why he’s my MOTM. He did excellent on the try and worked himself to a standstill in defence.[/one_half]
The Details
Score & Scorers
[one_half last=”no”]Ireland 19
Tries: Henshaw (52)
Conversion: Sexton (52)
Penalties: Sexton (1, 8, 29, 47)
[/one_half]
[one_half last=”yes”]England 9
Penalties: Ford (58, 67)
Drop goal: Ford (11)
[/one_half][one_half last=”no”]
Cards & citings
None
[/one_half]
[one_half last=”yes”]
Crowd
51,500
[/one_half]
The Teams
Ireland
1. J. McGrath, 2. R. Best, 3. M. Ross, 4. D. Toner, 5. P. O’Connell, 6. P. O’Mahony, 7. S. O’Brien, J. Murphy, 9. C. Murray 10. J. Sexton, 11. S. Zebo, 12. R. Henshaw, 13. J. Payne, 14. T. Bowe, 15. R. Kearney.
Reserves: 16. S. Cronin, 17. C. Healy, 18. M. Moore, 19. I. Henderson, 20. T. O’Donnell, 21. E. Reddan, 22. I. Madigan, 23. F. Jones.
England
1. J. Marler, 2. D. Hartley, 3. D. Cole, 4. D. Attwood, 5. G. Kruis, 6. J. Haskell, 7. C. Robshaw, 8. B. Vunipola, 9. B. Youngs, 10. G. Ford, 11. J. Nowell, 12. L. Burrell, 13. J. Joseph, 14. A. Watson, 15. A. Goode.
Reserves: 16. T. Youngs, 17. M. Vunipola, 18. H. Thomas, 19. N. Easter, 20. T. Croft, 21. R. Wigglesworth, 22. D. Cipriani, 23. B. Twelvetrees.
