Six Nations: England beaten by Ireland in Dublin

18 Mar 2023 | 5 min |

Six Nations: England beaten by Ireland in Dublin

England were beaten 29-16 by Ireland in the final round of the Guinness Six Nations at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin.

Nine points from the boot of Owen Farrell and a Jamie George try could not deny the Irish, who claimed their fourth-ever Grand Slam courtesy of nine points from Johnny Sexton, and tries from Dan Sheehan (2), Robbie Henshaw and Rob Herring.

England were forced to defend in the early exchanges, as Ireland put width on the ball, but Borthwick’s men remained resolute. The visitors didn’t have the ball until the fifth minute, but looked fluid in attack when they got it, as the returning Manu Tuilagi got over the gain line and Freddie Steward entered the attacking line at will.

Farrell successfully nudged a penalty over on the seven-minute mark, in front of the posts, after an Irish infringement at the breakdown - and he doubled the lead inside the opening quarter with another simple penalty as England looked to take early control of the Test match.

But Sexton got the hosts on the scoreboard with a penalty of his own moments later, the three-pointer taking his tally in the Guinness Six Nations to 560, making him the top point scorer in the history of the tournament.

With half an hour on the clock Ireland caught England by surprise at a 22-metre line out, as Josh van der Flier peeled off the maul before lifting a pass inside to the onrushing Dan Sheehan, whose route to the whitewash was clear. Sexton’s extras handed Ireland a 10-6 lead.

Fullback Steward was shown a red card on the stroke of half time for a dangerous tackle on Hugo Keenan, and England's defence held firm from the resulting line out to keep the four point gap at the break, but the half time stats showed an assertive Irish side who boasted more metres, carries and defenders beaten.

Farrell reduced the deficit to one point 10 minutes into the resumption, sending a 35-metre effort through the uprights, as England went chasing the game. Despite remaining competitive, and finding success upfront, the extra man finally took its toll on England, as Robbie Henshaw crashed over from close range on the hour for the second try of the match. Sexton’s successful conversion made it 17-9.

Dan Cole entered the game with 13 minutes left on the clock to win his 100th England Test cap - becoming just the fourth player to reach a century for England men. Moments later, Sheehan crossed for his second try, and Sexton's conversion extended Ireland's lead to 13 points.

George crossed for England's first try on 72 minutes, off the back of a dominant rolling maul, and Farrell's extras made it an eight-point game. But Jack Willis was shown a yellow card in the final stages for a dangerous tackle, and replacement Rob Herring scored Ireland's fourth try to seal a famous 29-16 win.

Reaction

Owen Farrell: "First of all congratulations to Ireland. Winning a Grand Slam is special. We showed a tremendous amount of fight We probably gave too many penalties away in the first half which allowed Ireland in.

"When we did get down there we came away with some points. We worked hard for each other and stuck in it. We looked like we caused them problems at some points."

Teams

England

15. Freddie Steward, 14. Anthony Watson, 13. Henry Slade, 12. Manu Tuilagi, 11. Henry Arundell, 10. Owen Farrell (C), 9. Jack van Poortvliet, 1. Ellis Genge (VC), 2. Jamie George, 3. Kyle Sinckler, 4. Maro Itoje, 5. David Ribbans, 6. Lewis Ludlam (VC), 7. Jack Willis, 8. Alex Dombrandt.

Replacements

16. Jack Walker, 17. Mako Vunipola, 18. Dan Cole, 19. Nick Isiekwe, 20. Ben Curry, 21. Alex Mitchell, 22. Marcus Smith, 23. Joe Marchant.

Ireland

15. Hugo Keenan, 14. Mack Hansen, 13. Robbie Henshaw, 12. Bundee Aki, 11. James Lowe, 10. Johnny Sexton (C), 9. Jamison Gibson-Park, 1. Andrew Porter, 2. Dan Sheehan, 3. Tadhg Furlong, 4. Ryan Baird, 5. James Ryan, 6. Peter O'Mahoney, 7. Josh van der Flier, 8. Caelan Doris.

Replacements

16. Rob Herring, 17. Cian Healy, 18. Tom O'Toole, 19. Kieran Treadwell, 20. Jack Conan, 21. Conor Murray, 22. Ross Byrne, 23. Jimm O'Brien.