England defeated by Ireland in Dublin
England were beaten 32-18 by Ireland in Dublin, in their final match of the Guinness Six Nations.
A scrappy start from both sides saw the opening minutes dominated by set piece play, but England’s lineout proved the catalyst behind their first penalty on the seven-minute mark, and captain Owen Farrell duly converted it.
Johnny Sexton levelled the affair 10 minutes later courtesy of a penalty in front of the posts, before a solo Keith Earls try handed the hosts the ascendancy. Sexton’s extras made it 10-3.
Farrell reduced the deficit to four points with his second penalty of the match, and in doing so brought up a personal tally of 500 points in the Six Nations, but Sexton responded quickly with another Irish three-pointer on the half hour mark.
Number 8 Jack Conan bagged Ireland’s second try of the Test, picking from the base of a poorly attended five-metre ruck and surging over. Sexton’s successful conversion extended their lead to 14 points at the break.
IRELAND V ENGLAND MATCH ACTION
Irish momentum rolled into the second half, as did Sexton’s success from the kicking tee. The Leinster man bagging his sixteenth point on the hour mark.
Bundee Aki was shown a red card three minutes later by referee Mathieu Raynal for a dangerous tackle on Billy Vunipola, and England capitalised immediately from the resulting penalty lineout. Jamie George peeled off the five-metre rolling maul and sent Ben Youngs over the whitewash. Elliot Daly was unable to convert.
George Martin was brought on to make his international debut, as Sexton kept the Irish scoreboard ticking over with a further two penalties.
Conor Murray was given a yellow card in the closing minutes, and England again capitalised on the numerical advantage, spreading it wide to Jonny May on the wing, who dotted down in the corner. But it would be a consolation score, as Ireland confirmed a 32-18 victory.
Reaction
We're disappointed. To come out and do a good job in the first 20 and not back it up the next 60 in terms of discipline is pretty gutting. We knew it was going to be a physical encounter, but fair play to them, great team.
Tom Curry
Teams
England
15. Elliot Daly, 14. Anthony Watson, 13. Ollie Lawrence, 12. Owen Farrell (C), 11. Jonny May, 10. George Ford, 9. Ben Youngs, 1. Mako Vunipola, 2. Luke Cowan-Dickie, 3. Kyle Sinckler, 4. Maro Itoje, 5. Charlie Ewels, 6. Mark Wilson, 7. Tom Curry, 8. Billy Vunipola.
Finishers
16. Jamie George, 17. Ellis Genge, 18. Will Stuart, 19. Jonny Hill, 20. Ben Earl, 21. Dan Robson, 22. George Martin, 23. Joe Marchant.
Ireland
15. Hugo Keenan, 14. Keith Earls, 13. Robbie Henshaw, 12. Bundee Aki, 11. Jacob Stockdale, 10. Jonathan Sexton (C), 9. Conor Murray, 1. Dave Kilcoyne, 2. Rob Herring, 3. Tadhg Furlong, 4. Iain Henderson, 5. Tadhg Beirne, 6. CJ Stander, 7. Josh van der Flier, 8. Jack Conan.
Replacements
16. Ronan Kelleher, 17. Cian Healy, 18. Andrew Porter, 19. Ryan Baird, 20. Peter O’Mahony, 21. Jamison Gibson Park, 22. Billy Burns, 23. Jordan Larmour.
Results
6 February - England 6-11 Scotland
13 February - England 41-18 Italy
27 February - Wales 40-24 England
13 March - England 23-20 France
20 March - Ireland 32-18 England
