Ireland 29 England 10
In many respects this was not the commanding performance Ireland wanted as an Aviva Stadium send-off to the World Cup but in some respects it was ideal. As a seasonal hit-out for the core of the frontline team this was flawed and error-prone with room for improvement, yet still convincing and with a near fairytale finish.
In truth, the 29-10 scoreline flattered a joyless English team – with their joyless brand of rugby – probably more than last week’s scrappy win over Wales, for Ireland will rue much of the inaccuracies which undermined this display, not least a malfunctioning lineout.
But where England were narrow, blunt, structured, obsessed with kicking and lacking in invention, Ireland were more error prone because they played with vastly more ambition and width. The latter was a key factor in them outscoring England by five tries to one, with four being scored through players hugging the touchlines.
The main concern was Dan Sheehan’s departure with what appeared to be a foot injury seemingly incurred when fly hacking the ball upfield.
The scrum went well, and Tadgh Beirne, Josh van der Flier and Cian Prendergast put in big shifts, albeit the Irish pack missed the dynamic carrying of a Caelan Doris or Jack Conan. Behind them, Jamison Gibson-Park will be better after shaking off the cobwebs here and Ross Byrne grew into the game, although he’ll rue missing three of four kicks.
Bundee Aki had a very influential game and the outside three looked particularly sharp, with Mack Hansen having a superb all-round performance, be it fielding the English aerial bombardment, as a playmaker, a finisher, and also with some outstanding defensive reads.
Given his dyed hair tribute to Keith Earls, that was fitting, although even more appropriate was the latter finishing the scoring with his 36th try on the day he became Ireland’s ninth centurion.
For the third meeting in a row, England’s efforts were blighted by a third red card, after Billy Vunipola’s yellow for catching Andrew Porter’s head with his shoulder was upgraded to red by the bunker official. That, and Earls’ introduction, belatedly brought both the crowd and the occasion to life.
There was a nice momentum when “Ireland’s 17 newest caps” were introduced to the crowd after being retrospectively awarded caps from games against Argentina between 1946 to 1989 which the IRFU have belatedly upgraded to full Tests, among them Frank O’Driscoll – father of Brian – and Paul Clinch.
They’d also been enjoying the Union’s hospitality, which meant they probably enjoyed the first half more than most in a subdued crowd that looked well short of the supposed sell-out.
As expected, an England team utterly devoid of ambition brought nothing but their kicking game, along with solid set pieces and defence. Ireland looked capable of dissecting England whenever they generated quick ball and timed their runs and passes, as they did at either end of the first period, but hardly at all in between as their attack spluttered.
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Unhelpfully, and one imagines much to Paul O’Connell’s irritation, Ireland’s lineout didn’t really click, and when it did their maul couldn’t generate much go-forward ball while there was another penalty for obstruction, this time against James Ryan, who was pinged three times in the half.
Tadgh Beirne was first to transgress when not rolling away, and George Ford opened the scoring. Ireland’s first attack floundered on a high long pass by Gibson-Park to Prendergast, and Ford kicked downfield. Hugo Keenan covered superbly and James Lowe found a mighty 70 metre touch.
The opening try originated in one of five takes in the air by Hansen, from which Ringrose passed long to Lowe on the wing and, as ever, the ball was recycled after he took on Watson on the outside to spread the English defence off the next recycle.
Van der Flier’s soft, short pass drew Will Stuart’s attention in creating the gap for Peter O’Mahony to time his line perfectly, with Aki in support. The Irish flanker drew Freddie Steward before giving Aki a clear run to the line for a try which Byrne converted.
As Ireland’s performance went off kilter, this was typified by a rare overthrow by Sheehan and an even more unlikely kick out on the full by Keenan but England offered nothing, Ford even missing a 30 metre penalty from slightly to the left of the posts.
When Ford missed a penalty to touch, admittedly Lowe did brilliantly to keep the ball infield and kick downfield, Vunipola’s knock-on proved a turning point.
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After Ireland worked the ball wide to O’Mahony, again stretching the English defence off the recycle, Hansen showed his all-round footballing ability by stepping into midfield and crosskicking perfectly for Garry Ringrose, hugging the right touchline. Despite slipping slightly as he stepped inside Steward, Ringrose fended Daly to finish well.
Byrne didn’t have his best 40 minutes in the first half and his attempted cross kick from his own 22 was not only too high for Gibson-Park, it would have cleared Ryan, but the outhalf began to find a much slicker rhythm to his game as Ireland went through the gears after Vunipola was sent from the pitch.
Keenan, Ryan and van der Flier all made big carries before Byrne and Aki trucked it up. Byrne weighed up his options against an over-worked defence and skip passed to Lowe on the left touchline for a walk-in.
The crowd rose as one to greet Earls’ introduction just before the hour and roared a big defensive set which culminated in Finlay Bealham winning a turnover penalty.
Ringrose and Andrew Porter counter-rucked and Ryan kicked ahead before Maro Itoje tackled Keenan around the neck. Although the throw was crooked with their next kick to the corner they launched Herring infield, and went through the phases before Prendergast pulled the ball back for Gibson-Park on the wrap, Byrne floated another long pass, this time off his left, for Hansen to step a leaden-footed Steward.
Although Kyle Sinckler scored from close-range after a quick tap by Danny Care, the crowd and the occasion was given the finale it desired. Van der Flier again made the initial inroads before Aki flung a huge pass to Earls on the left touchline.
The veteran winger had to jump to catch the ball but dived over by the corner flag with a flourish and was engulfed by team-mates, akin to Johnny Sexton when he marked his century of caps with a try against Japan here.
You couldn’t have scripted that, although maybe you could.
Scoring sequence – 5 mins: Ford pen 0-3; 9 mins: Aki try, Byrne con 7-3; 39 mins: Ringrose try 12-3; (half-time 12-3); 55 mins: Lowe try 17-3; 65 mins: Hansen try 22-3; 72 mins: Sinckler try, Ford con 22-10; 74 mins: Earls try, Crowley con 29-10.
IRELAND: Hugo Keenan (Leinster/UCD); Mack Hansen (Connacht/Corinthians), Garry Ringrose (Leinster/UCD), Bundee Aki (Connacht/Galwegians), James Lowe (Leinster); Ross Byrne (Leinster/UCD), Jamison Gibson-Park (Leinster); Andrew Porter (Leinster/UCD), Dan Sheehan (Leinster/Lansdowne), Tadhg Furlong (Leinster/Clontarf); Tadhg Beirne (Munster/Lansdowne), James Ryan (Leinster/UCD, capt); Peter O’Mahony (Munster/Cork Constitution), Josh van der Flier (Leinster/UCD), Cian Prendergast (Connacht/Corinthians).
Replacements: Rob Herring (Ulster/Ballynahinch) for Sheehan (37 mins), Joe McCarthy (Leinster/Dublin University) for O’Mahony (53 mins), Finlay Bealham (Connacht/Buccaneers) for Furlong (58 mins), Jack Crowley (Munster/Cork Constitution) for Aki (59-69 mins) and for Byrne (69 mins), Keith Earls (Munster/Young Munster) for Lowe (59 mins), Conor Murray (Munster/Garryowen) for Gibson-Park (67 mins), Caelan Doris (Leinster/St Mary’s College), Jeremy Loughman (Garryowen/Munster) for Porter (72 mins).
ENGLAND: Freddie Steward (Leicester Tigers); Anthony Watson (unattached), Joe Marchant (Stade Francais), Manu Tuilagi (Sale Sharks), Elliot Daly (Saracens); George Ford (Sale Sharks), Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers, 123 caps); Ellis Genge (Bristol Bears), Jamie George (Saracens), Will Stuart (Bath Rugby); Maro Itoje (Saracens), David Ribbans (Toulon); Courtney Lawes (captain) (Northampton Saints), Ben Earl (Saracens), Billy Vunipola (Saracens).
Replacements: Kyle Sinckler (Bristol Bears) Stuart (45 mins), Ollie Chessum (Leicester Tigers) for Ribbans (51 mins), Joe Marler (Harlequins) for Genge, Danny Care (Harlequins) (both 57 mins), Ollie Lawrence (Bath Rugby) for Tuilagi (61 mins), Theo Dan (Saracens) for George (67 mins), Marcus Smith (Harlequins) for Watson (70 mins), Jack Willis (Toulouse) for (76 mins).
Sent-off: Vunipola (53 mins).
Referee: Paul Williams (New Zealand)
