Match Report - England take home spoils in brutal Dublin battle
England stunned reigning Six Nations champions Ireland 32-20 to take a giant step towards reclaiming their crown with a first win in Dublin for six years.
Leading 17-13 in an epic opening-weekend title showdown that lived up to expectations, they engineered the decisive moment in the 66th minute when Henry Slade and Jonny May combined brilliantly from a scrum for Slade to touch down.
It was a try made possible by the pace of May, who along with Jack Nowell on the opposite wing was magnificent throughout an afternoon of drama and high-quality rugby.
Owen Farrell was on target with a penalty to put the game beyond Ireland’s reach as the Aviva Stadium was stormed for the first time in the Six Nations since 2013, securing Eddie Jones’ 29th win in 36 Tests.
Joe Schmidt’s Grand Slam champions fell apart in the closing stages, enabling Slade to plunder his second try, before replacement John Cooney restored some scoreboard credibility in the final seconds.
Jones’ decision to retain Elliot Daly at full-back rather than revert to the security provided by Mike Brown was partially vindicated by his involvement in both first-half tries, the second of which he finished by pouncing on an error by Jacob Stockdale.
England bristled with intent when in possession and benefited from the return of forwards Mako and Billy Vunipola and centre Manu Tuilagi, the bulldozing trio starting together for the first time due to injury.
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After years spent in the treatment room rehabilitating serious groin, chest and knee injuries, Tuilagi’s first Six Nations start since 2013 was especially welcome and his duel with opposite number Bundee Aki was thunderous.
An enthralling victory took a savage toll, however, as Maro Itoje and Kyle Sinckler limped off in the second half.
The speed of England’s ball, combined with a line-out thrown straight to Tuilagi, enabled the Irish whitewash to be breached after only 92 seconds through May.
Tuilagi was repeatedly involved in the early onslaught but it also took an injection of pace and a well-timed pass from Daly to send May over for England’s first try in Dublin since 2011.
Tom Curry was sent to the sin-bin for a late tackle on Keith Earls shortly after Johnny Sexton landed a penalty and Ireland’s slow start was now a distant memory as the green shirts poured forward.
The hapless Earls was then clattered heavily by Itoje as he lined up a catch, incurring another penalty to dent English momentum.
Ireland were showing trademark mastery of keeping possession and this in turn caused ripples of panic in their opponents as the game’s frenzied pace continued.
Cian Healy burrowed over for a try from a line-out that rewarded the bold decision to opt for touch in instead of the posts, but England were back in front on the half hour mark when Daly touched down his own kick following a fumble by Stockdale.
And it was Jones’ men who finished the half stronger, pounding away at the whitewash before winning a penalty which was successfully kicked by Farrell.
England began to suffocate Ireland by using kicks and their big pack to keep them pinned in their own half and when the opportunity presented itself they attacked with precision.
One assault broke down, however, when Farrell was on the receiving end of a hard tackle by Ringrose and suddenly they were defending in their own 22.
It proved to be a costly passage of play as Sexton slotted a penalty to narrow the lead to 17-13 before Itoje limped off – soon to be joined by Sinckler.
But England wrestled back control brilliantly and the key try was a work of art.
A scrum gave Slade the ball and he fed a pinpoint long pass to the sprinting May, who kicked ahead for Slade to touch down – timing his onside run to perfection.
Slade then picked off Sexton’s pass as the world player of the year sought to inspire the fightback, before Cooney had the final say.
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Hi Nick. Thanks for your +++ ongoing analysis. Re Vunivalu, He’s been benched recently and it will be interesting to see what Kiss does with him as we enter the backend of SRP. I’m still not sold.
Go to commentsIn the fine tradition of Irish rugby, Leinster cheat well and for some reason only known to whoever referees them, they are allowed to get away with it every single game. If teams have not got the physicality up front to stop them getting the ball, they will win every single game. They take out players beyond the ruck and often hold them on the ground. Those that are beyond the ruck and therefore offside, hover there to cause distraction but also to join the next ruck from the side thereby stopping the jackal. The lineout prior to the second try on Saturday. 3 Leinster players left the lineout before the ball was thrown and were driving the maul as soon as the player hit the ground and thereby getting that valuable momentum. They scrummage illegally, with the looshead turning in to stop the opposing tighthead from pushing straight and making it uncomfortable for the hooker. The tighthead takes a step and tries to get his opposite loosehead to drop the bind. Flankers often ‘move up’ and actually bind on the prop and not remain bound to the second row. It does cause chaos and is done quickly and efficiently so that referees are blinded by the illegal tactics. I am surprised opposition coaches when they meet referees before games don’t mention it. I am also surprised that they do not go to the referees group and ask them to look at the tactics used and referee them properly. If they are the better team and win, fair play but a lot of their momentum is gained illegally and therefore it is not a level playing field.
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