Ireland’s Six Nations title defence is up and running, and with it, their shot at history has been significantly enhanced.
For all that the road to a potential record-breaking third consecutive championship is still laced with danger, taking out one of their main rivals England has given Ireland huge momentum heading into next weekend’s trip to Edinburgh to face a Scotland side who opened their tournament with a 31-19 win over Italy.
Concerns about life without Andy Farrell were eased for now at least, as interim head coach Simon Easterby guided Ireland to a crucial bonus point victory in his first game in temporary charge.
Farrell was at the Aviva Stadium in his role as Lions head coach, and the Ireland boss will have been pleased by the manner in which his players dug deep, even if the sloppy errors that were a hallmark throughout November were evident again at times here. Those mistakes alone will ensure no one gets ahead of themselves.
Ireland will feel as though they left plenty of scores behind them, but their four tries, courtesy of Jamison Gibson-Park, Bundee Aki, Tadhg Beirne and Dan Sheehan, were of the highest order.
Ireland’s bench made a big impact, and Easterby deserves credit for looking to it as early as he did, with Dan Sheehan, Jack Conan, Jack Crowley and Robbie Henshaw all helping to get the job done.
The only real negative was Ireland losing Finlay Bealham to a second-half injury, which meant a Six Nations debut for Thomas Clarkson, but with Tadhg Furlong (calf) and Tom O’Toole (suspended) already ruled out of the Scotland clash, Easterby now has serious concerns at tighthead.
True to their team selection, England looked to overpower Ireland and dominate them at the breakdown, but Ireland were well-equipped, even if they will be bitterly disappointed that two conceded two soft tries late on.
A poor start from Ireland was compounded when Mack Hansen was briefly forced off, which meant Garry Ringrose shifted out to the right wing to accommodate Henshaw in midfield.
The reshuffle didn’t go unnoticed by England, who were rewarded for their early dominance, as they went after Ringrose’s wing after a missed tackle on Ollie Lawerence in midfield. England moved the ball wide, and Henry Slade’s clever grubber kick in behind the Ireland defence sat up perfectly for Cadan Murley, who marked his international debut with a try.
Marcus Smith added the touchline conversion for a deserved 7-0 lead inside the opening 10 minutes.
Ireland were slow to warm to the task, but with Sam Prendergast growing in confidence, their attack showed glimpses of clicking without having the clinical edge.
Rónan Kelleher thought he had cancelled out Murley’s try from a five-metre tap training ground move, but the TMO spotted that Beirne had held Maro Itoje in the ruck.
Ireland were continuing to dominate territory and possession, and when Smith was yellow-carded on 25 minutes for a cynical offside offence close to his own line, it looked as though the hosts would finally press home their advantage.
However, further unforced errors, including two sloppy penalty concessions and dropped balls continued to kill Ireland’s momentum.
Just as it looked like 14-man England would see out the sin bin period, Ireland struck, and the try was worth the wait. Ringrose floated a wide pass for James Lowe who powered through Alex Michell’s attempted tackle before he brilliantly found Gibson-Park, who had run a trademark clever inside line. The scrum-half still had work to do, but his vicious step beat Freddie Steward on his way over the line.
Prendergast couldn’t pull Ireland level, and as Smith returned for the remaining four minutes of the half, the England out-half added a late penalty in front of the posts to put his side 10-5 to the good at the break.
Ireland were gifted a strong platform shortly after the restart when Murley let the ball bounce over him and into the dead ball area, where green jerseys swallowed him up to force a five-metre scrum. But Ireland’s inaccuracies again cost them, the otherwise excellent Kelleher the latest to lose the ball close to the England line.
Easterby responded by sending on Sheehan and Conan, and the replacements immediately mader their presence felt. Ireland stayed patient and when Prendergast floated another lovely pass for Aki, the powerful centre ran over Smith and through Tommy Freeman for what was a stunning finish in the corner.
Prendergast was off target with the touchline conversion but he made no mistake with a well-struck penalty from over 40 metres out to put Ireland in front (13-10) for the first time. That was Prendergast’s last contribution, as Crowley was sent on to see it home.
Easterby again got the desired response from his bench. This time it came from a lineout play, as Conan secured the set-piece before his fellow substitute Henshaw powered up the middle. Gibson-Park’s dummy sold the English defence and he again linked with Lowe, who made the break before putting Beirne away from a brilliant score that Crowley converted.
Ireland saved their best for last to secure the bonus point on the back of another sensational move. Sheehan started and finished it – first releasing Conan for a big bust, the fit-again hooker then showing great pace to apply the finishing touch to Lowe’s sumptuous offload. Crowley nailed the difficult kick.
Tom Curry and Freeman got over for two late consolation tries that Ireland will hope don’t come back to haunt them later on in the tournament, as their attention turns to Scotland next weekend – the latest step in their quest to create history.
Ireland: H Keenan; M Hansen (R Henshaw 4-17), G Ringrose, B Aki (R Henshaw 57), J Lowe; S Prendergast (J Crowley 58), J Gibson-Park (C Murray 75); A Porter (C Healy 74), R Kelleher (D Sheehan 50), F Bealham (T Clarkson 58); J Ryan (I Henderson 61), T Beirne; R Baird (J Conan 50), J van der Flier, C Doris (capt).
England: F Steward (F Smith 65); T Freeman, O Lawrence, H Slade, C Murley; M Smith, A Mitchell (H Randall 65); E Genge (F Baxter 70), L Cowan-Dickie (T Dan 56, W Stuart (J Heyes 37-h-t, 50-60, 70); M Itoje (capt), G Martin (O Chessum 60); T Curry, B Curry (C Cunningham-South 60), B Earl (T Willis 56).
Referee: B O’Keefe (New Zealand)
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“It’s awesome. we are so lucky to be back here infront of our home fans. I have to give credit to England, they played great, but we are delighted with the bonus point.
“We’ll take a bit of confidence heading into Scotland, they were a good side but we will take a lot from that and move on to Murrayfield next week”
Ireland captain Caelan Doris
“Definitely disappointing to concede at the end but great performance at home against a quality England side. When we did things our way and got quick ball we were able to hurt them.”
Lowe, Gibson-Park and Keenan were the standouts for Simon Easterby’s men. Plenty to improve but result wise, it was great.
27-15. 3 minutes left.
Bonus point. Second-half brilliance. Sighs of relief all round.
From the resulting lineout, Ireland threaten but Crowley gets isolated and it’s a penalty to England.
Brilliant. Crucial.