Soon after the sending off of Charlie Ewels, an image of Eddie Jones flashed on the big screens at either end of Twickenham. The England head coach was fearing the worst. His side were down to 14 players less than 90 seconds into a contest he himself had termed a semi-final, and the home fans, already displeased despite the just dismissal of a clumsy Ewels, appeared to up the volume of their booing at the sight of the home head coach.
Come full-time, victory was Ireland’s by a record margin, but Twickenham did not break again into boos. The blunt facts are that another bottom-half finish likely beckons for England, and it is Andy Farrell’s side that go on with Six Nations hopes intact and a bonus point win, but the English players afterwards suggested that this was a performance in which they felt a coming of age.
It looked like it might get ugly in an opening quarter of Murphy’s law for the home side. Not only had they lost Ewels to the earliest red card in Six Nations history, but Tom Curry had limped off, too, and Ireland had shown their potent, precise best with James Lowe’s gallop to the corner.
Yet thereafter, even at a numerical disadvantage, England were arguably on top until the final 10 minutes. With an energy and cohesion that they have rarely showed when at full complement, they fought back to level proceedings, bringing the aggression promised. There is no such thing as a good defeat for a side of England’s ambition and resources, but their head coach rued only his side’s inexperience.
“I thought we could win it,” reflected Jones. “You know when you are playing with 14 men for that period of time and also lose two of your starting forwards that fatigue is going to be a factor, so we needed to keep making the pitch small.
“Unfortunately on two situations we opened up the pitch for Ireland which gave them great running opportunities to put us under pressure and they were good enough to convert that pressure. Those little inaccuracies and decision making really cost us.”
Sliding doors; colliding jaws – one can only wonder quite how the game might have played out had Ewels not rightly been shown red for his high hit. Would England have played with the same togetherness and intensity? Perhaps there was opportunity in adversity as a young team united, led by herculean efforts from Ellis Genge and Maro Itoje.
Twickenham was raucous, as loud as for any fixture in recent recollection – occasionally overstepping the mark, like when booing right through Johnny Sexton’s kick for the posts after Ewels’s dismissal, but otherwise accentuating a pulsating contest, and lifting an England side united in adversity. The home fans roared every scrum penalty orchestrated by the magnificent Genge, and the thumping hit on Sexton from Itoje, quite literally doing the work of two men, was received with fervid crescendo.
England’s valour and venom eventually faded, as it always felt likely to, allowing Ireland to finally burst into viridescent hue after rediscovering their composure. It was imperfect from Farrell’s side, but beat Scotland and they will have the Triple Crown and a chance at a Six Nations title.
The same cannot be said of their hosts. While large aspects of the performance and the character shown were plus points for Jones, the result does little for England. Is the manner of a valiant defeat enough to outweigh the flaws recurrent? The attack still fails to function as Jones and Martin Gleeson have outlined. Of course, the lack of a 15th body hurt on this occasion, but leaving aside the Italy game, England have made only six linebreaks all tournament, and scored only two tries.
They will confront the slam-seeking French without the hamstrung Curry, a presumably suspended Ewels and possibly a concussed Kyle Sinckler, too – the might of France’s mobile mountains up front may well tell.
Jones is hopeful: “We’re disappointed we haven’t won the championship but sometimes circumstances means that maybe the results don’t mimic the performance. I think we’ve taken massive steps forward.
“We dominated the game against Scotland, we got beaten. We’ve dominated this game with 14 men, at times, and got beaten. And then we’ve had two good wins against Wales and Italy and we’ll have a good win against France.”
The England head coach went on to describe this as a “foundation” game for his side, and the final, decorative flourishes still look a long way off. A spoiling of the Paris party seems unlikely – but, perversely, their biggest defeat at home under Jones does give England something upon which to build.
Italy 22-33 Scotland
There was plenty to like about Italy’s performance against Scotland, even if another pointless Six Nations beckons. It was a chaotic game at time defined by open-field scampers, but with a creative, considered kicking game, and clever usage of heavier ball carriers from deep, the home side challenged Scotland’s defence plenty. They were perhaps unfortunate not to punish a scratchy performance from the visitors, who looked short of a ruthless edge.
Also worth noting is Italy’s Under-20s’ 27-13 win over their Scottish counterparts, which was less of a surprise. The debate about Italy won’t go away but they are improving by the week. Michele Lamaro is growing into a talisman – Italy dropped off during the period that their captain was off the pitch for medical attention in the first half – and Paolo Garbisi, too.
Wales 9-13 France
It was ugly and untidy, but onwards France go. Shaun Edwards’s defence showed all of its strength back on familiar ground, and while they were some way short of fluency, a shot at the chelem awaits – and how they have earnt that chance. The atmosphere in Paris next Saturday evening should be very special indeed.
Wales will reflect on a missed opportunity against perhaps the world’s best team. As Dan Biggar said, a tight game was decided in the big moments and they failed to take them, much as though there was excellence in the execution of their approach to stymieing the French. More attacking adventure will be required against Italy, with Alun Wyn Jones’s latest Lazarus return sure to dominate some of the pre-match discussion – even if it may also be a game for Wayne Pivac to look to the future.
