Rob Kitson was our man at this tumultuous match and you can read his full report here
Courtney Lawes is talking to ITV:
“Class effort from the boys, I couldn’t ask of anything more from them. We rally wanted to make it right for Ewelsy and the forwards did an incredible job, for the vast majority of the game we managed to bully them.”
“Greetings from Dublin” says a relieved Nora Mulcahy, “we kept the best wine till last, but fair play to England they put it up to us.”
They certainly did, Nora. An incredible effort that discombobulated Ireland for large parts of the game.
“Still don’t think the red card ruined the game?” asks Tony Mason.
I thought it was great game, which by no definition could be classed as ruined.
“When Ewels was sent off in the 2nd minute this game was over.” argues Ross Riddle, “A team of 14 can put in a heroic effort but will always run out of steam after the 60th minute. Zero surprise that Ireland scores twice in the last 10 minutes to close it out. Watching a rugby match where the result is 90% decided in the 2nd minute does ruin the spectacle.”
Again, I disagree, that was objectively a good game of rugby.
Also, it’s not the laws’ or the ref’s fault that Charlie Ewels decided to tackle upright with force - something all coaches and tackling players have been told is a no-no for the best part of three years. Maybe Eddie Jones much hyped talk of physicality in the build up backfired on his own team?
FULL TIME! England 15 - 32 Ireland
PEEEP PEEEEEEEEEEEEP! An outstanding game comes to an end with an Ireland victory.
Updated
80 mins. Johnny Sexton is subbed for Joey Carbery, surely for the simple reason that he gets to stroll off and get some applause it what is likely his last appearance at Twickenham
78 mins. I know you can’t give Player of the Match to a losing team, but it should be given to Maro Itoje, who has been a complete menace.
But, because rules, Jamison Gibson-Park has been given it.
TRY! England 15 - 32 Ireland (Finlay Bealham)
76 mins. England have sent the forward on from the bench, but they still look leggy as the game draws to to a close. From the latest Ireland lineout they catch and drive, let Lowe have a big run at the line and then Finlay Bealham finishes from in close under a pile of bodies.
Sexton adds the two points.
Updated
TRY! England 15 - 25 Ireland (Jack Conan)
73 mins. Ireland are up to double figures in phases in the England half. The white defence is working unbelievably hard, but the men in green don’t’ panic and move the ball left then right. Andrew Conway is just short of the line and on the next phase, sub Jack Conan crashes over to finally give Ireland some breathing space.
Sexton converts
Updated
71 mins. Hugo Keenan takes another towering kick and runs into the England half. Doris puts the gas on to bust the line and is one on one with the last England defender as he attempts to find Conor Murray - on for Gibson Park - the pass is just behind him and he fumbles it forward.
68 mins. Andrew Conway follows up his incredible kick earlier by punting the ball out on the full from outside his 22. England have a lineout deep in the Ireland half, but cometh the moment, cometh Tadhg Beirne who climbs to swipe the possession from England.
Updated
PENALTY! England 15 - 18 Ireland (Johnny Sexton)
65 mins. Sexton kicks his side back in front.
64 mins. OH MY WORD! Ireland on the attack again in the England 22, they are inches out and Sexton attempts a long pass left across the face of the defence which is intercepted by Steward. He has 90 metres of open pasture between him and the line and is away into it before a loud blast on the whistle calls him back!
Irish advantage was being played.
Updated
“You said ‘you look at the evidence of the actual games red card happen in; as this one has also demonstrated.’” challenges Alastair Maiden, “What evidence. What percentage of teams losing a player go on to win?”
I didn’t say they went on to win, I said there’s not a lot of evidence the games are ruined.
Updated
PENALTY! England 15 - 15 Ireland (Marcus Smith)
60 mins. It’s another scrum penalty won by England and another three points for Smith. You’d better believe it’s all square with a quarter to play.
Sometimes sport is an emotional game, and England’s emotions and running rampant over Ireland at the moment.
Updated
56 mins. Rob Herring finds Beirne in the lineout but then Henderson seals off and it’s another penalty for England. On the next possession Smith sends it up toward Keenan and while the fullback claims it, he’s held up and England win a scrum on the 22 following a more commited chase than Ireland’s covering defence.
Frankly, even with England’s huge emotional commitment here, Ireland’s issues are much of their own making.
55 mins. Here’s a novelty, Ireland have won a penalty. It’s at the breakdown on their own 10m line and Sexton sends it into touch just outside the England 22.
53 mins. Ireland bring on Dave Kilcoyne and Rob Herring for Cian Healy and Dan Sheehan
PENALTY! England 12 - 15 Ireland (Marcus Smith)
52 mins. It’s another penalty for Smith and England simply will not let Ireland get away.
Updated
51 mins. Keenan claims another kick, but the England chase is rapid and it’s Marchant again with the jackal at the ruck to win the penalty.
Ben Youngs has replaced Harry Randall.
49 mins. England concede possession to Ireland for closing the line at the lineout, but the visitors again fumble the ball in England’s 22. At the scrum, England again force an Irish collapse and if -if - England are to get anything from this game, then this scrum performance must play a huge part.
47 mins. Itoje claims a clean lineout that puts England back into a decent maul, but as the ball breaks free possession is lost a couple of phases later. It breaks to Porter who puts in a clearing kick for the ages as he finds a 60 metre touch with about 5 metres width to play with.
45 mins. Ireland are pounding the England tackle line in the home 22 after Gibson-Park quickly taps a penalty, but Beirne forces an offload towards Henderson that goes to ground. England scrum, five metres from their own line and it’s yet another penalty for the home pack.
Updated
43 mins. Smith launches a monster kick into the sky, but the outstanding Keenan claims with a towering jump under pressure. This puts Ireland immediately back on the attack as that man Lowe again has a long run into the England half.
SECOND HALF!
40 mins. Ireland start the second half by completely mangling their restart gathering drill and England are on the attack early. But, the home side force the ball a bit and Ireland are on the fumble to clear it.
“Right call or not” argues Christopher Stanley, “the laws around red cards need to be looked at.”
“This game has been ruined as a contest after 90 seconds. 80,000 people in the stadium. Millions watching around the world. Red cards should mean player permanently excluded and team a man down for 15mins. Can then bring on a replacement.”
I respectfully disagree, Christopher. For the main reason that I don’t believe red cards ruin games if you look at the evidence of the actual games they happen in; as this one has also demonstrated.
Plus, red card offences should have a significant impact on a team, they are the most egregious infringements in the game.
HALF TIME!
PEEP! That’s yer lot for this eventful half.
Updated
PENALTY! England 9 - 15 Ireland (Marcus Smith)
40+1 mins. Smith puts it over to end the half.
39 mins. Nowell brilliantly claims the England kick-off and puts the home side on the attack in the Ireland 22. It’s another penalty infringement from Ireland as Henderson grabs Randall’s hand in the ruck.
TRY! England 6 - 15 Ireland (Hugo Keenan)
37 mins. Except the lineout didn’t come as England were pinged for closing the line. Ireland tap and go and Gibson Park finds Keenan coming from deep to rattle over from short metres.
Sexton converts.
Updated
34 mins. Ireland have some possession for the first time in a little bit and Aki puts them into the England half with a trademark carry. There’s a penalty advantage for a marginal high tackle by Itoje which Sexton puts in the corner. Attacking lineout coming on the England 22.
PENALTY! England 6 - 8 Ireland (Marcus Smith)
32 mins. YET ANOTHER Ireland penalty, this time for moving forward ahead of the kicker and called offside. The visitors have now conceded 8 (eight!) penalties despite being a man up.
Smith tees it up again and this time slots it.
Updated
MISSED PENALTY! England 3 - 8 Ireland (Marcus Smith)
29 mins. Smith slides it just right and spurns the opportunity to make this the most unlikely two point game.
27 mins. Maro Itoje has decided to assert himself in an Irish maul on the England 22. He comes through the middle and ruins the possession and wins a scrum. Then, on the subsequent scrum, Ellis Genge decides he’ll take a turn to do something and drives through Furlong to win a penalty.
And another penalty as Iain Henderson enters a maul from the side at the next lineout.
Updated
25 mins. England try the catch and drive but the Ireland pack stop it dead before it even moves an inch. Jamie George carries it and loses it, some kicks go back and forth before Keenan and Sexton break up the right touchline a full 60 metres and England manage to bundle Ringrose into touch.
This is incredible, end-to-end stuff.
Who says red cards ruin games?
23 mins. England are imposing themselves on the game via the traditional method of the artisan maul. When the ball is out it comes right via Marchant and Simmonds before Ireland are offside as they scramble. Slade puts it in the corner!
The noise is high in Twickenham as the crowd sense something happening here.
20 mins. Ireland are getting regular joy on the left via James Lowe and after another big run the ball is worked inside. But, Tadgh Beirne drops the ball under a big tackle from Sinckler and England have a free-kick from the scrum.
PENALTY! England 3 - 8 Ireland (Marcus Smith)
17 mins. Another England scrum ends with a penalty for the home side; siege mentality appears to be setting in as the shock of the first 10 minutes starts to dissipate.
Smith steps up and gets his side on the board.
15 mins. Ireland are back on the attack via James Lowe, but Joe Marchant gets his hands on the ball to win a turnover penalty. Great work from the England centre.
Ireland will need to not let hubris set in here in the midst of this conspicuously unusual start.
In the latest bad news for England, Tom Curry is limping off to be replaced by Alex Dombrandt.
13 mins. Oh hello! The England pack will not go quietly and an almighty shove wins a penalty for the home side.
Updated
DISALLOWED TRY! Caelan Doris (Ireland)
12 mins. Ireland are swarming in the England 22, with each player taking a turn to carry into the desperate England defence. Eventually it’s flung left to Doris on the touchline who absolutely powders the covering Randall to smash over and ground it.
But, it looks like Ringrose fumbled it forward at the base of a previous ruck. No Try.
However, that passage showed England have a great deal to worry about when Ireland get on the front foot.
9 mins. Tadhg Furlong puts the hammer down in the scrum and the makeshift England eight crumbles under the pressure. Ireland will have a lineout in the England half.
8 mins. Iain Henderson has replaced James Ryan for the duration of his HIA. I very much doubt Ryan is coming back on.
England have a scrum on the Ireland 10m line as they try to sort out just what the hell they do from here in. The first thing is they’ve put Jack Nowell into the openside flank.
TRY! England 0 - 8 Ireland (James Lowe)
6 mins. Dan Sheehan and Josh Van Der Flier work a three-on-two out wide to Lowe who gallops in from forty metres.
Sexton can’t slot the extras from out wide.
Updated
PENALTY! England 0 - 3 Ireland (Johnny Sexton)
3 mins. It was high degree of danger and terrible tackle technique from Ewels. The crowd are having a right old boo and hiss, but it was the right decision.
At the end of all that, Sexton kicks the penalty to put Ireland ahead.
RED CARD! Charlie Ewels (England)
And it take Mathieu Raynal very little time to make a decision to permanently dispatch Ewels from the game.
Updated
2 mins. Randall sends a box kick up and on the return Ireland go through hands with plenty offloads. The ball makes its way to James Lowe on the left but the England drift shuts the door. There’s more of the same from Ireland but in the midst of it Charlie Ewels looks to have had and head-on-head collision with James Ryan.
Ryan is being looked at, and the Ref wants a good look at the tackle...
KICK OFF!
1 min. The conditions a pretty much perfect and Johnny Sexton gets us started under the watchful eye of Ref Mathieu Raynal.
Here come the teams, with Ireland out on the field doing little sprints and somesuch; apart from 76-year-old Sexton who is sensibly doing a gentle walk.
Courtney Lawes then leads out England to a swell of noise.
Not long now.
Updated
The Coaches are chatting to Martin Bayfield on ITV.
Eddie Jones has confirmed that Itoje is recovered and definitely starting.
Andy Farrell has refused to be drawn on the Jones’s midweek kidology, meeting questions with a wall of PR speak about “process” and the like.
Pre-match reading
“He has what Liam Neeson might call a very particular set of skills – skills acquired over a very long career.”
Andy Bull takes a look at Peter O’Mahony’s role today.
It’s a big old match and I’m sure you all have some big new opinions on it.
Why not send them my way by email or on Twitter
Teams
Eddie Jones had some late injury-mither with Maro Itoje being unwell overnight on Thursday, but it appears he’s recovered, albeit we still await final confirmation.
Last minute bugs-going-around news aside; Joe Marchant is in outside centre, Elliot Daly takes a seat on the bench. In the pack, Jamie George starts at hooker while Sam Simmonds starts at No 8 ahead of bench-bound Alex Dombrandt. Can’t help but feel this is the proper ‘international arrival’ opportunity to Simmonds, but will he take it?
Jamie Blamire and Joe Launchbury also return to the matchday squad, both on the bench.
Ireland played Italy last time out, so there’s changes aplenty, but this certainly has more than a whiff of what Farrell considers to be his first choice team at present.
England: Freddie Steward; Max Malins, Joe Marchant, Henry Slade, Jack Nowell; Marcus Smith, Harry Randall; Ellis Genge, Jamie George, Kyle Sinckler, Maro Itoje, Charlie Ewels, Courtney Lawes (captain), Tom Curry, Sam Simmonds.
Replacements: Jamie Blamire, Joe Marler, Will Stuart, Joe Launchbury, Alex Dombrandt, Ben Youngs, George Ford, Elliot Daly.
Ireland: Hugo Keenan; Andrew Conway, Garry Ringrose, Bundee Aki, James Lowe; Johnny Sexton (captain), Jamison Gibson Park; Cian Healy, Dan Sheehan, Tadhg Furlong, Tadhg Beirne, James Ryan, Peter O’Mahony, Josh van der Flier, Caelan Doris.
Replacements: Rob Herring, Dave Kilcoyne, Finlay Bealham, Iain Henderson, Jack Conan, Conor Murray, Joey Carbery, Robbie Henshaw.
Preamble
Welcome to Twickenham, where there’s quite the game on.
One of the most fascinating things about the Six Nations is that the low number of fixtures imbues the result of so many game with much importance. Like a reverse-baseball season.
This match is not only a massive clash because of all it brings in its own right, but there is a lot riding on it for both teams. England lose this and they head to Paris next week with the real possibility of only two tournament match victories - a win changes the whole complexion of the year for them. This is not lost on Eddie Jones who has spent all week with his mindgames settings all the way up to eleven, calling Ireland “the most cohesive side in the world” while throwing shade that they “haven’t played a game as physical as this in a long time”. Andy Farrell, a man who spent the majority of his playing career in the unstoppable behemoth of the 1990s Wigan RLFC team, will have little trouble dealing with the mentality that is required when favourites.
Ireland need a win to maintain maximum pressure on France and also to cement their position as clearly in the top two in Europe alongside Les Bleus with daylight before the rest hone into view.
On form and personnel Ireland should win this in a way not unlike that which despatched England in Dublin last year. But this is Twickenham, away wins are not easy to come by here and the home team have yet to put in what constitutes a real performance yet. Today would be a good time.
