Twickenham (United Kingdom) (AFP) - Ireland kept their Six Nations title hopes alive with a hard-fought 32-15 win over 14-man England at Twickenham on Saturday after home lock Charlie Ewels received the quickest red card in Championship history.
Ewels was sent off after just 82 seconds for a dangerous head-on-head clash with Irish second row James Ryan.
Yet with 20 minutes left, a hugely gutsy England were level at 15-15 through the boot of fly-half Marcus Smith -- who scored all their points.
But Ireland's man advantage eventually told as they pulled clear with tries from Jack Conan and Finlay Bealham, who made an impact off the bench, following first-half scores from James Lowe and Hugo Keenan.
'Massive challenge'
Ireland must now hope England deny France a Grand Slam in Paris in next week's final round of matches, when the Irish are at home to Scotland.
"We knew it was going to be a massive challenge coming here - it's one of the toughest in world rugby," impressive Ireland scrum-half Jamison Gibson-Park told ITV Sport.
"As we expected they put up a massive fight and kudos to them.Teams tend to lift a little when they get down to 14 men.
"Staying calm was the main thing...We'll see how it pans out next week."
Defeat ended England's own title hopes following their opening day loss to Scotland, with captain Courtney Lawes saying: "We didn't give up for a second.
"Obviously it wasn't to be today, towards the end we were pretty tired," the blindside flanker added.
"But class effort from the boys.I honestly couldn't ask any more of them."
Ewels was sent off in just the second minute by French referee Mathieu Raynal for a clash with Ryan that saw the Ireland second row leave the game injured.
Amid huge jeers from a capacity Twickenham crowd incensed by the decision, even though Raynal had little choice, recalled Ireland fly-half Johnny Sexton kicked the visitors into a 3-0 lead from the penalty.
Just four minutes later, Ireland were 8-0 ahead.
Gibson-Park found Dan Sheehan and the hooker's fine pass sent flanker Josh van der Flier through a gap.
The openside then released Lowe, with the left wing sprinting in from 40 metres for a try in the corner.
If the crowd were incensed by Ewels' red card, his dismissal also had the effect of firing up England, who eventually regrouped.
England's pack, with lock Maro Itoje impressing after missing training Friday through illness, forced a scrum penalty that Smith kicked.
After Smith had missed with a second attempt, the Harlequins rising star landed a 45-metre effort eight minutes before the break to cut Ireland's lead to two points at 8-6.
But Ireland opened up England's defence again when Gibson-Park's quick tap penalty allowed Keenan to dash over for a try converted by Sexton.
Smith's third successful penalty, on the stroke of half-time, meant England were just six points adrift at the break.
Brilliant ruck defence, with a capacity crowd chanting England's unofficial anthem of 'Swing Low Sweet Chariot' between raucous cheers in a bid to inspire the hosts, denied Ireland a third try early in the second half.
The cheers were even louder when two well-judged high kicks from Smith sparked Ireland errors that allowed him to tie the scores with two more penalties
But a rare England infringement in front of their posts allowed Sexton to restore Ireland's lead at 18-15.
Desperate England defence kept Ireland at bay.
Conan, however, put the game beyond their reach with a try seven minutes from time that left Ireland two scores in front before Bealham forced his way over for a bonus-point try.
