Ireland find form to thrash England 32-18
A REJUVENATED Ireland head coach Andy Farrell got his team to produce the kind of performance he desperately wanted as they finished the Six Nations on a high by hammering a wretched England 32-18 with just pride and a tophalf finish on the line. Having struggled for much of Farrell’s 13-month tenure, Ireland survived some early pressure before a brilliant lineout move ended with Keith Earls touching down and a deserved second try by
Jack Conan gave the hosts a 20-6 halftime lead.
Buffered by Johnny Sexton’s boot, Ireland remained in total control and not even a red card for centre Bundee Aki and tries for Ben Youngs and Jonny May threatened an uncomfortable finale as the defending champions were pummelled into submission.
“It shows the highs we can hit when we’re on and where we can go in the future,” man of the match Robbie Henshaw said in a pitchside interview after Ireland’s
first win over England in five games injected some momentum into the Farrell era. With the retiring CJ Stander in tears on the pitch at the finalwhistle, Ireland looked set for a top-three finish while England ended with more defeats than victories for only the second time in 15 years and set for a disappointing fifth spot. It was also the first time since 1976 that England had lost in the championship to Ireland, Scotland and Wales, the nations that compete each year for the Triple Crown. “As disappointed as I am about the result, we still know where we’re going,” coach Eddie Jones told a news conference. “The main thing we’re missing at the moment is consistency of performance. That sometimes happens to a team but we’ll get that back.”