Ireland earn rare Grand Slam by beating England
LONDON: To pull off a Grand Slam in Six Nations rugby, planning, talent and commitment takes you only so far.
“You need some luck,” Ireland coach Joe Schmidt added with a grin in the bowels of Twickenham on Saturday.
Schmidt and his side were celebrating Ireland’s third clean sweep in the championship, beside 1948 and 2009, after smothering England in a fabulous 24-15 win.
The Irish, who secured the championship a week earlier, put this result beyond doubt by halftime after spearing England with three converted tries to lead 21-5.
Two of those touchdowns involved knock-ons missed by the officials; in the first try by centre Garry Ringrose and the third from wing Jacob Stockdale which gave the newcomer an Irish-record seventh in this championship, one short of the overall best set in 1925.
“In big games against teams at least as good as you are, those moments make a difference,” Schmidt said.
Indeed. And nobody was begrudging the Irish a scoreline that flattered England and a nine-point margin that was their biggest at the home of rugby in 54 years.
After attacking so decisively in the first half, Ireland spent most of the second on defence as England, the deposed champions, rallied to try and prevent a first home loss in the Six Nations since 2012.
A short spell after half-time stood out for Schmidt because of his side’s determination to repel England.
In that period, England wing Jonny May nearly scored twice but was ankle-tapped by opposite number Keith Earls, then stopped by Earls and Conor Murray.
“Those eight minutes totally summed up this team,” Schmidt said.
“We’ve scored a lot of tries this year, but that pure resilience, the ability to get back up in the defensive line, that was exceptional.”