Ireland deny England Grand Slam
Flyhalf Finn Russell, replacement centre Matt Scott and wingers Tim Visser and Tommy Seymour scored tries as the Scots earned a bonuspoint win and protected their fifth place in the world rankings ahead of the 2019 World Cup draw.
Italy, who lost all five matches in the tournament, failed to register a point as flyhalf Carlo Cana missed three penalties and the backs fluffed two clear try-scoring chances early in the second half.
The Scots, humbled 61-21 by England last weekend, climbed to second in the standings before the day’s later matches after notching a fourth consecutive home win for the first time since 2006.
“I would like to thank the players and everyone for the last three years it has been fun,” New Zealander Cotter told the crowd in an emotional farewell.
“Great performance from the boys,” Russell said. “We knew we had to try and get a bonus point, so it was great to get a fourth try and to keep them to nil helps if it comes down to that. We were very disappointed after last week. It was great to come back and get a bonus point here.” – Reuters
IRELAND stunned England 13-9 in the Six Nations yesterday to deny their old rivals a second successive Grand Slam and end their hopes of a world record 19th successive victory.
Joe Schmidt’s Irish team secured a top seeding for the 2019 World Cup draw as a try by lock Iain Henderson after 23 minutes proved the difference between the sides.
While England improved after being completely dominated in the first half, they failed to make a serious dent in the Irish defence.
England sealed victory in the tournament last week with a 61-21 thrashing of Scotland, but the Six Nations trophy will be awarded to a downcast English team, the third in 16 years to be denied a Grand Slam in Dublin on the final day of the tournament.
Victory rescued a poor Six Nations championship for Ireland, who lost to Scotland and Wales after beating three top teams in the southern hemisphere last year.
Ireland ended the tournament in second place and are guaranteed to be one of the top four seeds in the draw for the 2019 Rugby World Cup.
“We didn’t slam it but, hey-ho, we’re still the champions,” said England captain Dylan Hartley.
“Full credit to Ireland. They put us under unbelievable pressure.”
England lost in 2001 and 2011 but hammered Ireland in a grand slam decider in the old Lansdowne Road in 2003, months before they won the World Cup.
The win also denied England a tier-one record of 19 consecutive wins just four months after Ireland prevented world champions New Zealand from reaching the same milestone with a 40-29 win in November.
England, who matched the All Blacks’ 18-match run with their victory over Scotland last week, have now lost seven times in their last 10 visits to Dublin.
“It wasn’t about us stopping England. It was about us producing a performance. This is a really big lift for us,” Ireland captain Rory Best said.
“England are a fantastic team, they deserve the Championship.” – Reuters