Jones proud of his battling heroes as Ewels’ receives fastest red card

EDDIE JONES was proud of his players as England fell to a heroic defeat at Twickenham but was frustrated by the failure of referee Mathieu Raynal to penalise Ireland’s mis-firing scrum more harshly.

England were eliminated from Guinness Six Nations title contention with a round left after losing but they showed remarkable resilience having lost Charlie Ewels to a red card for a dangerous head-led tackle on James Ryan after only 82 seconds – the fastest sending-off in the history of the tournament.

Two late tries from Jack Conan and Finlay Bealham, adding to first-half scores from James Lowe and Hugo Keenan, propelled Ireland over the finishing line to secure a potentially crucial bonus point and give the scoreline a lop-sided look, but they were rattled for long periods and had been pegged back to 15-15 heading into the final quarter.

England’s scrum emerged as a key weapon by engineering six penalties and Jones questioned why Raynal did not reach for a yellow card.

“I’m a bit disappointed the referee didn’t allow us to scrum fully. That would be my only complaint – we were not allowed to play advantage away from the scrum. We got four scrum penalties and there was no sign of a yellow card,” Jones said.

“We want to have a powerful scrum and if World Rugby want to have the scrum in the game they have got to allow the strong scrums to dominate. We are disappointed we didn’t get more out of that.

“We showed great spirit and great tactical discipline. There was about 15 minutes to go, it was 15-15 and we were controlling the game and we just made a couple of mistakes that allowed them into the game.

“It was a great learning experience for this team.

I see that as a foundation game for us where we set our campaign for the World Cup in 2023. The spirit, the determination, the ability to work through problems were all absolutely outstanding.”

Ewels’ head-led tackle on Ryan was a clear red card that left the Ireland lock with concussion, but it was clumsy rather than malicious.

“Charlie is disappointed but no-one apportions blame on him. It was a genuine attempt to make a good tackle but his head was just in the wrong spot and we have got no questions about the red card,” Jones said.

Ireland head coach Andy Farrell declared it “job done”.

“It was a crazy old game and Test matches are never perfect, that’s why they are called Test matches,” he said.

“The crowd were behind them, momentum was going their way and sometimes when you’ve got 14 men you’ve got nothing to lose; sometimes when you’ve got 15 men and you’re playing against 14 men you’ve got everything to lose.

“We became a little bit desperate at times, a little bit inaccurate at certain stages but having said all that you take the rough with the smooth and we came away with a brilliant victory in the end.”

Scorers, England – Pens: Smith 5.

Ireland –Tries: Lowe, Keenan, Conan, Bealham. Cons: Sexton 3. Pens: Sexton 2.

England: Steward, Malins, Marchant, Slade, Nowell, Smith, Randall, Genge, George, Sinckler, Itoje, Ewels, Lawes, Curry, Simmonds, Dombrandt. Replacements: Ford for Steward (79), Daly for Marchant (69), Youngs for Randall (52), Marler for Genge (67), Blamire for George (79), Stuart for Sinckler (38), Dombrandt for Curry (14), Launchbury for Dombrandt (67).

Sent Off: Ewels (1).

Ireland: Keenan, Conway, Ringrose, Aki, Lowe, Sexton, Gibson-Park, Healy, Sheehan, Furlong, Beirne, Ryan, O’Mahony, van der Flier, Doris. Replacements: Henshaw for Aki (66), Carbery for Sexton (79), Murray for Gibson-Park (67), Kilcoyne for Healy (53), Herring for Sheehan (53), Bealham for Furlong (73), Henderson for Ryan (2), Conan for O’Mahony (61).

Referee: Mathieu Raynal (FFR).