WITH IRELAND TRAILING 6-3 in the 33rd minute and the tension palpably rising around the Aviva Stadium, Andy Farrell’s men needed a big play.
They delivered exactly that from a lineout on the left after opting against taking a shot at goal from a penalty 40 metres out.
Ireland felt they had a strike play that could cut England apart and they were right. Dan Sheehan’s try settled their nerves and set them on the way to their Grand Slam-sealing 29-16 win.
Ireland start with a 5+1 lineout, meaning five forwards in the lineout itself and Josh van der Flier [white below] set up as the ‘receiver’ behind it, suggesting that they could maul.
The eighth Irish forward, Caelan Doris [red above] is positioned in midfield and he’s key to this play being successful.
We also note where scrum-half Jamison Gibson-Park and left wing James Lowe [yellow above] start as Ireland win the lineout. They’re tucked 10 metres directly behind the lineout.
Ryan Baird wins the lineout in the middle after some sharp dummy movement on the ground leaves Ireland with space, James Ryan and Tadhg Furlong lifting.
After Sheehan nails his throw, watch his movement off the touchline toward what looks like being an Irish maul.
Sheehan [blue below] would usually be racing to the back of the maul if that was Ireland’s intention to shove there but instead, he meanders in that direction, doing his best not to show around the corner too early.
As we know, van der Flier will break infield after receiving the transfer from Baird, with Sheehan trailing him on the inside.
What happens on the ball is obviously key but the off-the-ball movement is essential here too.
Just as van der Flier breaks off the maul, we can see that Gibson-Park and Lowe [yellow below] are darting into the shortside to keep England honest there.
This is crucial because it holds four English defenders on that side of the maul.
We can see that England hooker Jamie George [red below] has read the play and is pointing to the other side of the maul, signalling for Kyle Sinckler and Lewis Ludlam to fold across, but they have fully bought the dummy runs of Gibson-Park and Lowe, as indicated in yellow below.
It’s also pivotal that England scrum-half Jack van Poortvliet [white above] is distracted by the dummy runs of Gibson-Park and Lowe. He only gets a read on Ireland’s actual intention very late.
What this all means is that by the time Ireland are cutting through on the other side of the maul, none of these English defenders are able to react and prevent Sheehan from scoring.
Meanwhile, the threat of Doris’ ball-carrying is key over on the other side. He runs an aggressive line back against the grain [red below] for a potential pass from van der Flier.
Doris’ line, along with Johnny Sexton and Bundee Aki either side of him, draws the England defenders on that side forward at pace as they look to win the gainline.
If we jump back to the 24th minute of this game – so only minutes before Sheehan’s try – we can see that Ireland had actually used this same lineout play, but with van der Flier passing to Doris.
We can see Sheehan trailing inside van der Flier above too, exactly as he will for the actual try, which comes on the very next Irish lineout attack.
Coming back to the score itself, England are well aware of the danger of Doris carrying, and his decoy line means that by the time they realise what’s happening, it’s too late to turn back in and stop Sheehan.
And so, back to the ball.
With Sheehan timing his run ideally so as not to show too early and attract attention on the right side of the maul, van der Flier shears away and focuses on drawing English tailgunner Alex Dombrandt.
He does his job superbly and releases his pass inside for Sheehan to accelerate into the space van der Flier has just dragged Dombrandt out of.
The angle below allows us to appreciate how all the pieces come together perfectly for Ireland to score what was a huge try.
This score allows Ireland to go into half time with a 10-6 lead, although they probably felt they should have been further ahead given how they missed a few other chances.
The tension rose once again in the second half despite the red card for Freddie Steward.
By the 62nd minute, Ireland were only 10-9 in front and the game felt truly in the balance with the 14-man English having grabbed some momentum.
Again, Ireland delivered a brilliant try to take control. Robbie Henshaw’s score stems back to this brilliant turnover penalty won by Ryan Baird.
From the next lineout, Sexton produces this pinpoint kick behind replacement wing Joe Marchant that allows Mack Hansen, Jimmy O’Brien and Henshaw to force Anthony Watson back over his own tryline.
Scrum Ireland five metres out. From that platform, they score off a ’21′ play, which means two phases infield before coming back the other way.
The set-piece collapses for a penalty advantage to Ireland, but they’re keen to play as Gibson-Park moves the ball left for an Aki carry.
Aki carries at England out-half Owen Farrell, with Henshaw the first arriving player at the breakdown just before van der Flier arrives to clear England back row Ben Curry away. Ryan Baird is also on scene to act as a guard over the ball.
Aki and Henshaw both end up on the ground as we can see above, but they’re the key pair in the try being scored just two phases later, while van der Flier also features again.
Before that, Ireland carry around the corner through number eight Jack Conan.
Again, it’s a strong carry as Conan thunders into Manu Tuilagi and Lewis Ludlam, with Caelan Doris and James Ryan in support to clear out the breakdown and ensure a lightning-quick recycle as Ireland now bounce back against the grain to their right. Ireland actually win a second penalty advantage here for England being offside.
Just as Conan goes to carry the ball, we can see that wing Mack Hansen and hooker Dan Sheehan [blue below] are holding the width on the right for Ireland, which will be important.
And as Conan goes to ground, there’s lots going on.
We can see that Henshaw, Aki, and van der Flier [white below] are just beginning to organise themselves for the next phase as they get up off the ground.
Meanwhile, Sexton [blue above] is calling for Andrew Porter, Baird, and Tom O’Toole [all yellow] to fold around the corner to Ireland’s left, selling another phase that way to the English defence.
England respond with four of their forwards [red above] folding around the corner, which leaves them numbers down back on the other side.
As Gibson-Park gets to the ball and turns to his right, Ireland are still getting set to strike there.
Henshaw [red below] has worked back to a wider position, while Aki and van der Flier have also backtracked to be viable options for Gibson-Park. As we can see below, Aki [yellow] is now nudging van der Flier to run a short line off the ruck.
England hooker George is out on the left edge of their defence now and he screams for reinforcements back on that side, with scrum-half van Poortvliet [white above] responding and working out to that edge.
Van der Flier does his job perfectly as he runs a short line off Gibson-Park that completely sits down England prop Kyle Sinckler [yellow below], taking him out of the defensive equation.
Gibson-Park’s pass goes out the back of van der Flier, hitting Aki in a 4-on-3 situation.
Aki executes to send Henshaw through. As we can see below, Aki runs at Farrell to sit him down [red].
Van Poortvliet [white above] is working all the way to the edge, worried about Hansen, while George initially edges out to cover Sheehan [blue].
That means Henshaw has space to run into and Aki does a fine job of sending him over the tryline, initially shaping to pass wide – which further detaches George from Farrell – before taking a straightening step to fully fix Farrell and then releasing the short pass.
The high-behind angle below gives us a nice perspective on how the pieces fall into place nicely for Ireland.
Sexton’s conversion leaves Ireland with a comforting eight-point lead at 17-9 heading towards the final 15 minutes.
When another England penalty concession invites Ireland back into their half, Farrell’s men strike again in the 68th minute.
Sheehan carries three times in the space of 30 seconds, beginning by breaking away from the maul as Ireland are driven backwards.
Sheehan’s carry launches Ireland into a zig-zag pattern that produces a try for the hooker.
On second phase, replacement tighthead O’Toole shows nice footwork as he carries in the 3-pod off scrum-half Gibson-Park.
Baird and van der Flier clear the English tacklers away and the ball is left on a plate for Gibson-Park as he looks back into the shortside.
As we can see below, England lock Maro Itoje threatens to come through and target the ball, which is exposed and arguably even out of the ruck. But Itoje decides late on not to compete and Gibson-Park can move the ball away.
The pass selection from Gibson-Park is excellent here.
The obvious recipient is second row Ryan [red below] but Gibson-Park identifies that England are numbers-down again and instead skips across the face of Ryan to Hansen [yellow].
Hansen draws in edge defender Dave Ribbans and puts Sheehan away for his second trundle, with the hooker surging forward into van Poortvliet’s tackle.
Ireland now go back infield as Gibson-Park hits Baird for a carry that continues their momentum.
Van der Flier and O’Toole clear out this time and then Gibson-Park bounces back into the shortside again.
Similarly to the Henshaw try, England over-fold here [red below].
Ireland don’t actually bring any attacking players around the corner, instead holding their ground in the shortside.
Hansen is first receiver again – this is becoming increasingly prominent in Ireland’s play – and we can see below that he’s eager for Ryan to run that checking line in front of the ball. As highlighted below and similarly to Aki with van der Flier before Henshaw’s try, Hansen nearly pushes Ryan forward.
Ryan’s line here is subtly important as it briefly holds Curry [yellow below] before he can cover Hansen.
That in turns means that Ribbans, the edge defender, has to worry about Hansen when he gets on the ball [red below].
While Curry recovers out onto Hansen, the Ireland wing once is able to hold Ribbans long enough to give Jack Conan time to get outside Ribbans.
With van Poortvliet wanting to close up on last attacker Sheehan [white above], it all means Conan now has a hint of time and space on the ball.
That means he’s dominant into the tackle attempt of Ribbans, who can only grab at his legs. Conan keeps the ball in two hands as van Poortvliet now turns in to tackle him, meaning Conan can stretch his arms beyond the England scrum-half and offload.
Conan’s offload while falling is sumptuous. It takes great skill and no small degree of strength to get the ball away so accurately here.
The flash of skill allows Sheehan to dive over and the Irish party really starts when Sexton nails the touchline conversion for 24-9.
England do grab a consolation try a few minutes later but Ireland are able to finish in style as England go down to 13 players when Jack Willis is sin-binned.
Ireland go into the corner and while the maul doesn’t go forward, Ireland once again create a numbers-up situation in the shortside and replacement hooker Rob Herring reaches out to seal the Grand Slam.
- This article was updated at 12.35pm to correct the ‘red’ to ‘white’ in the fourth paragraph.
