THE SCOREBOARD READ Ireland v England, and sure enough, there were 30 muscled bodies running around wearing green and white jerseys – but at no point did this feel like a proper contest between the two old enemies.
That’s often the problem with World Cup warm-up fixtures, and on a suspiciously sunny day in Dublin a one-sided contest sorely missed three of its most colourful characters as Ireland shrugged off a sluggish first half to win 29-10, scoring five superb tries along the way.
This was supposed to be Johnny Sexton’s send-off, but the out-half has had to watch these games from the stands as a result of his ill-advised exchange with the match-officials following Leinster’s Champions Cup final defeat to La Rochelle.
Still, the ‘Sexton – Legend’ scarves were on sale on the roads around Aviva Stadium, while the Ireland captain’s son was one of three mascots to lead the team out, a decision presumably made when dad was expected to be by his side.
The summer of disciplinary hearings rumbled on when England captain Owen Farrell threw himself into a similar storm by crashing a shoulder into Wales’ Taine Basham last Saturday. Since then we’ve had a hearing, an appeal and another hearing pencilled in for next week amid a bafflingly messy disciplinary process which will stretch into a second week. By any measure, it hasn’t been a great week for a sport which often appears far too happy to complicate things.
Neither of these teams look the same when Sexton and Farrell aren’t involved and both camps will be hoping the disruption doesn’t prove detrimental to their World Cup hopes.
For England, those hopes were thrown into chaos following the bold decision last December to show Eddie Jones the door and Steve Borthwick handed the unenviable task of putting some life back into a team that looked flat out of ideas.
We all know how that’s been going. England still have plenty of big bodies capable of causing disruption but their attack carries the threat of a butter knife. Unsurprisingly, it still feels like Jones’ team, with 10 of Borthwick’s starting XV today having played at the 2019 World Cup. They kicked the leather off the ball here and made a limited gameplan look laboured, not doing anything to suggest they can be a serious contender in France.
While the RFU’s planning looks to have left this England side chasing shadows, the IRFU have watched a team fully moulded in the shape of Andy Farrell’s grand plan soar to the top of world rankings. Six of his starting team were handed their debuts by Farrell, and many of them have established themselves as key components of his system. Hugo Keenan is a Rolls Royce of a fullback, while James Lowe and Mack Hansen have totally re-energised Ireland’s backline.
The home side were far from perfect but will board a plane next week with realistic ambitions of not only breaking that quarter-final barrier, but going on to win the whole thing outright.
They blew off the cobwebs against Italy two weeks ago and there were encouraging signs here, but old issues continued to pepper their performance. Their lineout has to smooth out if they are to make history in France and they can’t afford to give away so many needless penalties.
What we do know is that when things do click for this team, they can play some scintillating rugby. On a better day they would have put 50 points on this England side.
Bundee Aki scored Ireland’s first try after Peter O’Mahony rampaged straight down the throat of the England defence and played a simple pass inside to the Connacht centre, who strolled over unchallenged.
Garry Ringrose added the second after a beautiful bit of play from Hansen, who stepped up as playmaker with a clever crossfield kick.
They led 12-3 at half-time, with the only concern Dan Sheehan’s early exit with a knock.
In the second half they coasted, England’s issues compounded when Billy Vunipola decided to book himself in for a disciplinary hearing of his own by charging shoulder-first into Andrew Porter.
With a man advantage, the field opened up for Ireland and Ross Byrne grew into the game.
Lowe added a smart third try before Hansen – who made a late play to rival Owen Farrell’s lawyer for performance of the week – raced over the corner.
Then came the moment the crowd all wanted to see. With an hour played, Keith Earls was met with a standing ovation as he came on to win his 100th cap.
There might not be a more popular rugby player in the country and his journey to this point deserves to be celebrated. As Earls himself has always been quick to highlight, there’s not many from his neck of the woods who make it to this level. He debuted for Ireland in 2008 and remains the last player from Thomond RFC to be capped.
Does he have a fourth, and final World Cup in him?
The Italy game wasn’t Earls’ most rounded performance but here he conjured up a moment of magic to remind everyone that there’s life in those legs yet, his acrobatic finish almost laughable given a groin injury threatened to end his career just a few short months ago. It was a wonderful moment that capped a mercifully stress-free day at Aviva Stadium.
Farrell has some big calls to make before confirming his 33-man squad on Monday week, but when you look at the group he’s assembled, there’s no area that would cause any sleepless nights.
Ireland will hope to iron out any niggling issues against Samoa next week – and indeed, against Romania in their World Cup opener – before the real business starts. All questions will be answered when they play South Africa in Paris in five weeks time.
Never has an Irish team looked better placed to take on the world. Next stop, France.
The 42 is on Instagram! Tap the button below on your phone to follow us!
