England 48
Ireland 15
John Fallon reports from the Ricoh Arena in Coventry
IRELAND FAILED TO score in the second-half as their Six Nations campaign ended on a disappointing note in Coventry.
The game — and maybe even the title race — seemed set for a second-half showdown when the sides turned around at level terms.
But England dominated the second-half and it came down to a straight shootout with themselves and France for the title as Ireland were blown away.
Both of these sides have not been short on entertainment value in this season’s Six Nations and it was obvious from the early stages they weren’t going to disappoint in the final game of the campaign.
They went in at the break deadlocked at 15-15, two tries apiece and both lamenting good chances which weren’t executed as well as they would have liked.
Ireland drew first blood, with a neat grubber down the right from Harry Byrne sitting up nicely for captain Tommy O’Brien and he popped inside for James Hume to score after eight minutes.
Throughout the campaign Ireland have been most vulnerable after scoring so it was no surprise when England struck three minutes later with big winger Ben Loader outfielding Ireland full-back Michael Silvester to score in the left corner with advantage being played.
But Ireland hit back and O’Brien did a Jacob Stockdale impersonation with an intercept from centre Fraser Dingwall to score under posts, with Byrne’s conversion making it 12-5 after 16 minutes.
Dingwall wasn’t long making amends though, three minutes later finishing a move started by a superb break from full-back Jordan Olowofela. Tom Hardwick converted and then added a penalty after 25 minutes.
Ireland piled on the pressure before the break with a 21-phase move resulting in a penalty in front of the posts and Byrne duly obliged to make it 15-15 at the interval.
Harlequins impressive winger Gabriel Ibitoye was denied a try after 50 minutes by the TMO as England piled on the pressure after the restart.
But he left his mark on this game six minute with a break from deep inside his own 22 which set up Leicester’s Ben White for the key score of the game.
Hardwick converted to make it 22-15 and England never looked back after that. They got the bonus try when Irish captain O’Brien was in the bin, with replacement prop Joe Heyes barging over after 67 minutes.
England did not relent and Ibitoye crowned a superb display with their fifth try and flanker Josh Basham also got in on the scoring act.
ScorersEngland: Tries: G Ibitoye, B Loader, F Dingwall, B White, J Heyes, J Basham, B Earl. Pen: T Hardwick. Cons: Hardwick (5).
Ireland: Tries: J Hume, T O’Brien. Pen: H Byrne. Con: Byrne
England
15. Jordan Olowofela (Leicester Tigers)
14. Gabriel Ibitoye (Harlequins)
13. Fraser Dingwall (Northampton Saints)
12. Tom Hardwick (Leicester Tigers)
11. Ben Loader (London Irish)
10. James Grayson (Northampton Saints)
9. Ben White (Leicester Tigers)
1. Toby Trinder (Northampton Saints)
2. Henry Walker (Gloucester Rugby)
3. Marcus Street (Exeter Chiefs)
4. Dino Lamb (Harlequins)
5. James Scott (Worcester Warriors)
6. Josh Basham (London Irish)
7. Ben Earl (capt) (Saracens)
8. Sam Moore (Sale Sharks)
Replacements:
16. Gabriel Oghre (Wasps) for Walker (50)
18. Joe Heyes (Leicester Tigers) for Smart (58)
19. Sam Lewis (Leicester Tigers) for Scott (59)
23.Tom Seabrook (Gloucester Rugby) fort Loader (62)
17. Alex Seville (Gloucester Rugby) for Trinder (63)
20. Ted Hill (Worcester Warriors) for Lamb (68)
21. Rory Brand (London Irish) for White (71)
22. Will Butler (Worcester Warriors) for Olowofela (75)
Ireland
15. Michael Silvester (Dublin University FC/Leinster)
14. James Hume (Banbridge RFC/Ulster)
13. Tommy O’Brien (UCD RFC/Leinster)
12. Angus Curtis (Queen’s University RFC/Ulster)
11. Angus Kernohan (Ballymena RFC/Ulster)
10. Harry Byrne (UCD RFC/Leinster)
9. Hugh O’Sullivan (Clontarf FC/Leinster)
1. Jordan Duggan (Naas RFC/Leinster)
2. Diarmuid Barron (Garryowen FC/Munster)
3. Jack Aungier (St. Mary’s College RFC/Leinster)
4. Matthew Dalton (Malone RFC/Ulster)
5. Jack Dunne (Dublin University FC/Leinster)
6. Joe Dunleavy (Malone RFC/Ulster)
7. Matthew Agnew (Ballymena RFC/Ulster)
8. Jack O’Sullivan (UCC RFC/Munster)
Replacements:
17. James French (UCC RFC/Munster) for Duggan (50)
16. Eoghan Clarke (Wanderers FC/Leinster) for Barron (54),
20. Sean Masterson (Corinthians RFC/Connacht) for Dunleavy (50)
19. Ronan Coffey (Shannon/Munster) for Masterson (59)
22. Conor Dean (St.Mary’s College RFC/Leinster) for Byrne (59)
18. Tom O’Toole (Banbridge RFC/Ulster) forAungier (61)
21. Jonny Stewart (Queen’s University RFC/Ulster) for H O’Sullivan (61)
23. Sean O’Brien (Clontarf FC/Leinster) for Hume (65)
Referee: Pierre Boussett (France).
