Ireland's superb second half sees England shredded in Six Nations

Simon Easterby’s brief stint in charge of Ireland started in ideal fashion as they came from behind at the break to earn a 27-22 victory over England at the Aviva Stadium.

The Red Rose were impressive in the first half and held a 10-5 advantage at the interval through Cadan Murley’s try and Marcus Smith’s penalty.

Jamison Gibson-Park had responded for an Ireland side who lacked the fluency we’ve come to expect, but they rectified that in the second period.

They dominated the final 40 minutes, with tries from Bundee Aki, Tadhg Beirne and Dan Sheehan sealing the win.

It was yet another missed opportunity for England, who undid all the good work after the interval, despite Tom Curry and Tommy Freeman’s efforts giving them a losing bonus-point.

While few expected England to win against the defending Six Nations champions, most thought they would provide Ireland with stern opposition and so it proved as Borthwick’s side began on the front foot.

A mixture of accurate kicking and some fine moments in broken field kept the Irish defence guessing and they got their reward early on.

Marcus Smith had already shown the threat they can pose when he linked with Freeman to send the Northampton Saint scampering down the right.

Although that attack broke down, the visitors were deservedly on the board soon after.  Ollie Lawrence made the initial incursion before play was shifted left and Henry Slade’s grubber through was picked up and finished by Murley on his Test debut.

Following that fine attacking start, it was all about defence for the Red Rose as Ireland got into groove with the ball.

It offered a chance for Sam Prendergast to prove his selection and, at times, it worked well, but too often passes went to ground.

Ireland were certainly better than they were in the Autumn Nations Series, however, particularly with their intensity and physicality in the contact area, and it put the opposition under pressure.

It resulted in a string of penalties and eventually referee Ben O’Keeffe ran out of patience, leading to a yellow card for Smith.

The Red Rose held out well for the next 10 minutes but a simple missed tackle was eventually their undoing as James Lowe shook off Alex Mitchell and found Gibson-Park, who finished brilliantly.

Prendergast missed the conversion, though, and that proved costly as England moved five points clear at the interval through a Smith three-pointer.

Unperturbed, the hosts continued to dominate possession and territory, while the visitors’ discipline remained poor.  England were unfortunate with a few decisions but there were also some needless penalties and that gave Ireland front foot ball.

Eventually, the dam broke when they isolated Aki one-on-one with Smith, but the Ireland centre still did superbly to bounce him off and finish under pressure.

Ireland now had the momentum while the Red Rose continued to make errors and another infringement enabled Prendergast to make his first kick of the game.

The hosts were very much beginning to find their rhythm and they concocted a brilliant attack when Lowe took an outstanding line through the heart of the English rearguard.  It was Beirne who supplied the excellent support and the lock duly touched down to end the game as a contest.

All that Ireland required for the perfect evening was the bonus-point and that came through the returning Sheehan, who latched onto some more wonderful work from Lowe.

England did finish with a flourish thanks to scores from Curry and Freeman, but it was very much the hosts’ day.

The teams

Ireland:  15 Hugo Keenan, 14 Mack Hansen, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 James Lowe, 10 Sam Prendergast, 9 Jamison Gibson-Park, 8 Caelan Doris (c), 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Ryan Baird, 5 Tadhg Beirne, 4 James Ryan, 3 Finlay Bealham, 2 Rónan Kelleher, 1 Andrew Porter
Replacements:  16 Dan Sheehan, 17 Cian Healy, 18 Thomas Clarkson, 19 Iain Henderson, 20 Jack Conan, 21 Conor Murray, 22 Jack Crowley, 23 Robbie Henshaw

England:  15 Freddie Steward, 14 Tommy Freeman, 13 Ollie Lawrence, 12 Henry Slade, 11 Cadan Murley, 10 Marcus Smith, 9 Alex Mitchell, 8 Ben Earl, 7 Ben Curry, 6 Tom Curry, 5 George Martin, 4 Maro Itoje (c), 3 Will Stuart, 2 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 1 Ellis Genge
Replacements:  16 Theo Dan, 17 Fin Baxter, 18 Joe Heyes, 19 Ollie Chessum, 20 Chandler Cunningham-South, 21 Tom Willis, 22 Harry Randall, 23 Fin Smith

Referee:  Ben O’Keeffe (New Zealand)
Assistant referees:  James Doleman (New Zealand), Hollie Davidson (Scotland)
TMO:  Glenn Newman (New Zealand)