Ireland 18 England 50

Winger Ben Cohen scored two tries on his debut as England got off to a flying start in their opening Six Nations Championship match, swamping Ireland 50-18 at Twickenham.

Clive Woodward's side ran in six tries in a superb display of running rugby which left the Irish chasing shadows for much of the afternoon in front of a capacity 75,000 crowd.

The Irish rallied in the second half but never threatened to overhaul the 11/10 pre-championship favourites, who have not lost to another home nation at Twickenham since the Irish beat them 13-12 in 1994.

Centre Mike Tindall also scored on his international debut while England's other try scorers were left wing Austin Healey (two) and flanker Neil Back.

Fly-half Johnny Wilknson struck four conversions and four penalties to seal the rout.  Ireland's points came from a try by wing Kevin Maggs and substitute Mick Galwey, two penalties and a conversion by fly-half David Humphreys.

It was a highly impressive all-round display by England as they overwhlemed Warren Gatland's side in the first period -- but a handful of individuals stood out.

Cohen looked an exciting prospect while scrum-half Matt Dawson, captaining England for the first time on home soil, former skipper Lawrence Dallaglio at number eight and centre Mike Catt were all inspirational.  "You dream of something like this," said Cohen, whose uncle George won a football World Cup winners' medal with England in 1966.  "To score two tries on your debut in front of a full house at Twickenham is wonderful."

Dawson praised Cohen and his fellow debutant Tindall, saying:  "The young guns played like seasoned pros.  Their power and confidence was awesome."  After riding a brief, early onslaught from the Irish, England's forwards took control of the game and provided a stream of possession for their backs to run at the visitors.

Fly-half Jonny Wilkinson missed a long penalty in the ninth minute but made no mistake with two other attempts shortly afterwards to put England 6-0 up after 15 minutes.

England's mounting pressure soon brought a try when Northampton wing Cohen cut in from the right, broke two tackles and scored under the posts.  Wilkinson converted to make it 13-0.

It was England's first match since last year's crushing World Cup quarter-final defeat by South Africa in Paris and they were clearly determined to stamp their authority on the inaugural Six Nations Championship.

Ireland had no answer to England's power in the pack and pace in the backs and only tigerish defence stopped Clive Woodward's from running away with the match inside the first 25 minutes.

England scored their second try after a superb flowing move that began deep in their own half.  When Cohen was held up just short of the line, Healey popped up from the left wing to touch down.

Healey added a second a minute before the interval after a superb break by Mike Catt ripped open the Irish defence.

England's total domination continued after the break as Neil Back made the most of some poor Irish tackling to go over in the corner in the 43rd minute.  Wilkinson converted to put England out of sight at 32-3.

Ireland fought back in the third quarter of the match and reduced the deficit when Maggs scored in the corner after an excellent break by 20-year-old centre Brian O'Driscoll, making his championship debut.  Humphreys, having missed the conversion, then slotted a penalty.

England stepped up the pressure though,and Tindall burst through for his first try for his country.  Substitute Mick Galwey grabbed a second try for Ireland, before Cohen rounded off a highly satisfactory debut with his second in the dying moments.  Wilkinson converted to take England to a half century of points.

The Teams:

Ireland:  1 Peter Clohessy, 2 Keith Wood (c), 3 Paul Wallace, 4 Bob Casey, 5 Malcolm O'Kelly, 6 Kieron Dawson, 7 Dion O'Cuinneagain, 8 Anthony Foley, 9 Tom Tierney, 10 David Humphreys, 11 Justin Bishop, 12 Mike Mullins, 13 Brian O'Driscoll, 14 Kevin Maggs, 15 Conor O'Shea
Reserves:  Girvan Dempsey, Mick Galwey, Trevor Brennan
Unused:  Eric Elwood, Justin Fitzpatrick, Frankie Sheahan, Peter Stringer

England:  1 Jason Leonard, 2 Phil Greening, 3 Phil Vickery, 4 Garath Archer, 5 Simon Shaw, 6 Neil Back, 7 Richard Hill, 8 Lawrence Dallaglio, 9 Matt Dawson (c), 10 alf Jonny Wilkinson, 11 Austin Healey, 12 Mike Catt, 13 Mike Tindall, 14 Ben Cohen, 15 Matt Perry
Reserves:  Martin Corry, Trevor Woodman, Iain Balshaw
Unused:  Neil McCarthy, Andy Gomarsall, Alex King, Joe Worsley

Attendance:  75000
Referee:  Walsh s

Points Scorers:

Ireland
Tries:  Galwey M.J. 1, Maggs K.M. 1
Conv:  Humphreys D.G. 1
Pen K.:  Humphreys D.G. 2

England
Tries:  Back N.A. 1, Healey A.S. 2, Tindall M.J. 1, Cohen B.C. 2
Conv:  Wilkinson J.P. 4
Pen K.:  Wilkinson J.P. 4