England 23-22 Ireland: Six Nations 2024 – live reaction

9 Mar 2024

The Guardian

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England 2322 Ireland Six Nations 2024 live reaction

Marcus Smith’s game-ending drop goal earned a dramatic win to put Ireland’s title party on ice

What great game to top off a fabulous afternoon of Six Nations action. Be sure to come back tomorrow for Wales v France. Bye.

Here’s the full match report

Marcus Smith’s drop goal denies Ireland Six Nations title as England win thriller

@bloodandmud said it earlier Lee your lot owed us one & fair play to them they were super. Well deserved #Slambusters

— John McEnerney (@MackerOnTheMed) March 9, 2024\n\n"}}" config="{"renderingTarget":"Web","darkModeAvailable":false}">

@bloodandmud said it earlier Lee your lot owed us one & fair play to them they were super. Well deserved #Slambusters
— John McEnerney (@MackerOnTheMed) March 9, 2024

I’m not sure what Leigh Leopards RLFC have to do with this win today, John.

Ben Earl won Man Of The Match, but Feyi-Waboso was huge in his first start and it’s no coincidence England are a much better team with Sam Underhill in it. The backrow was central to much of the best of the Eddie Jones period, and his contribution often goes under the radar.

Century cap man Danny Care

“We let ourselves down last week and this week we wanted to show the world what we were all about. I’ve been dropped a few times, I love playing for England and to do it a hundred times is amazing. We hear [the negative press], some of it we take with a pinch of salt because we believe in the squad and what we’re doing”

Peter O’Mahony

“Credit England I thought they played really well, they disrupted us. Some of our discipline was poor, but it’s down to them, they put us under pressure. We’ll go home and review it and try to win a Six Nations championship”

“Great English performance. Best for a very long time. As an Irish supporter, I’m naturally disappointed but a deserved win” says a magnanamous Peter O’Connell.

A fantastic, unexpected, potentially Borthwick era defining win for England. Ireland didn’t get going at all in any real way, and that was mostly due to the sheer pace and physicality England brought from the off.

I, along with pretty much everyone else, could not have been more wrong with our pre-game chat.

In case you weren’t sure, that was the last action of a brilliant match.

80 mins. The Grand Slam is no more for Ireland as the replacement bangs over a drop goal!

79 mins. A probably final lineout for England is won in the Ireland half. The ball is worked to Feyi-Waboso who has a big run up the 10m line. The home side have an advantage but a pummelling the line..

78 mins. England work the ball to Freeman on the left wing, but he can’t prevent himself being bundled into touch.

Chandler Cunningham-South is injured, and the home side have no more subs and will have to play a few mins with 14.

Time is off while Jack Conan receives a bit of treatment.

77 mins. Marcus Smith finds some space to almost get away in the Ireland half, but he’s hauled down and loses the ball. However, Ireland kick it away to invite another attack.

75 mins. Henderson is pinged on halfway for not rolling away. Elliot Daly and his howitzer placekicking boot are on, he beckons the tee and hammers it long enough …but to the left.

73 mins. Danger for England as Ireland win a lineout in the 22, maul it for a bit then fling it left. The pattern is precise and Gibson-Park finds Lowe out left and the big winger straightens before Nelson Muntz-ing into Marcus Smith to crash over and score.

Crowley missed the conversion.

68 mins. It’s testament to Ireland that they are anywhere near being in this game as they.ve been very poor, but the residual quality has had them able to take what limited chances they’ve had.

For England, this is far and away their best performance for a long while

67 mins. Iain Henderson has had two passes thrown his way since he came and they’ve both been on his laces. He’s done a great job of gripping the ball, but this time he topples while doing it and that allows Earl in to clamp on and win a penalty. If England win this game, the Saracens man is a shoo-in for Man Of The Match.

Peter O’Mahony is out of the bin.

65 mins. For what feels like the first time in the match, Ireland have some phases in the English 22. The patterns are beginning to form, but Crowley throws a pop pass a little to hard art Kelleher who bounces it forward.

England clear it and Gibson-Park brings it back with a darting run. He looks to be about to get away but Itoje gets a slapping hand on the ball to dislodge it for abother handling error.

Danny Care is on to a huge ovation as he makes his 100th appearance for England

59 mins. What a few minutes for the England Number 8. Chessum drives to the line and is just held up by Sheehan at the base of the posts, but the ball is fired two channels out to Earl again to smash over.

Marcus Smith is on for Ford and adds the two.

Brilliant final quarter incoming.

59 mins. Ireland lose possession to Ben Earl who has a trademark big run through Sheehan and into open field. He’s tackled and O’Mahony cynically dives over the ruck to snag the scrum half following up.

It was so deliberate and obvious you have to grudgingly admire it.

57 mins. Aki bounces the ball off his hands from the lineout maul, ruining a very good Irish platform and allowing Ford to clear away, further upfield this time.

54 mins. A testing up an under into the England 22 has the home side pinned close to their line and Ford can do nothing but clear to touch to give Ireland a lineout in the 22.

Frawley has failed his HIA, so Gibson-Park will finish the game on the wing.

52 mins. Feyi-Waboso is penalised for hands on the floor as he tried to wrestle possession back.

England have have a new front row on Theo Dan, Joe Marler and Will Stuart.

49 mins. Ciaran Frawley is off for an HIA, which presents an issue for Ireland as they have a 6-2 bench. Conor Murray replaces him and goes to scrum-half, which means Gibson-Park is covering the wing.

47 mins. Speaking of very good tries, this one is a blinder. A similar broken play situation to Ireland preciously has England also springing to the left, with repeated offloads ffrom backs and forwards eventually creating a four on two that Furbank takes full advantage of.

Ford misses the two.

44 mins. Keenan chases and wins a fabulous high kick from Crowley and the visitors immediately spring left through hands. Slade flies up in the defensive blitz and Crowley simply dances around him into the gap behind to feed Aki, finding Lowe who dives tight into the corner. A very good try.

Crowley can’t convert.

42 mins. Ford gathers the return from his kick-off and sends up a towering bomb of his own for Furbank to chase that is wonderfully judged and forces a knock-on from Crowley.

The home side move it quickly from the scrum, but Ireland defence looks more aggressive already this half and Van Der Flier wins a penalty at the breakdown.

George Ford gets the show back on the road

“So when England box kick it is boring but when Ireland do it, it is wonderful!” argues HenryC.

I didn’t say it wasn’t boring from Ireland, I said it wasn’t a bad tactic given the England performance they are facing.

And boring and wonderful aren’t antonyms. Something could be wonderful and incredibly boring – pure maths, for example.

That kick was the last action of a very good half.

40 mins. The lineout is won by the Ireland forwards and as the ball is moved into midfield England are offside. Crowley wastes no time.

37 mins. From solid scrum in their own half, Ireland work it to Lowe who swings his left-foot hammer through the ball and sends it miles into the England half. Furbank gets it all wrong and ends up putting a foot in touch as he catches it.

A remarkable kick from the Irish winger.

34 mins. The Frustratothon 3000 tactic from Ireland pays off after England infringe at the breakdown and Crowley steps up to boot a penalty from 45 metres. It just about dropped over the bar, but just about is absolutely enough, and Ireland are ahead would you believe?

33 mins. Ireland are doing absolutely nothing but box-kicking back to England which is inviting further strong attacks. I can only assume they want the home side to punch themselves out or get frustrated. Not a bad tactic, to be honest.

30 mins. Another pen, but this one is pushed wide from forty metres by Ford.

Again, England can’t seem to increase the size of their points cushion.

“Afternoon!” yells Tom V d Gucht. “What’s going on? First the Itlay game, now this. I’d been sent out to the shops to buy a few bits and bobs and returned to find myself in some sort of parallel universe- a bit like the episode of the Simpsons where Homer slips into one after hiding behind a bookcase, but with less donuts”

Never mind all that, why have you not bought donuts?

29 mins. Some hard gained territory for Ireland is wasted as O’Mahoney is unlawfully all over his opposite number at the lineout. Penalty England and they back in Ireland’s half on the ball.

26 mins. Ireland step up in defence for Henshaw to grip Slade and hold him up to win a turnover from the maul. The visitors really need to get some phases of their own going from here.

24 mins. Another penalty against the Ireland defence in their own half. As has been the case the whole tournament they have been quick to infringe when under pressure. Possession is secured for England and a speculative angled kick in-behind from Lawrence is mangled between Frawley and Furbank, which allows the England centre to regather and cross the line.

However, a review shows that Furbank knocked it on prior to Lawrence’s regather.

The only worry for England so far is that despite being completely on top they remain only two points ahead. Ireland will have their time, and the home side will want to be further ahead when it inevitably comes.

21 mins. Bundee Aki rarely makes bad decisions, but he just made a howler by choosing to run at Chessum on the kick-off return very close to the touchline. The big flanker soaks the hit and forces Aki into touch, which will give England a decent lineout platform near the Irish 22.

19 mins. Ollie Lawrence is a little overexcited at the ruck as he tries to win a ball back and is penalised. Crowley adds three more.

17 mins. It’s nothing complicated from England that has put them here, rather they are playing at pace and not being afraid of holding and using the ball at speed. The result has Ireland riding a very tricky opening quarter.

16 mins. A strong run from Feyi-Waboso frees Ben Earl to gallop a little further before popping to Jamie George who takes it even further. Ireland are scrambling again and Aki is offside.

Ford extends the lead from the tee.

13 mins. More possession for England in the Ireland 22 comes to an end after Mitchell loses the ball forward. However, all Frawley – on for Nash – can do is send it to touch once more.

10 mins. The ball is quick off the top via Itoje and a snappy first phase pattern from the home side brings Freeman into the line. It’s a good move, but Van Der Flier sees a chink of light to fly at the ball and win a relieving penalty on the ground.

This remains a strong start from England, they are pumped for this.

8 mins. A few minutes taken to complete the first scrum of the match, and it ends with an England penalty for Furlong going to his knees. England have a lineout on the Ireland 22.

5 mins. Furbank runs a counter attack back at Ireland, he feeds Freeman who thunders into Nash to floor the Irish winger. While he was on the ground, Freeman keeps going and moves the ball left for a four-on-three opportunity created by Nash’s crumpling. The hands are neat and tidy for Lawrence to race up the left touchline to ground in the corner.

Ford can’t convert, but that was clinical from England.

2 mins. Alex Mitchell tolerates no nonsense on receiving the kick and boots it to touch. From the lineout Ireland have the ball cleanly won and are up to 7 phases in a flash to force England offside.

Crowley kicks it from in front.

Jack Crowley will have the honours to start us off, which he duly does on a decent evening in south west London.

Hell of a game & result for a deserving Italy @bloodandmud, now it's over to England. Sadly there'll be no shock in London, but I have some hope over us giving Ireland a game. We will have to be almost perfect - a big ask - but I'd just settle for a more cohesive, spirited game.

— Guy Hornsby (@GuyHornsby) March 9, 2024"}}" config="{"renderingTarget":"Web","darkModeAvailable":false}">

Hell of a game & result for a deserving Italy @bloodandmud, now it's over to England. Sadly there'll be no shock in London, but I have some hope over us giving Ireland a game. We will have to be almost perfect - a big ask - but I'd just settle for a more cohesive, spirited game.
— Guy Hornsby (@GuyHornsby) March 9, 2024

We’ll find out soon, Guy, as the teams are on their way out led by centurion Danny Care with his young kids.

Reading while you wait

England must stop cohesive Ireland at source or pay the price

I’ve gone full “don’t back down, double down” with my preamble prediction – and I’ve already come a cropper with Italy today. I fully expect you to chuck pelters my way via E-pelter or @bloodandmud

The 2025 Six Nations fixtures have been announced – with England heading to Dublin on the opening weekend.

Steve Borthwick has made changes after the loss v Scotland. Alex Mitchell returns from injury and there’s a first full start for Immanuel Feyi-Waboso in the backs; while the retention of Furbank at fullback suggests the more nuanced approach taken in the good bits in Edinburgh is to be continued. In the forwards, Ollie Chessum moves to blindside to accommodate the return of his Leicester team-mate George Martin to the second row.

Ireland’s only major change is to restore Hugo Keenan immediately to the fullback berth after his short injury lay off. Otherwise the starting XV is as you were and forever will be.

England: George Furbank; Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, Henry Slade, Ollie Lawrence, Tommy Freeman; George Ford, Alex Mitchell; Ellis Genge, Jamie George, Dan Cole, Maro Itoje, George Martin, Ollie Chessum, Sam Underhill, Ben Earl.

Replacements: Theo Dan, Joe Marler, Will Stuart, Chandler Cunningham-South, Alex Dombrandt, Danny Care, Marcus Smith, Elliot Daly.

Ireland: Hugo Keenan; Calvin Nash, Robbie Henshaw, Bundee Aki, James Lowe; Jack Crowley, Jamison Gibson-Park; Andrew Porter, Dan Sheehan, Tadhg Furlong, Joe McCarthy, Tadhg Beirne, Peter O’Mahony, Josh van der Flier, Caelan Doris.

Replacements: Ronan Kelleher, Cian Healy, Finlay Bealham, Iain Henderson, Ryan Baird, Jack Conan, Conor Murray, Ciaran Frawley.

Cast your mind back to late winter in the early months of 2019. Only a few certain people in specific jobs knew what PPE stood for, the Patriots are still winning SuperBowls and Joe Schmidt’s Ireland are about to lose to Eddie Jones’s England. At least that’s what the so-called experts said in the run up to that match, before an opening 10 minute blitz from the English knocked the men in green into a stupor from which they could not recover, eventually going down 32-20. And England managed all that in Dublin.

So, given that today’s match is at Twickenham, and the home side have shown they can dish out a bloody nose against the odds on the road, then there is some hope it can be repeated today, surely? Hope springs infernal. So very, very infernal.

Put these romantic thoughts from your mind. This is Andy Farrell’s Ireland, they don’t do romance. Unless your idea of romance is being methodically made to feel inferior in every aspect of your performance until all that’s left is to crumple slowly backwards into your chair to suckle, glassy eyed, on an energy drink.

I realise this is tempting fate of a huge number of “this aged well” posts from the most boring people on the internet in a few hours. It’s a risk I am willing to accept. And I am very risk averse person.

England 23-22 Ireland: Six Nations 2024 – live reaction

England to open against Ireland in next year's Six Nations