Ireland wreck England’s grand slam dream
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Ireland wrecked England’s hopes of a Six Nations grand slam on Saturday, outclassing their opponents 24-8 in a one-sided encounter at Lansdowne Road.
Tries from wing Tommy Bowe, captain Brian O’Driscoll – setting a new all-time record for the tournament of 25 – and 14 points from fly-half Jonathan Sexton gave Ireland a deserved victory that was even more one-sided than the lop-sided final score suggested.
England, bidding to win their first grand slam since triumphing in Dublin in 2003, were second best to the Irish in almost every department, outmuscled in the forwards and outplayed in the backs.
Depending on the result of Wales’ match with France in Paris later on Saturday, England, may well finish the Six Nations as champions.
But the emphatic nature of England’s defeat will give manager Martin Johnson and his players a stinging reality check as they now turn their attention to this year’s World Cup in New Zealand.
Ireland, bitterly disappointed to lose in controversial circumstances against Wales last week and desperate to end a mixed campaign on a winning note, dominated almost from start to finish.
Man-of-the-match Sexton had opened the scoring for Ireland on seven minutes, calmly slotting a penalty after England’s defensive line were offside at a line-out.
Ireland extended their lead on 15 minutes when England wing Chris Ashton was adjudged to have high tackled Sexton, who duly slotted the three points.
Ireland’s relentless pressure looked to have earned them a deserved try after 20 minutes when elusive running by Bowe ended with O’Driscoll scoring in the corner.
But as the crowd and Ireland’s players celebrated, referee Bryce Lawrence ruled that the final pass had gone forward by the slimmest of margins, and instead the home side had to settle for Sexton’s third penalty to make it 9-0.
Yet when Toby Flood missed a straightforward penalty to reduce the deficit moments later, Ireland were swiftly back on the attack with a hack and chase upfield that ended with Bowe going over out wide for 14-0.
A rare English foray into Irish territory resulted in a Flood penalty on 32 minutes to make it 14-3 but in truth the visitors never looked like putting their opponents under pressure.
A bad half for England got worse five minutes before half-time, when flanker David Wallace, a superb, scavenging presence at the breakdown throughout, burst off a ruck and headed for the corner.
England’s cover got there but when scrum-half Ben Youngs threw the ball into the crowd, referee Lawrence produced a yellow card and the young Leicester scrum-half was in the sin-bin.
A further penalty from Sexton stretched Ireland’s lead still further, driving another nail into the coffin of England’s grand slam hopes.
England looked to have survived the sinbin unscathed in the early moments of the second half, when Danny Care came on to replace Youngs.
But within seconds of Care’s arrival, Ireland were back on the attack once more as England scrambled. Donncha O’Callaghan looked to have bungled the chance but O’Driscoll was on hand to mop up and scamper over in the corner.
Sexton converted from the touchline to make it 24-3 and Ireland were effectively home and dry.
England emptied their replacements bench and veteran hooker Steve Thompson raced over from 30 yards for an interception try but the result was never in doubt.
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The Crowd Says (20) | Page 1 of Comments
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- 2011 Six Nations, Grand Slam rugby, Rugby Union, Six Nations
March 20th 2011 @ 8:40am
Pothale said | March 20th 2011 @ 8:40am | Report comment
Not bad.
March 20th 2011 @ 9:11am
Ben S said | March 20th 2011 @ 9:11am | Report comment
And that’s what happens when you play donkeys like Hartley and Deacon against proper athletes like Healy and O’Brien. Ireland thoroughly deserved the win. They were passionate and they gave the performance they are capable of. Thoroughly deserved.
On the one hand Johnson was right to persist with the side that played against Scotland, but changes have to be made for the WC, in fact I’d go so far as to say that John Wells needs to go to. How many times will England come second best at the breakdown under his watch?
On another note, and to avoid the claims of sour grapes, there is no way England would have won if they had had another 27 different refs, but Bryce Lawrence, again, was worryingly inept. In fact there are only a handful of competent refs currently involved in professional rugby. It seems that the vast majority of Test games are seriously tarred by poor referees. I’m fed up of this guff.
March 20th 2011 @ 9:58am
Pot Hale said | March 20th 2011 @ 9:58am | Report comment
Agree with you on the refs Ben. There were times today he blew the whistle and I was sure it was going to be for England. Compensation for last week?
Hard luck today – disappointing and yet Johnson may take something from this in getting the young cohort in cohort to experience a high pressure game before the WC and what it takes to win it.
I’d have to question how useful Banahan is at centre – all the hype and promise of this 6 foot 8 battering ram that the two shortest centres in the championship would have to cope with, came to nought.
I really like Haskell – great battler and willing to get stuck in at every hand’s turn.
March 20th 2011 @ 10:10am
Ben S said | March 20th 2011 @ 10:10am | Report comment
Banahan only had the ball once in space, if I recall, and he ran into touch. It was a long shot throwing him in, but with go-forward ball I think he’s worth trying there again. Hape had one of his poorer games in attack, so he didn’t have a great deal to work with. Ultimately England struggled to out-think the Irish defence, and their kicking was poor… again.
Not only that but the tight five went AWOL again. In every game bar the Italy one we (England) have struggled at the ruck. That’s why I had a recent conversation with Colin regarding the composition of the pack. Players like Hartley and Cole and Deacon are renowned for their work ethic, but Hartley and Deacon simply don’t have the physical ability to exert a real impression upon games at Test level. They don’t have the size or muscularity. It’s alright grinding out games against teams who like to grind like SA and France, for example, but when you have a side like Ireland who can bash and then bash with tempo you need players to match that like Lawes and Haskell. This England pack was found wanting and I think that has impacted upon the backline.
It tickles me when I read/hear how valuable Wilkinson is. When have you ever seen him close a game out the way O’Gara did today (although I thought he was close to a yellow) and against Scotland?
Oh yeah, nearly forgot – well done. I hope you had a good day, Pot.
March 20th 2011 @ 10:24am
Pot Hale said | March 20th 2011 @ 10:24am | Report comment
Cheers Ben. It was an enjoyable day, particularly watching France put a hatful of points on Wales who have flattered to deceive all championship.
I wondered about the English pack today. Wondered because Ireland were doing so well against them – well according to Bryce Lawrence anyway though that may not be much measure.
Lawes, Croft and Moody to return to the squad as well so things should improve.
I haven’t forgotten about sending you info by the way for your Dublin trip. By any chance are you likely to be here when England play Ireland in one of the pre-tests on 27 August in case you want to fit that in as part of your stay.
March 20th 2011 @ 10:36am
Ben S said | March 20th 2011 @ 10:36am | Report comment
‘particularly watching France put a hatful of points on Wales who have flattered to deceive all championship.’
Spot on. Wales got their just desserts today, and IMO so did Ireland.
Let’s not take anything away from Ireland, the English pack did enough to win the other 4 games after all, I just don’t think some of the players are long-term Test Players. Even with Lawes, Croft and Moody England would have lost, I suspect. It was Ireland’s moment.
Incidentally, I’m not sure if you saw the presentation of the trophy to England? Nick Easter presented as quiet sombre and dignified, and then you had Hartley and Haskell gurning and leering like drunk teenagers in the background. Methinks Martin Johnson still has a lot of work to do with some of these jokers.
I think we will be in Ireland during Apri, Potl. Not sure I’d want to see another rugby game after today… Crumbs, what a thoroughly dissapointing day…
March 20th 2011 @ 11:33am
Harry said | March 20th 2011 @ 11:33am | Report comment
Big day for the Irish and they looked very good – big, big problem for the Wallabies in our RWC pool match!
March 20th 2011 @ 1:41pm
Viscount Crouchback said | March 20th 2011 @ 1:41pm | Report comment
I read the above comments with interest. My take is that England were simply short of the leadership and experience required to cope with the big occasion. As Johnson said afterwards, they are what they are – very good young players with not many caps. It’s remarkable how the “average caps” factor comes up trumps again and again in international rugby: just when you think it might be irrelevant and that purely technical and physical factors will decide matters, you see a game like that. Immense credit must go to O’Driscoll and O’Connell for the manner in which they inspire the players around them.
I thought England’s tactics were rather dim. I don’t believe Keith Earls had to field a single up’n'under in the entire match, which is quite remarkable when one considers that every Irishman knows that Earls is a potential liability under the high ball. Johnson commented in the week that it took Woodward’s team four years to learn that “you didn’t have to win in a certain way – you just have to win”. Well, it seems this team has yet to learn that lesson: I thought England tried to play too much early on. It was obvious that Ireland would come out like dervishes from kick-off – they did the same in ’03 – so box clever, draw their sting, kick for territory and make the first half a technical, set-piece affair and then open up in the second half when those big Irish back row forwards are tiring. For me, England simply don’t kick enough in big matches, especially in the first forty minutes of matches. As Paul Rees comments in the Guardian, they are becoming predictably expansive where once they were predictably narrow. The expansive dimension might be more aesthetically pleasing but it is one-dimensional nonetheless.
I agree about Lawrence – he seems to be one of those referees who sniffs which way the wind is blowing and then piles in behind the team in the ascendancy. He seems to be a classic “homer”. His refusal to reward England’s second half scrum dominance was quite outrageous: we could write it off as an irrelevance – which, in this game, it was – were it not for the fact that he also ignored France’s similar dominance in the last minute in Rome. That actually cost France the game and, in all likelihood, will cost Lievremont his job in due course. It’s simply not good enough for a supposedly top-class referee to shirk the big calls so brazenly.
Ben’s criticism of Hartley and Deacon is interesting. Neither was particularly inspiring and it’s plausible that both are just one notch below test class but, equally, I wonder how much better they would look in a team with a few more leaders and a bit more experience. I also wonder how the six-day turnaround affected the tight five; they seemed curiously lacking in energy.
Overall, 4 wins out of 5 seems about right for England. It would have been surprising for them to win a Slam so soon and I think they deserve immense credit for winning the Championship. I can forgive Hartley and Haskell their smiles at the ceremony – I’m sure they were hurting inside.
As for the RWC, I think it’s now fairly obvious that England are too callow to produce the consecutive performances required to win it. To be fair, most of us thought as much already. Ireland, on the other hand, with their superb breakdown skills and mass of caps surely make a tempting dark horse if they can only summon up the bottle to move out of their Sasnach-slaying comfort zone and do a bit of Empire-building on foreign soil . . .
March 20th 2011 @ 9:39pm
Ben S said | March 20th 2011 @ 9:39pm | Report comment
I know I harp on about this subject a lot, VC, but IMO Test rugby is about those tiny differences. Most players are about the same size and can lift the same weights, so the players who rise to the top are those with that little bit of extra ability, be it mental or physical. Hartley and Deacon don’t have either the strength or the mobility at this level, and when you have a tight five containing Corbisiero and Cole there is too much stodge there, but add in Sheridan and Lawes and there’s a combination of size and athleticism. On another note, Deacon is lauded as the butter in the sandwich, so to speak, and yet our ruck work this 6N has been terrible. All he does is hit rucks, and yet…
Which brings me on to another point: England’s mauling, as RF notes, is terrible, and our breakdown work is terrible. What does Wells do behind closed doors?
I’d also like to raise the value of Wilkinson again. He’s missed easy kicks when he has come on, which is fair enough, but he is brought on to kick. When have we ever seen him close a game out in the way that O’Gara has this 6N? What exactly does he add? He certainly didn’t direct the side yesterday.
This 6N has been a real mixed bag: Corbisiero has been an able replacement, I have been very impressed with Palmer and Wood, but the half-back pairing have been stilted (although I think that is because of the composition of the pack), and the back three have generally been managed well. I wonder were Lawes and Croft starting whether Ashton’s various breaks during the tournament would have come to any more? I also wonder if Fourie would have made a difference. He struck me as exactly the sort of player who would have done a job last night. For all of Haskell’s muscularity and determination he is simply not a 7, and in certain games that will always be exposed.
March 20th 2011 @ 9:43pm
Pothale said | March 20th 2011 @ 9:43pm | Report comment
VC – interesting commentary on England. Yet it lacks acknowledgement of Ireland’s improvement or rather re-discovery of the form and potency that they clearly possess. I take the point that it was against England but that ignores the fact that Ireland have had England’s number for quite some time – 8 times in the last decade of matches. I think the manner of the loss to Wales (an illegal try by two incompetent refs) and possibly to France (a rash of self-inflicted penalties) was as much a spur. In effect, Ireland knew they were better than this.
Perhaps you’ve captured this in your average number of caps comment, yet some of the players who shone yesterday – Bowe was magnificent in my view – along with Healy, Ross, Earls, O’Brien, Sexton belie the running perception that Ireland is an ageing team.
I have to ask, inevitably, are you still of the view that Ireland are perennial cheaters and have been found out under the NLIs or they have started to adapt and succeed?
March 21st 2011 @ 9:24am
Ben S said | March 21st 2011 @ 9:24am | Report comment
‘I think the manner of the loss to Wales (an illegal try by two incompetent refs) and possibly to France (a rash of self-inflicted penalties) was as much a spur.’
I certainly considered that, Pot, but a few comments I read from O’Driscoll and Trimble hinted at an element of ‘from ancient grudge’ level of thinking. Perhaps that’s only natural?
March 21st 2011 @ 1:39pm
Pot Hale said | March 21st 2011 @ 1:39pm | Report comment
You and VC may be right, Ben. Though O’Driscoll also talked of missed opportunities in previous matches, and knowing they had a good performance in them, and needing to get that right.
Most of these guys are thirty and under. Let’s be honest, ancient grudge is just that. Trying to get some of the younger or Northern players to buy into some of this ancient grudge stuff either by dint of their youth, or their relatively comfortable middle-class background or by where they were born and grew up just seems a tough ask. Moreover, I can’t see how you’re going to slag off or build a sustaining sense of hostility with some of the players who may well regard themselves as British citizens. Do players like Ferris, Best, P Wallace and Trimble close their ears to this, politely shrug it off, or fake allegiance to it as part of the “team”? Does it become their central raison d’etre’ for the match that carries them through for eighty minutes?
I can see them building a siege mentality foundation around how today is about putting things right. About restoring pride in the jersey. About playing for each other. We were robbed in the Welsh match. We looked foolish and inept in the Italian one. We threw the game away against France, and we nearly threw it away against Scotland. Lose today and we could finish fourth or fifth in the 6N – our worst result ever. We’ll drop another couple of places in IRB rankings. Roasted on the media spit at every hand’s turn, have it infect their remaining league and cup games for the rest of the season, be regarded as a fading, ageing squad that were reliant on a couple of old-timers, that Sexton was a flake, that Ireland couldn’t scrummage to save their lives, and lost their two home games in their new stadium in front of hard-pressed, paying fans – all of that before they even got to the World Cup.
And the only way to prevent that was to defeat – with passion, force and unmatched intensity – England – a team they should have no fear of with their recent record in the 6N, who were relatively inexperienced, and who would waltz to a Grand Slam in the easiest of fashions because no team had turned up to actually give them a proper rugby match like they’d never experienced before. The team had to listen all week about 2003 and England demolishing Ireland to win a Grand Slam – and not a lot about the other matches since then. Maybe it’s time to send them another reminder.
Do Ireland really want to be the team that hands it to them on a plate? Earlsy, do you want Chris Ashton swan-diving over your tryline, grinning like a simpleton? Are you going to let the over-weight, overblown HMS Bam Bam through one of your tackles, Darcy? What’s Dylan Hartley going to be like when he turns up against you Rory in a couple of weeks? Or Ashton and Foden with you Trimble? You going to be able to look them in the face if you lose this match? They’ve scored 10 tries so far – 8 of them against Italy. Ashton fancies himself for a couple more – get in his face – early and often. Bully him, corner him. Don’t let them go to ground, make them fight for every ball. Get in their face, from minute one to final whistle. They won’t know what hit them. We get in front, score early and stay in front. We are better than them, simple as that. And you don’t leave that pitch until they know it with every last flailing tackle, every lost breakdown, every scrum, every bad lineout, every dropped ball. Make them pay for their mistakes. Win today and it changes everything. Win in our new home. Win with pride in your jersey. Win in front of this crowd, and every Ireland fan will walk out tomorrow feeling like they just defeated England single-handedly with you by their side.
That’s all you have to do. Now get out there and play some rugby, for Gods sake.”
Or something like that. Is that sufficiently ancient grudge? Or should I have used “arrogant English foccers” in there somewhere, not quite sure?
March 21st 2011 @ 8:54pm
Ben S said | March 21st 2011 @ 8:54pm | Report comment
That was a longer answer than I expected. Fair enough, Pot.
March 21st 2011 @ 9:21pm
Ben S said | March 21st 2011 @ 9:21pm | Report comment
Ashton does grin like a simpleton doesn’t he. Bless him, it’s only his northern way. He knows no better.
Overweight HMS… Very droll.
Oh, and I just noticed this sly dig: ‘They’ve scored 10 tries so far – 8 of them against Italy.’
You saucy man! As Tom Wood said, we owe you one now.
March 22nd 2011 @ 12:52am
Pot Hale said | March 22nd 2011 @ 12:52am | Report comment
Tee hee! I doubt very much any of that was said, but it was all I could think of on the hoof.
Having watched a DVD of Irelan’d GS ’09, the dressing room talks seem to consist of a lot of shouting and effing and blinding – none of that uplifting rhetoric a la ‘Any Given Sunday’.
And yes, England definitely owe Ireland one now. The August ‘friendly’ warm-up might have a few nigggles in it.
Anyway, it’s done and dusted – england worthy Championship winners, now onto the league and Heineken Cup. Leinster v Leicester should be a tasty affair in Lansdowne in a couple of weeks.
March 22nd 2011 @ 1:31am
Ben S said | March 22nd 2011 @ 1:31am | Report comment
I’m quite looking forward to the HC. The 6N was pretty dissapointing (as it seems to be most years) IMO. Leinster v Leicester will be a tub thumper.
March 20th 2011 @ 8:43pm
Rugby Fan said | March 20th 2011 @ 8:43pm | Report comment
I was worried something like that would happen, especially after the South Africans worked England over in the Autumn. I don’t think England have yet shown that they can fight their way back into a match when more than a converted try down so it didn’t look good when Sexton put nine points over without the visitors getting on the scoreboard.
I’d agree with comments that England tried to play too adventurously too early. The backs tried to line up flat but, when the offloads and quick passes didn’t work, ball carriers were getting smashed back by the Irish. This meant supporting runners had to stop and go back to try to secure the ball. On several occasions, there were turnovers or penalties from going in at the side.
England’s mauling game is still a mess. I think we lost possession on three occasions through our man being held up before a maul could become a ruck. Players didn’t seem to know whether they were trying keep the maul going forward or trying to secure the ball so they failed at both.
The Youngs sin bin was a blow. When you’ve had a bad first half, a team can sometimes make it up by coming out flying in the second. It was a slim hope anyway but England lost any chance for that with only 14 men on the pitch for the first five minutes.
Looking at some of the player ratings in the media, I’m surprised to see Easter seems to come out poorly. At one stage, he seemed to be the only man back trying to clear up some desperate ball. Not sure I’d blame him for the turnover which led to the Irish break before Youngs’ yellow card.
I don’t see Johnson making too many changes ahead of the World Cup. He would probably rather see if he can get more consistent top performances from the guys he has now rather than throwing some new names into the hat, even in troubled positions like midfield. Yesterday’s game may well have convinced him that he can’t afford to do without Tindall, given how little leadership was shown by others.
March 21st 2011 @ 12:16am
MattyP said | March 21st 2011 @ 12:16am | Report comment
Cracking game, well played Ireland. But I have a feeling that Ireland is becoming the new France – capable of the brilliant occasional all-conquering performance, on a one-off basis, but just not consistent enough to really rise to where the ability apparent in performances like yesterday’s would seem they belong. Today’s team would have destroyed the (flattering to deceive – superb, VC) Welsh last weekend, not been bitching and moaning about one ref’s decision 50 minutes into the game. A shame for them that this team only showed its capability on the last weekend of the tournament.
March 21st 2011 @ 8:51am
Pot Hale said | March 21st 2011 @ 8:51am | Report comment
Ireland becoming like France
God – we’d turn into a bunch of bi-polar fans.
March 21st 2011 @ 12:30pm
Rugby Fan said | March 21st 2011 @ 12:30pm | Report comment
It has certainly been an odd tournament. England can take some comfort from winning their first championship in years. Ireland can look back in frustration at not getting their fame together earlier but will feel good at finishing strongly. A comprehensive victory to deny England a Grand Slam was the perfect way to get celebrate the new stadium, something the O’Gara said the players didn’t feel they had done for their supporters. France will wonder where their game has gone but they still managed a win over Ireland. The French form is looking similar to England’s ahead of the 2007 World Cup. They are capable of being given a hiding but can still call on memories of past glories to grind out a win so they could yet upset current rankings this year.
You could say, in fact, that the tournament showed teams swapping identities. If France are looking like England four years ago, Ireland have become as unpredictable as France while England must think they are Wales they way they are trying to move the ball. If Italy had managed a win over Scotland then you might have been able to argue that those two teams had swapped identities. It would then be neat to say that Wales look like Ireland of old but that I suppose that doesn’t really stand up.