In wet and miserable conditions in Dublin today, England came out on top of a physical encounter on a scoreline of 12-6.
By Declan Whooley
Declan Kidney and his side will be very disappointed with the defeat at the Aviva in a game where no quarter was given by either side, with the Irish challenge just falling short.
As expected beforehand, there was little between the sides on the scoreboard with the conditions also playing their part in the closely fought encounter.
England ran into the changing rooms at half time with a 6-0 lead in a game that was dogged from the outset. Ireland made a number of uncharacteristic errors and Owen Farrell punished those mistakes with two successful kicks, though he did miss his final effort just before the half-time whistle.
There was a constant niggle between the sides and Cian Healy is likely to face further sanctions after an incident at a ruck in the opening 40 minutes, while Simon Zebo and Jonny Sexton both cried off injured as England looked to spoil the party.
Ireland made a much brighter start to the second half and Ronan O’Gara got the first points on the board with a penalty kick, while the physical exchanges remained as uncompromising as you would expect from such a fixture.
A sin-binning for James Haskell and resulting penalty from O’Gara saw the game level with just over 20 tense minutes to go, but with the English down to 14 men, the visitors crucially outscored their hosts by two penalties to one.
Ireland will regroup after the disappointing loss with a game in Edinburgh a fortnight away hopeful that the injuries will not be too serious while Stuart Lancaster’s side will continue their quest for a Grand Slam against an out-of-sorts France next time out at Twickenham.
For Ireland, the Grand Slam dream is gone but the Championship is still to play for, though it is now reliant on other results.
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