Friday, March 29

Ireland hold off England to stay in Six Nations title hunt after Ewels’ early red | SixNations 2022


England do not lose often at Twickenham but, perversely, they will remember this defeat with a fair amount of pride. Forced to play with 14 men for 78 minutes of a compelling contest it was only in the closing stages that Ireland pulled away on the scoreboard and it was the home supporters who were on their feet roaring their side onwards for lengthy periods.

While four tries to nil may look convincing enough, at no stage were Ireland remotely comfortable until their replacements Jack Conan and Finlay Bealham put an emerald gloss on the margin in the last six minutes. Exactly what might have unfolded had the Bath lock Charlie Ewels not been shown a red card after just 82 seconds is a legitimate debate but the net result is that only Ireland remain in with a shout of this year’s Six Nations title or a Triple Crown.

England, for whom this was only their fourth defeat in 39 home games under Eddie Jones, must now go to Paris to try and deny France a ‘Grand Chelem’ and, in doing so, avoid a second consecutive bottom half finish. There was more than enough defiance, though, shown by Maro Itoje, Ellis Genge, Sam Simmonds and a number of their teammates to offer a measure of hope for the medium term future.

Top-level sport, though, is about retaining composure and Ewels, on this occasion failed the test when he clattered James Ryan with the game barely begun. As red cards go it was absolutely nailed on, and precisely the kind of upright tackle the sport is trying to eradicate. If the crowd should have been sorry for anyone it was Ryan, he led groggily away with his own eagerly-awaited afternoon prematurely ended.

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The subsequent boos aimed at the referee Mathieu Raynal just went to show how many casual rugby fans still need educating on head injury avoidance and the manner in which the laws have now been tightened to assist that aim. Either way, it was the quickest sending off in championship history and England’s quickest since Mike Burton was dismissed against Australia in 1975 in the infamous Battle of Ballymore.

Initially it seemed to be game, set and match. When Ireland, finding alarming space in midfield, worked the ball left and Josh van Der Flier put James Lowe over from 35 meters out past a trailing Max Malins to register Ireland’s first try after just six minutes, every alarm bell in south west London was ringing . Jack Nowell was already having to be deployed as an emergency flanker with the England captain Courtney Lawes shunted back into the second row.

When a limping Tom Curry was also forced to leave the fray after just 15 minutes, England were backed even further into a corner, their ability to cover all bases for the rest of the game severely compromised. To their credit there was no disputing the cussedness of the home forwards still on the field. Itoje, sick during the week, looked as pumped up during the anthems as he has ever done, and appeared to be intent on making up for Ewels’s absence on his own.

Charlie Ewels receives his early red card which changed the course of the game. Photograph: Bob Bradford – CameraSport/CameraSport/Getty Images

The English scrum was also making some unexpectedly promising headway, with Ireland conceding eight penalties in the first half hour alone. Two safely slotted kicks from three attempts by Marcus Smith dragged England back into contention until, finally, Ireland kept hold of the ball long enough to create some defensive pressure. When England conceded a penalty for a high tackle close to their line Jamison Gibson-Park opted for a quick tap and the equally alert Hugo Keenan came rocketing up from the backfield to stretch and score.

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In the circumstances a third Smith penalty just before the interval to cut the deficit to 15-9 was as much as England could have wished for. They just had to hope that Ireland would keep shooting themselves in both feet which, for a while, seemed a possibility. New Zealand, in similar circumstances, would have been 30 points clear by the hour mark but the Irish, their confidence at scrum time now seriously dented, were in danger of losing all momentum. The Twickenham crowd could sense it and when another excellent chase by Freddie Steward and Joe Marchant forced the visitors into the concession of another kickable penalty, Smith reduced the gap to just three points with 27 minutes to play.

By now the entire stadium had come alive, roaring with delight as Itoje clattered Johnny Sexton following another nicely-judged English up and under. This will be Sexton’s final championship appearance in south-west London and while the continuing possibility of a Triple Crown or, maybe, even more will definitely appeal to him he will not remember this fixture for the quality of the armchair ride.

Here, too, was another reminder of why England had won 22 of their previous 25 Six Nations games in their own steepling backyard. They collectively seemed to grow another forest of limbs and, despite changing two thirds of their front row, Ireland’s scrum travails continued. With Will Stuart now at tight-head England made further incursions on Dave Kilcoyne’s side of the scrum and Smith’s fifth penalty brought the scores dramatically level.

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The place almost erupted when it momentarily looked as if Sexton’s long pass had been picked off by Steward for a potentially game-changing interception try. Alas for England Monsieur Raynal decided England had slowed down the ball at the previous ruck and Sexton’s simple penalty re-established Ireland’s three-point advantage before Conan and Bealham applied the muscular coup de grâce.


www.theguardian.com

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