6 Nations
England Outclass Lacklustre Ireland
Ireland lacked a cutting edge as England stake their claim for the 6 Nations
Ireland seemed short of ideas as England ran out 32-20 winners at the Aviva Stadium, on Saturday evening.
The visitors were the better team without a doubt but had their fair amount of fortune to gain the win.
They came bursting out of the blocks, showing their intentions right from the off with a try within 90 seconds. After getting up to the Ireland 22, a few passes out wide, and a poor break from the line by Keith Earls and Jonny May was in at the corner.
Captain Owen Farrell added the extras as England led 7-0 after as little as two minutes.
Ireland came back at England over the next 20 minutes. Johnny Sexton slotted over a penalty after 11 minutes before Tom Curry was sin binned two minutes later for a late tackle on Earls.
By the 24th minute Ireland had the lead. They made a bold call with a penalty in front of the posts and deciding to go to touch.
The risk paid off with James Ryan taking the line-out, leading to a few phases ending with Cian Healy touching down. Sexton converted and it was 10-7.
.@IrishRugby's @ProperChurch showing his power#GuinnessSixNations #IREvENG pic.twitter.com/M8vLIbSeHf
— Guinness Six Nations (@SixNationsRugby) February 2, 2019
On the half-hour mark disaster struck as Elliot Daly sent a grubber-kick through the Irish 22. Jacob Stockdale caught the bouncing ball initially before Jack Nowell caused him to fumble and Daly put down the loose ball.
Farrell sent the conversion between the posts and added a late penalty to leave the score at 17-10 to England at half-time.
#GuinnessSixNations
— Irish Rugby (@IrishRugby) February 2, 2019
Half Time score from the @AVIVAStadium: IRELAND 10-17 ENGLAND#TeamOfUs #ShoulderToShoulder #IrevEng pic.twitter.com/GJtJuIpH5i
The second-half started with Ireland improving slightly and were rewarded with 3-points after Kyle Sinckler tackled Garry Ringrose around the neck.
With only four points separating the two sides the game’s most controversial moment came in the 66th minute.
Following a scrum near halfway, England sent the ball out wide to Jonny May, who kicked ahead. Henry Slade won the foot race and was over for a try.
Referee Jerome Garces went to the TMO to see if Slade was ahead of the kicker, and to many he was, however, Garces awarded the try. Farrell missed the conversion, but Irish fans were left fuming at the decision by Garces which took the game away from the home side.
Pace galore from @EnglandRugby's @Sladey_10 #GuinnessSixNations #IREvENG pic.twitter.com/yiBAaHBD8E
— Guinness Six Nations (@SixNationsRugby) February 2, 2019
Farrell added another penalty with 10 minutes remaining to stretch the lead out to 25-13.
Five minutes later and the bonus-point was wrapped up. Ireland tried to build from their own line, but a rushed pass by Sexton handed Henry Slade a chance which he took brilliantly, intercepting and sliding over the white-wash.
The conversion was tapped over and the game as a contest was certainly finished.
Ireland’s John Cooney came on for his debut in place of uncharacteristic Conor Murray and got his reward with a try in the final minute. Sexton sent over the conversion but that was the end as the game finished 32-20 to the visitors.
#GuinnessSixNations
— Irish Rugby (@IrishRugby) February 2, 2019
Full Time score from the @AVIVAStadium: IRELAND 20-32 ENGLAND#TeamOfUs #ShoulderToShoulder #IrevEng pic.twitter.com/6pbOetDjCe
The defeat was Ireland’s first home loss in the 6 Nations under Joe Schmidt and he showed his disappointment post-match.
“It’s a tough one to take,” he said.
He also played down the significance of the defeat saying it was just two high class team with small differences settling the game.
“It was two really big teams and one winning fine margins and one not,” he added.
Man of the match Mako Vunipola admitted his pride in gaining a first win against their rivals.
“It’s nice to get one over them,” he said when asked how the win on Irish soil felt.
The loss has ended Ireland’s hopes of landing back to back Grand Slam titles as many had predicted and has lifted England’s chances of claiming their 2017 title back.
England will be looking to build on this impressive win when they host France next Sunday.
While Ireland will have to improve greatly before heading to Murrayfield to face a high-flying Scotland side on Saturday.
The Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) is delighted to announce the return of the ‘A’ Interprovincial Men’s Championship which will kick off next month.
The times and dates of the opening three rounds of the Championship before Christmas have been confirmed, with a similar points-scoring system as used in the URC. A Championship winner will be declared after the final round of matches in May and the IRFU will be commissioning a legacy trophy to mark the 150th anniversary celebrations.
Welcoming the news, IRFU Performance Director David Humphreys commented:
“We’re delighted to kick-start the Men’s ‘A’ Interprovincial Championship which will provide a host of players with a further means of developing in a meaningful competition. With the success of the Emerging Ireland Tours, coupled with the return of an ‘A’ international against England next year, it is vital that we continue to provide players at provincial and Club levels with opportunities to impress outside of the traditional URC and EPCR fixture windows.
“Discussions have been ongoing for some time to provide players with meaningful games and all four provinces are unanimously supportive of this competition. It is also great to see provinces taking matches around their local Clubs.
“It is anticipated that as the competition progresses over the coming seasons these fixtures won’t clash with Energia All-Ireland League fixtures for the most part, thus potentially also offering players from the Club game with an opportunity to impress.
“This competition will form another important part of the representative pathway from Energia AIL to URC levels for Academy players upwards over the coming seasons.”
The dates for the post-Christmas fixtures will be confirmed in due course. Ticket details will be confirmed via the respective provinces.
IRFU 150 Interprovincial ‘A’ Championship Fixtures:
Saturday, 16th November:
Connacht Eagles v Leinster ‘A’ (Creggs RFC, 1pm)
Friday, 22nd November:
Ulster ‘A’ v Connacht Eagles (Ballymacaran Park, 3pm), Leinster ‘A’ v Munster ‘A’ (Lakelands, 5pm)
Friday, 29th November:
Munster ‘A’ v Ulster ‘A’ (New Ormond Park, 3pm)
Friday, 20th December:
Ulster ‘A’ v Munster ‘A’ (tbc, 3pm)
Saturday, 21st December:
Leinster ‘A’ v Connacht Eagles (Ollie Campbell Park, 2pm)
Weekend of 28/29 December:
Connacht Eagles v Ulster ‘A’ (tbc), Munster ‘A’ v Leinster ‘A’ (tbc)
Weekend of 9/10 May:
Connacht Eagles v Munster ‘A’ (tbc), Leinster ‘A’ v Ulster ‘A’ (tbc)
Weekend of 16/17 May:
Munster ‘A’ v Connacht Eagles (tbc), Ulster ‘A’ v Leinster ‘A’ (tbc)
Images & Content from Irish Rugby & Images © Inpho Photography
The Emerging Ireland team to face the Cheetahs in the final game of the three-match series in Bloemfontein on Wednesday evening (kick off 6pm Irish time, 7pm local time) has been named.
Leinster’s James Culhane will lead the team and he forms a new back-row alongside Harry Sheridan and Sean Edogbo, who makes his first start of the tour having come on as a replacement in the 29-24 win over Western Force on Sunday afternoon. Former Ireland Under-20 captain Evan O’Connell locks down with Darragh Murray, who featured in the opening 36-24 victory over the Pumas, with Alex Usanov named in the front row alongside hooker Stephen Smyth and Jack Aungier.
Darragh Murray of Emerging Ireland scores his sides second try – Mandatory Credit ©INPHO/Steve Haag Sports/Darren Stewart
In the backline, Sam Prendergast starts his third game of the tour at out-half and he will be partnered by Cormac Foley, who featured as a second half replacements against the Australian Super Rugby side last time out. Connacht’s Hugh Gavin forms a midfield partnership with Hugh Cooney, with Ulster’s Zac Ward named in an exciting back tree alongside the returning Ben O’Connor at full-back and Andrew Osborne who moves to the right wing.
Munster loosehead prop George Hadden, who was called up to the squad last weekend, is set to make his first appearance after being named on the bench alongside Conor O’Tighearnaigh and Alex Soroka who started Sunday’s win. Hadden’s provincial team-mate Danny Sheahan provides cover once more at hooker, while Scott Wilson and Charlie Tector are also named on the bench for the Toyota Stadium clash alongside out-half Jack Murphy.
Looking ahead to the game, Emerging Ireland Head Coach Simon Easterby said: “When we set out at the beginning of our pre-camp in Dublin, we knew about the challenge of facing three sides in a week and we knew that every player in the group would have the opportunity to play his part. To a man each player has given his all so far and we are aiming to finish off the series with another positive performance on Wednesday.
The Cheetahs are a fiercely proud and strong side and it should be a lively game with a vocal home support behind them. It has been a fruitful past few weeks to date and we have learned a lot. While our performances haven’t been perfect, the players have embraced the challenge and played some brilliant rugby at times. The action has come thick and fast and we know that we have to be clinical in our execution. We will need to go up another level on Wednesday to get the performance we want and hopefully finish the tour on a high.”
Wednesday’s game will be broadcast once more on IrishRugby+ – click here.
Emerging Ireland (v The Cheetahs, Wednesday, October 9, 7pm local time, 6pm Irish time)
15: Ben O’Connor (UCC RFC/Munster)
14: Andrew Osborne (Naas RFC/Leinster)
13: Hugh Cooney (Clontarf FC/Leinster)
12: Hugh Gavin (Galwegians RFC/Connacht)
11: Zac Ward (Ballynahinch RFC/Ulster/Ireland Sevens)
10: Sam Prendergast (Lansdowne FC/Leinster)
9: Cormac Foley (Lansdowne FC/Leinster)
1: Alex Usanov (Clontarf FC/Leinster)
2: Stephen Smyth (Old Wesley RFC/Leinster)
3: Jack Aungier (Clontarf FC/Connacht)
4: Evan O’Connell (Young Munster RFC/Munster)
5: Darragh Murray (Buccaneers RFC/Connacht)
6: Harry Sheridan (Dublin University FC/Ulster)
7: Sean Edogbo (UCC RFC/Munster)
8: James Culhane (UCD RFC/Leinster) (captain)
Replacements:
16: Danny Sheahan (Cork Constitution FC/Munster)
17: George Hadden (Garryowen FC/Munster)
18: Scott Wilson (Queen’s University Belfast RFC/Ulster)
19: Conor O’Tighearnaigh (UCD RFC/Leinster)
20: Alex Soroka (Clontarf FC/Leinster)
21: Matthew Devine (Corinthians RFC/Connacht)
22: Jack Murphy (Clontarf FC/Ulster)
23: Charlie Tector (Lansdowne FC/Leinster)
Images & Content from Irish Rugby & Images © Inpho Photography
Following Emerging Ireland’s 29-24 victory over Western Force in Bloemfontein on Sunday three players, Gus McCarthy (Leinster), Sean O’Brien (Munster) and Jude Postlethwaite (Ulster) will return to their provinces.
The trio will leave South Africa on Monday afternoon and will be available for selection for their respective URC fixtures this weekend.
The squad will visit Heidedal Township this afternoon and will conclude the three-match series on Wednesday evening against The Cheetahs (kick off 7pm local, 6pm Irish time). That match will be live on irishrugby+
Watch the full match back here on irishrugby+
Check out the highlights from the win against Western Force below.
Images & Content from Irish Rugby & Images © Inpho Photography
Jordan signs for Bristol Bears
IRFU Announces Return Of ‘A’ Interprovincial Championship
