Peter Burke at the Aviva
This fixture always brings out the passion in both players and fans alike. Suffice to say recent atmospheres in the Aviva were, well lets say, a bit flat but this was always going to be different, history I suppose plays its part.
Ireland are the defending champions and are going for an unprecedented 3 in a row, unfortunately for England this was not going to be a repeat of 2019.
It seemed that Ireland set their alarm clocks 30 mins behind show up time for the game as England were certainly the dominant team up until then. Marcus Smith was finding space all over the park and the English attack and defence were stopping Ireland in their tracks, it was akin to Ireland being found out by the opposition. Ireand just could not find their rhythm let alone any effective phase play in the opening quarter.
The opening try came as Smith ran back a kick, Ollie Lawrence found space, again with the space finding, and debutant Murley pounced and took his try, with the conversion good Ireland found themselves 7 points to nil in arrears.
However this isnt anything new for Ireland to be slow out of the blocks as it seems to be a rinse and repeat exercise to the constant frustrations of management and fans alike, or maybe its a master plan (doubt it).
The Murley try was a blessing for Ireland as it woke them up and the crowd responded with the Aviva roaring in unison ‘Ireland, Ireland’ it was a joy to hear and soon renditions of ‘The fields of Athenry’ rang around the sold out stadium. Ireland thought they had their first try of the evening when Kelleher touched down from a ruck 10 metres out but foul play was spotted and the try was dissallowed much to the dissapointment of some, me included but it was clear an infringement had taken place.
Irelands first try came off a well worked move that saw Gibson-Park touch down, the conversion was pulled wide and the lead was cut to 2. Marcus Smith was sent off for 10 minutes but returned in time to slot over an easy penalty to leave the visitors 5-10 up at half time.
The summary of the first half could be summed up by a conversation had by two gentlemen behind me in the queue for the faclities – ‘Well what did you think of that’? – ‘Shite’ and he had a point.
The second half was a different story for England, like going back with your ex and thinking it would the same but ultimately it wasnt. Englands penalties began to mount and they suffered territorily. Why they boxed kicked so much is beyond me and when they actually ran the ball in the last 10 minutes they caused Ireland problems, however i digress.
The second half saw Aki shake off the attention of 2 England defenders to barge over the line and Sam missed the conversion but Ireland were level. All was forgiven when Sam slotted over penalty to put Ireland ahead by 3.
Lowe was immense and he was making life hell for the English defenders, he was everywhere and was in contention for the MOTM award which ultimately went to Gibson-Park who also was finding gaps in the second half. Lowe put Beirne into space to increase Irelands lead and it felt like this was going to be Irelands day as England just seemed to run out ideas and steam. Irelands bench had a notable impact with Crowley making a difference immediately along with Conan.
Of course we cannot leave out a Mr Sheehan who, as a replacement hooker, claimed the crucial fourth try on Saturday evening’s victory, having not played at Test level since tearing his ACL during last summer’s tour of South Africa, surely a nailed on starter for the Lions.
With late trys by Curry and Freeman it was all a bit too late for England and with France beckoning for them it will certainly test their metal as to what team they actually are as Ireland on the otherhand setup an away meeting with Scotland.
Ireland interim coach Simon Easterby: “We had to find a way. We felt if we did a few things better in the way we were doing things, then we would get the rewards.
“England defended well and made it tough for us. We are happy with how our set-piece went.
“The guys who started laid a good foundation as it wasn’t easy. It was physical and all you’d expect. The bench benefited from the work done.”
FT 27 – 22
Half Time Ireland 5 , England 10
Tries
Ireland, Gibson-Park, Aki, Beirne, Sheehan
England, Murley, T Curry, Freeman
Conversions
Ireland,Crowley (2)
England,Smith (2)
Penalties
Ireland, Prendergast
England,Smith
First half very clunky, overrunning passes, some poor tackling and decision making. England although in the ascendancy didn’t take full advantage of it and suffered in the second half as a result. Ireland much more clinical and England second best for the majority of it albeit a purple patch of the last 5 minutes made the scoreline closer than it should’ve been. Scoreline in the end flattered England. They caused Ireland problems in first half with fast and furious rugby but didn’t trouble the scoreboard enough to really trouble Ireland. When on top you need to keep the scoreboard ticking over. Rustiness of 1st half was quickly forgotten with a much more polished 2nd half barring those last 5 minutes. Lessons learnt I’d imagine.