02/21/26 11:53:00
Printable Page
02/21 11:51 CST Ireland stuns England at Twickenham in a 42-21 rout and revives
Six Nations hopes
Ireland stuns England at Twickenham in a 42-21 rout and revives Six Nations
hopes
LONDON (AP) --- The rumors of Ireland's demise have been exaggerated.
Ireland revived its Six Nations title hopes and killed off England's after a
shocking 42-21 blowout win at Twickenham on Saturday.
The script was expected to go the other way. England had not lost at home since
autumn 2024, and a fiery retort after losing to Scotland at Murrayfield last
weekend was expected to celebrate captain Maro Itoje's 100th England cap.
But England was flat and sloppy while Ireland harked back to the No. 1-ranked
team from 2023; energetic, efficient and fearless. Having slipped to No. 5, the
Irish beat a team ranked higher than themselves for the first time since July
2024.
And it was historic: Ireland's greatest win by score and margin at Twickenham
with a bonus point from scoring five tries to three. All-time, England conceded
its second most points at home.
"It was a very enjoyable game to be a part of," Ireland captain Caelan Doris
told ITV. "The fast start definitely helped but there was a ferociousness about
us, there was some mistakes but we were always on the forward. It came together
for us.
"Internally, there has always been belief at the core of what we are doing. We
feel we have the right coaches and right group of players."
Ireland shot to 22-0, led 22-7 at halftime, scored straight after the break and
piled on. Jack Crowley booted seven from 10 for a personal 17 points in his
second Six Nations start in two tournaments.
The clash of British and Irish Lions --- 13 on Ireland's side and nine on
England's --- was a reminder of why Ireland dominated the successful squad in
Australia last year.
Two consecutive losses have knocked out England from contending for the title.
England finishes at Italy and, on the final weekend, defending champion France.
Ireland goes home to welcome Wales and Scotland and hoping unbeaten France has
an off-day somewhere.
"It's brutal professional sport because if you get 5% wrong it's gone," England
prop Ellis Genge told the BBC. "We probably believed the hype from the first
week too much. We can't let the noise in now. I am gutted (about missing the
title). It's tough but that is what professional sport is and she's a nasty
mistress sometimes."
?Nice to be Irish today'
An opening night hammering from France followed by an unconvincing win over
Italy plunged Ireland into despair that a generational team was on the wane.
But coach Andy Farrell's decision to give starts to Jamison Gibson-Park, Tadhg
Beirne, Tadhg Furlong, Josh van der Flier and Crowley came up trumps.
"It must be nice to be Irish today," Farrell told ITV. "I didn't really care if
we won or lost, I just wanted us to learn and get better from what we have
shown in the first games. We geared ourselves up and gained more respect for
each other. I am unbelievably proud of the lads."
Ireland was relieved early by England errors, highlighted by George Ford twice
missing touch-finders into the left corner.
Injured winger James Lowe was replaced by Tommy O'Brien, whose first touch was
to support a long break by fellow wing Robert Baloucoune. Gibson-Park
quick-tapped, caught England sleeping and dashed over for the opening try that
Crowley converted from the touchline.
England was suddenly full of holes. Ireland center Stuart McCloskey slipped off
opposite Ollie Lawrence and Baloucoune was scoring. In a double blow for
England, fullback Freddie Steward was yellow-carded for illegally trying to
slow Gibson-Park.
Referee Andrea Piardi hurt his left leg and had to be replaced by Pierre
Brousset, then Baloucoune was scoring off an O'Brien break for 22-0 after 30
minutes.
England coach Steve Borthwick pulled off Luke Cowan-Dickie and Steward for a
spark from Jamie George and Marcus Smith and they finally pierced Ireland's
magnificent scrambling defense a minute into injury time through Fraser
Dingwall.
But the boost was short-lived.
Ireland used a yellow card to Henry Pollock in his first England start to get
hooker Dan Sheehan over and Farrell was all smiles.
Pollock returned from the sin-bin to help Lawrence score a try and Ireland
fullback Jamie Osborne was yellow-carded.
Itoje usually goes 80 minutes but in his milestone match he was replaced in the
55th.
Crowley added two penalties and a conversion to a try by Osborne straight out
of the sin-bin. Ireland's hunger was relentless: McCloskey chased down Marcus
Smith from behind to save a try in the 73rd. That earned a fist-pump by Farrell
in the coaches' box.
Sam Underhill claimed England's third converted try but moments later Ireland
was doing a lap of honor at Twickenham, celebrating a sixth win at England's
home in the Six Nations era. No other Six Nations team since 2000 has more than
two wins.
___
AP rugby: https://apnews.com/hub/rugby
|
