Ruddock’s young guns learn the hard way

England 33 Ireland 9

Ireland never looked like winning this Six Nations encounter in Northampton on Saturday evening, but a gap of 24 points is a huge injustice as the curtain came down on a dismal day for Irish rugby.

Ireland started disastrously and even when they came back into the contest and traded on parity, the reigning Six Nations and Junior World Cup champions dished out a painful lesson in clinical finishing to an Irish side that squandered chances and failed to score a try for the second game in succession.