Earls and Bowe give Ireland win over England

England 16 Ireland 20

Tommy Bowe ran in a late try as Ireland edged their RBS 6 Nations clash against England at Twickenham.

Jonny Wilkinson appeared to have won it for England when, with the score tied at 13-13, he landed a 72nd minute drop goal.

But Bowe added to his first-half try by crossing moments later with the Six Nations champions then surviving a ferocious late assault.

Jonny Wilkinson, who was heavily criticised for his performance against Italy, produced a terrible kick-off that just dribbled over the 10-metre line.

England reacted sharply, however, with strong runs from Cueto, Ugo Monye and Wilkinson sweeping them forward.

The bright start lasted only until the fourth minute when a turnover enabled Jamie Heaslip to break free before releasing Sexton who spotted Bowe on his outside.

A perfectly-weighted kick from the rookie fly-half set up a foot race for the line between Bowe and Lewis Moody that was won easily by the Ospreys winger.

Sexton missed the conversion but England’s problems increased when heavyweight second row Simon Shaw limped off and was replaced by Louis Deacon.

Wilkinson directed a routine penalty at the left upright before a promising attack was brought to an end when the Toulon outside-half chipped into the arms of Murphy.

After adjusting his sights, Wilkinson landed three points to see England trail Ireland 5-3 by the end of a first quarter they had controlled.

Rain began to fall heavily, and the conditions became treacherous almost immediately.

Sexton, who had made a composed start, missed a penalty, but was on target in the 30th minute.

Ireland’s efforts to build momentum were being undermined by three kicking errors that saw the ball sent into touch on each occasion.

Keith Earls made a scintillating break as he dashed through three tackles, with prop Tim Payne guilty of the biggest miss, but Danny Care came to England’s rescue on the chip ahead.

Wilkinson kicked his second penalty to slash Ireland’s lead to 8-6, but the champions’ defence was largely untroubled.

Leicester prop Dan Cole set up a nail-biting final quarter when he drove over under the posts in the 61st minute with help from his pack, Wilkinson adding the conversion.

Play was held up for several minutes after O’Driscoll was accidentally kneed in the head by team-mate Paul O’Connell.

It was a heavy blow and in worrying scenes the Ireland skipper was attended by medics before being stretchered from the pitch.

The backline was rejigged with Earls switching to outside centre and Andrew Trimble stepping off the bench to fill the number 11 jersey.

With the match tied at 13-13, Wilkinson missed his third shot at goal but nailed a beautifully-struck 72nd minute drop goal to break the deadlock.

But there was greater drama two minutes later when Ireland surged back ahead.

O’Connell won the line-out and O’Leary sent a flat pass to the onrushing Bowe who swept through tackles from Wilkinson and Deacon before slipping over.

Ronan O’Gara, on for Sexton, converted before Ireland survived two late forward drives from England to cling on to victory.